Unit 5
Metaphor and Symbolism

Learning Objectives

When you have completed Unit 5, you should be able to

1. understand the difference between “shaking a symbol at the reader” and allowing a symbol to “rise out of the material naturally.”
2. appreciate the boundlessness of potential meaning in effective symbolic writing.
3. make connections and allow symbolism to emerge in your writing, as opposed to intentionally imposing a symbol on
   the work.