Identify a symbol in a text -- an object, color, or image that represents a larger idea -- and explain what it represents using textual evidence.
A symbol is something concrete in a story, an object, a color, a place, that stands for something bigger and less concrete, an idea, a feeling, a stage of life. Authors use symbols so readers can FEEL an idea through an image instead of just being told the idea directly.
You cannot always tell a symbol just by seeing an object mentioned once -- the clue is repetition and emphasis. If a garden, a key, or a particular color keeps showing up at meaningful moments, the author is probably using it to represent something.
Mastery looks like: They identify a genuinely repeated symbol, describe the pattern of its appearances, and explain what it represents using specific textual evidence.
Common stumbles: Labeling any single object as a symbol without checking for a real pattern of meaningful repetition.
See it visually
Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.