Symbol, Ambiguity, and Personification

Symbol- A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance. There are two main types of symbols: conventional and literary/contextual. Conventional symbols have meanings that are widely recognized by a society or culture. A literary or contextual symbol can be a setting, character, action, object, name or anything else in a work that maintains its literal significance while suggesting other meanings. Such symbols go beyond conventional symbols; they gain their symbolic meaning within the context of a specific story.

"The melodious harmony of the nightingale, which at intervals floated with dulcet sweetness on the evening air; the universal silence which prevailed, and seemed (if I may so say) 'to waft the soul to realms unknown' together with enthusiasm which he had never before experienced. When the sweet notes of the night-bird echoed along the dreary expanse, he caught the harmonious sound, and when it died away expectantly waited for a repetition" (Juvenis, "Raymond" 23). 

Ambiguity: Allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation, all of which can be supported by the context of a work. Deliberate ambiguity can contribute to the overall effectiveness and richness of a work.

Personification- A form of metaphor in which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things. Personification offers the writer a way to give the world life and motion by assigning familiar human behaviors and emotions to animals, inanimate objects, and abstract ideas.

Example: "It was one of those nights when the moon gives a faint glimmering of light through the thick black clouds of a lowering sky. Now and then she suddenly emerged in full splendor from her veil; and then instantly retired behind it, having just served to give the forlorn Sir Bertrand a wide extended prospect over the desolate waste" (Aikin, "Sir Bertrand" 3).