ipl-logo

Cultural Symbolism Essay

880 Words4 Pages

act intentionally, i.e. showing behaviors aimed at a pre-arranged goal. In this sense, projectuality reveals originality, and capacity for innovation and creativity, whether it was expressed through flint working, shelter building, or food handling. The same is to be said for technology, which can be related to tools, housing, or food. The animal world does know and apply technology: beavers build dams, bees build perfectly hexagonal beehives, and birds build their nests but, unfortunately, there is no innovation, no progress, and no evolution in any of them. "Symbolism" is another essential characteristic of culture. It is the capacity to attribute to a sign, a sound or an object a meaning or a value going beyond the …show more content…

This is called "social symbolism." Finally, there is another symbolic system, in which communicating means expressing the intimate thoughts of people without any particular reference to events or needs. Arts, religion, and ethics, for example, allow us to "transcend" both the spheres of biology and social communications. There may be some expressions referring to biological and social life but, in those spheres, we are completely independent and able to transcend any biological and social needs. This is why this kind of symbolism is known as "spiritual symbolism" . Deacon (1997) was right when he defined humankind as a "symbolic species." Being at the very core of culture, like two faces of the same medal, projectuality and symbolism should be considered as one, single entity, expressing human abstract intelligence and psychism. Moreover, because they are creative expressions, they may develop and improve their results, spreading through society by extraparental transmission. By accepting as true this definition of culture, we might as well point out that culture is peculiar to human beings. Therefore, it is definitely incorrect to attribute it to animals, indicating it as any behavior acquired either by imitation or by casual learning, and never through biological inheritance. Nevertheless, this position is

Show More
Related

Cultural Symbolism In The Boat By Alistair Macleod

563 Words | 3 Pages

Name: Amrit Maharaj “The Boat” Symbolism “The Boat” by Alistair MacLeod is about a father's unavoidable fate as a fisherman. His son expresses how his father always wanted him to become something bigger and better than what he became. The symbolism of the boat expresses the father’s obligation though his commitment as a fisherman, his __________________ as he wanted a life outside the fishing world he lives in, and imprisonment through his life as a fisherman. To begin, symbolism can be utilized to show how the father is obligated to continue tradition.

Read More

The Scarlet Ibis Symbolism Essay

770 Words | 4 Pages

In a person’s life, many situations transpire and make them feel pride over one’s self. Readers can see this in the short story,” The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. “In his spare time Hurst wrote short stories and plays, but The Scarlet Ibis was the only work of his that become famous “(gradesaver.com)”. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses red to symbolize warning, death, and guilt to show the change the older brother goes through, as he takes care of Doodle. The first instance when red is used, is to express warning and the older brother’s attitude, is at Doodle’s birth.

Read More

Good Country People Symbolism Analysis

454 Words | 2 Pages

Good Country People written by Flannery O’ Conner has symbolism and metaphors that are used and that reinforce the major ideas of the story. O’Conner uses Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter Joy and her name change as a symbolism. A few others that add to the main idea is Joy’s wooden leg, her last name Hopewell, the Freeman’s, Manly Pointer, his briefcase, the hollow bible, and even the gate to the Hopewell’s house is symbolic to the story. Metaphors that take place are Mrs. Hopewell’s saying Good country people are the salt of the earth and many other sayings that Mrs. Hopewell believes to be true about life.

Read More

Imagery And Symbolism In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

484 Words | 2 Pages

Symbolism is the use of images, colors or items through a story or time used to represent something more meaningful. For example, one may look at America's flag and think it is just a flag. False, it is red for the valor and bravery of our soldiers, the white stands for purity and innocence of our nation, and the blue signifies justice, perseverance and vigilance; it is not just a flag, it is a symbol of all the things the United States of America have been through. However, in literature symbolism plays a much more heavy role in the story. Authors used symbolism with a flower, perhaps, then continue talking about growth and blossoming within the flower throughout the story only to reveal to the reader the flower is not a flower, but a growth in her struggling protagonist.

Read More

Essay On Symbolism In The Things They Carried

776 Words | 4 Pages

Things They Carried Analysis draft In the short story “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’brien uses the literary element of symbolism to portray how people carry different items to represent certain things, and to represent the harsh realities of war and life. He also uses symbolism to show how people become attached to items, and how they take on deeper meanings in times of stress. The story takes place during the Vietnam war, and O’Brien talks about an army detail, and the different things that they carried. This story is a great example of the use of symbolism to represent many different things at once.

Read More

Symbolism In The Other Side

537 Words | 3 Pages

In life, people can face the problem of relationships; times when people are a relationship that is mentally or physically abusive, when they fight with others they know well, or maybe even when people sever ties to people they had known for a long time! Other times though, the relationship between people can be as strong as steel. The latter is prevalent in “The Other Side” by Jacqueline Woodson, in which a lonely girl named Clover finds a friend in a girl named Annie, who lives on the other side of the fence that separates the two. In this short story, the author uses symbolism and revealing actions to display the girls’ strong friendship, and this is shown through the fence, which symbolizes the segregation between the two races and the two girls(but ironically brings them together). This is also shown through Clover’s actions, which reveals that she has a bond with Annie.

Read More

The Things They Carried Symbolism Analysis

1011 Words | 5 Pages

Emotional baggage is something 43% of adult people struggle with in their lifetime, according to a study done by Dr. Jonathan Maythorn, author of Life Leader. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, in Tim O’Brien’s short story, The Things They Carried, is no exception. Suffering from emotional baggage, regarding his past, on the battlefield is hindering his ability to function correctly, as one man should in a war. In other words, setting and symbolism in this short story shows that when the past is brought into the future, it can only drag people down.

Read More

Symbolism In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

1100 Words | 5 Pages

Symbolism in general is the building blocks to all sources of literature and can shape a piece of writing in many ways. Symbols in general can portray what something or someone represents, giving a deeper and metaphorical meaning to a symbol. Symbolism is often used within poetry, literature, music, or even art. This is how an author conveys a different meaning to the audience. For example artists may use the color “red” not only because of the color theory, but to convey love, passion, and maybe even health.

Read More

Essay On Symbolism In King Arthur

751 Words | 4 Pages

The first symbol to represent the thesis is the tractor. The tractor symbolizes death and fear. When Arthur's family gets the tractor from the Luntz farm to make it easier to farm. Arthur's dad tries it first and it ends up killing him. Arthur is bothered by this by this and starting to feel guilty and sad about his death that he can't forget about how his father died.

Read More

The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism Essay

1202 Words | 5 Pages

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story told through diary entries of a woman who suffers from postpartum depression. The narrator, whose name is never mentioned, becomes obsessed with the ugly yellow wallpaper in the summer home her husband rented for them. While at the home the Narrator studies the wallpaper and starts to believe there is a woman in the wallpaper. Her obsession with the wallpaper slowly makes her mental state deteriorate. Throughout The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses many literary devices such as symbolism, personification and imagery to help convey her message and get it across to the reader.

Read More

Essay On Symbolism In The Book Speak

1197 Words | 5 Pages

Art is way of expression. People can use actions and art or express themselves in ways other than speaking. In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, symbolism holds a big significance. The trees mentioned throughout the book symbolize Melinda’s changing “seasons” (her “growing” as a person). People, like trees, go through phases, they freeze in the winter, becoming nothing but lonely limbs without leaves covered with white slush.

Read More

Symbolism In The Village

631 Words | 3 Pages

“The Village” by heavily accredited movie director M. Night Shyamalan is rich with symbolism and is a breath of fresh air for the horror and thriller movie genres. The themes and ideas presented in the film can be fascinating for all types of people. In Shyamalan’s “The Village”, several types of symbolism are used, such as the myth of “Those We Do Not Speak of”, Ivy’s blindness, and the colors to explain the overall theme of loss of innocence. The myth of the creatures, or “Those We Do Not Speak of” is represented in numerous different ways in several characters.

Read More

Native American Culture Essay

738 Words | 3 Pages

Native Americans Native Americans are very different from other tribes. They eat, live, dress and do many things differently. The things I’m going to be talking about in my interesting paper is What they eat? What they wear? Where they live?

Read More

Difference Between Chinese Culture And Hong Kong

1098 Words | 5 Pages

Hong Kong is a part of China, but this two places have different and contrast of the culture nature. Hong Kong, the culture can be described as a foundation that began with China, and then became more influenced by British colonialism. Therefore, Hong Kong develop an identity of as its own, a unique and fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. China, the culture of the People 's Republic of China is an ample and sundry mix of traditional was influenced by Chinese culture with communist and other international modern and post-modern.

Read More

High Context Culture Essay

1016 Words | 5 Pages

In MAIN READING of UNIT2, we learned the dichotomy between a high-context culture like Japan, Korea, China, and many Latin American countries and a low-context culture like the U.S. and many European countries. In a high-context culture, the context of the situation and the relationship of the interlocutors play a vital role in the message being communicated, in a low-context culture, everything is direct, straightforward, and individualistic, often times to the point of redundancy. Besides, in the handout given in this class, we learned the present circumstances in Japan that foreign residents are increasing and because of the mixing of different cultures, various problems arise. When I read the handout, I thought that if things remained as they are, a high-context culture would disappeared, because the U.S. that has a low-context culture is the leader of global society and we may have to adjust it in the future. I think that a high-context culture which has a lot good points a low-context culture don’t have should be protected, so I don’t agree that Japan is globalized too much.

Read More

More about Cultural Symbolism Essay

Related Topics

Open Document