Yale University
What Lies Beneath: A Strategy for Introducing Literary Symbolism
“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.” You’re never too old for Dr. Seuss and using The Sneetches and The Lorax is a great way to introduce readers to allegories, parables, and literary symbolism. The lessons...
Curated OER
Poetry Shopping Spree
Scholars demonstrate the ability to evaluate authors' use of literary elements such as metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, and onomatopoeia. They are provided with a checklist and must shop for poems that contain the poetry terms...
Curated OER
Larger Than Life
Learners research the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya and his use of fantasy and allegory in his artwork. After reading either classic or contemporary fantasy stories, they discuss how Goya might have illustrated the stories. Students...
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The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Begin reading The Crucible and form a foundation for your study with this presentation. Arthur Miller and the historical background of McCarthyism are covered at the beginning, followed by short descriptions of all the characters in the...
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Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Young Goodman Brown"
Give your class some background information on both Nathaniel Hawthorne and his short story "Young Goodman Brown." Basic themes and characters are introduced, especially as this is an allegory with many symbolic elements. Help your...
Curated OER
Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You"
Harriet Tubman developed a rich extended metaphor for slavery and the imperative for Lincoln to abolish it in this dictated letter from 1862. Young historians read the original document and interpret Tubman's allegory with a pair of...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: The Credit Crisis
Political cartoons are interesting and motivating, and they provide a great opportunity for critical informational analysis. This resource includes background information on the current credit crisis, a political cartoon, and three...
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Allegory in Painting
Students examine how allegory is defined and used in the visual arts. They create a list of the arts, and list the objects, symbols, and figures that suggest each art category, analyze various paintings, and identify the allegorical...
Pearson
Lesson Plan: Introduction to Plato’s Cave
Can we perceive reality or are we chained by preconceptions that limit our vision? Plato’s allegory “The Cave” serves to introduce nascent philosophers to Plato’s dialogues and hopefully to engender a love of ideas and discourse. A...
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The Diamond as Big as the Ritz Quiz
Can you imagine an entire mountain consisting of a solid diamond? It is possible, though a bit farfetched in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is meant to be a satire about wealth and greed; the quiz asks...
Curated OER
Literary Terms: Allegory
Confused why a book about a third grade class is referring to outer space? The paragraph you're reading might be an allegory. The slide in this PowerPoint gives a detailed definition, as well as an example of an allegory. Tip: Assign...
Curated OER
The Hobbit
Students list W.H Auden's six characteristics of a quest story. They say what is meant by a "metaphorical quest." Pupils discuss some differences between symbolism and allegory. Students indicate how Bilbo Baggins's adventures changed...
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Allegory in Painting
Students define allegory and discuss its use in the visual arts, examine paintings from various time periods and identify allegorical themes in them, and explain what makes an image allegorical.
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Other Poetic Types
Rather than a instructional activity, this resource is a list of poetic forms and young poets are encouraged to try their hand at composing poems of various types.
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Visual Allegory: The Tale of Man
In this visual allegory worksheet, students complete the provided graphic organizer that requires them to list details about examples of allegory in paintings.
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Allegorical Meaning in Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death
Tenth graders recognize the allegorical meaning in The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe. In this poetry lesson, 10th graders analyze a poem for allegorical meaning.
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Fantasy Allegory of Air
Students analyze the painting Jan Brueghel and design their own book. In this art and book lesson, students discuss the elements of fantasy from the painting and create their own book. Students illustrate the book and create a painting...
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Allegory and Dr Seuss
Tenth graders read Dr. Seuss books to discover what allegory is. They investigate how Dr. Seuss studenT books are allegories of events in the real world and create timeline
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The Crucible
Twelfth graders use an Internet scavenger hunt, vocabulary, sample essay questions, and short answer questions suitable for study and review of the play, The Crucible.
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Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist
In the allegory worksheet students analyze Paulo Coelho's novel, The Alchemist. Students analyze allegorical elements by answering guided questions.
Curated OER
Exploring Allegory - John Bunyan
Students explore allegory through reading Pilgrim's Progress. For this literature lesson, students review the characteristics of allegory. Students write an essay explaining the characteristics of allegory and why Pilgrim's Progress is...
Curated OER
Words Sixth Graders Should Know 2
In this spelling learning exercise, 6th graders identify and locate various vocabulary terms that sixth graders should know. There are 54 words located in the puzzle.
Bibliomania
Bibliomania: The Star Child
Full text of Oscar Wilde's allegorical short story, "The Star-Child." Includes a link to other full texts of Wilde's work on Bibliomania.
Luminarium
Luminarium: "Everyman" (After 1485)
This site provides a detailed overview of "Everyman," and includes the full text of the work, related essays and articles, and additional resources.