SYMBOLS play an important role in many of the works we’ve read this semester. In an essay of 600-900 words, describe the following symbols, and explain their symbolic meaning. What do they represent? It’s essential, too, to explain how these symbols reflect important themes in the works in which they appear. The symbols are: The “black veil” in Hawthorne’s story “The Minister’s Black Veil.” What does the veil symbolize? How does it represent the theme of this story? Try to be as precise as you can as you discuss the symbolism of the veil. “Grass” in Whitman’s long poem “Song of Myself,” especially as grass is discussed in section 6. What does the grass represent? How does this symbol reflect a key theme of the poem? The “Korl-Woman” sculpture in Rebecca Harding Davis’s story “Life in the Iron-Mills.” What does the sculpture represent? How does it symbolize key themes of the story? All three works are in “Volume B: 1820-1865” of our two textbooks. Hawthorne’s story “The Minister’s Black Veil” is on pp. 368-377. Section 6 of Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is on 1316-1317. Harding Davis’s “Life in the “Iron-Mills” is on 1698-1724.
