Symbols Used by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem The Raven

A Research Study Presented to

Prof. Noel Calimpung

LorieneGarra

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of a Degree of Arts in English

March 2013

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgement Chapter 1 Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Background of the Study------------------------------------------------- 4 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework------------------------------- 5 Statement of the Problem------------------------------------------------Hypothesis--------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Scope and Delimitation----------------------------------------------------- 9 Definition of Terms----------------------------------------------------------- 9 Importance of the Study----------------------------------------------------- 10 Chapter 2-Review of Literature--------------------------------------------------------- 11 Chapter3-Methodology-------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Chapter4-Presentation,Interpretation and Analysis of Data---------------------- 14 Chapter5-Summary,Findings Conclusions,Recommendations----------------- 24 Bibliograghy---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 Curriculum Vatae 8

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE

To the almighty God for the gift of life and of wisdom

To my parents for love and support

To my baby Goergina Aleek for the inspiration

and to my friends for the encouragement

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Billions of people covered the world with diverse languages and cultures. We live with different experiences. We oftentimes long to be heard, to share and to invoke what we are to other people. People in history has been known because of their great works be it in Arts, Education, Science, Philosophy, etc.People like Aristotle, Plato, Einstein, Newton, Descartes, Alexander the Great, Pope John Paul the second had span the world far and wide with their great contribution to the world.

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Their stories were told to either oral or written tradition through time. Ordinary people like us also shared what weve got in life. Luxuries and everything. We also longed that our stories be heard not just by our contemporaries but by the people that surrounds us. Some people in history describe their selves in a poetic form to tell people of their lives and experiences. These people in history are not just ordinary people but people with prowess and intelligence. People who became known in the world Literature. These people are the image of a reality that names in history cannot be attained by inventions or a sword but wielding a pen and write. These people teaches people with realities in life not with conquering or technologies but by of sharing in the form of writing. They write in different styles, images, themes and symbols. It sometimes turns us upside down everytime we read it for it speaks a lot of meaning yet the whole masterpiece teaches as one simple thing- experience is the heart of everything. This paper will be talking about a legendary man known for his styles, themes and symbols. A one of a kind that truly made a name in Literature. Edgar Allan Poe will teach us great lessons to live for in his poem The Raven. His symbols will truly turn our world upside down yet this bites our life. We will be dealing with all these things as we go on.

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A. Background of the Study: The Raven is a narrative poem published in 1845 recounting the experience of a young student mourning the death of his beloved and who is visited in the middle of the night by a talking raven who gives his name as Nevermore. The young students feelings change fromamazement, to admiration, to hopefulness then culminate in anger to later sink in despair. Given that the subject of the research is a written text, a piece of poetry, the data collection will mean selecting relevant extracts from it. The entire poem is 108 lines in all but because the project is of limited scope; it will not be feasible to work on it all. This study will be dealing about symbols used in his poem, interpretation and how these symbols contributed to the theme of the poem.

B. Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

More than two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Horace claimed that literature is "sweet" and "useful." Since then, literature has been traditionally understood, at least in Western cultures, as having the dual purpose of entertaining and educating

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its audience. Literary texts are constructed in effect as objects of beauty, sources of pleasure and as conveyors of messages and information. While authors often claim no practical purpose for their works, all literature constitutes an attempt at persuasively conveying certain values and ideas. The entertaining and beautiful aspect of literary works acts in reality as part of the appeal and attractiveness which the work tries to attach to the ideas which it seeks to convey. The beauty of literature is therefore a part of its rhetoric, a device intended to strengthen the overall persuasiveness and influence of the work on its audience. While the entertaining aspect of literature may be rather obvious, understanding the ideas or values which a text advances is not always a simple task. Part of the problem is the fact that the ideas of a literary text are almost always presented in indirect or "symbolic" form. Authors in effect often craft their works in very practical and almost automatic ways and do not bother asking or answering questions as to their significance. What seems most important to authors is to create a pleasing or beautiful object which somehow closely conforms to and expresses the features of an otherwise undefined inward impulse. Many authors in fact are quite hostile toward the interpretation of their works and refuse to have anything to do with it. Samuel Beckett is quoted as having said, "it's bad enough to have to write these books without talking about them too." To begin to understand this odd relation of literature to its authors, we may recall its analogy, noted by Sigmund Freud, to the relation between dreams and dreamers. Just as dreams often convey meaning and information to the dreamer in puzzling symbolic images, literature may be said to function in a similar way. The

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author of a literary text can be compared to a dreamer transcribing his dreams into written language. But just as a dreamer is often unaware of the meaning of his/her own dreams, writers too cannot always explain what it is that their writings mean. The writing of literature is many times an almost unconscious performance which allows for the halfveiled expression of ideas and concepts which transcend the conscious mental life or avowed intentions of authors. Dealing frequently with highly charged, emotionally loaded, dangerous, or threatening ideas and desires, dreams and literary texts constitute ways of giving 'safe' (i.e. unclear, ambiguous, and concealed) and also powerful and influential expression to materials which, for a variety of reasons, cannot or should not be fully brought into consciousness or verbal expression. Therefore, the opinions and ideas of an author about his/her own work are not necessarily the most reliable guides toward a meaningful interpretation of a text. Like a psychoanalyst and his patient, an intelligent and attentive reader may be able to understand a text better than the very person who wrote it.

Given its tendency to speak about its subject indirectly, the essential mode of communication of literature may be said to be a symbolic one. A symbol may be defined in general terms as a signifier of a complex nature which always places its most important referent outside of itself. For the purposes of conveying meaning, literary texts make use of a variety of special signifying devices--known in general as figures or tropes--such as symbols, symbolic figures make indirect references and create semi-invisible chains of association between different sets of images, concepts, and ideas. The associative logic that governs the behavior of those chains

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of meaning, however, is not always fixed or consistent and often varies widely from text to text and even within a single text. A sensitive and alert reading of a particular text is therefore of paramount importance in discovering the internally-defined logic of association relevant to that text and its parts.

While communication is symbolic, listeners and the speaker accept that this use of symbols creates real meaning. Communicators accept this, and this acceptance permits communicators to share meaningful ideas between each other. Different individuals can have different meanings for words, phrases or actions, which can complicate your message. As an example, your symbolic attempt to send a kind message to your friend relies on their understanding of the symbols and acceptance of your meaning. If your friend rejects the genuineness of your message, then your meaning is lost in the communication.

Poe's work has been rated both brilliant and awful, but the stylistic attributes of symbols on his writing deserve to be regarded with nothing but respect. Henry James once asserted, in reference to Poe, that [to] take him with more than a

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certain degree of seriousness is to lack seriousness oneself (Cain, p. 786). Perhaps James found Poes seemingly chimerical subject matter to be trivial; maybe, he viewed the gothic genre by using symbols, meant to be experienced merely as a form of entertainment. Had he delved further into Poes writing, though, he would have discovered that it possesses indubitable literary merit and serves as an encouraging example for aspiring writers. That being said, Poe should have, in fact, been taken seriously, as his writing demonstrates stylistic brilliance in the form of varying vocabulary, remarkable repetition, and instrumental imagery through symbols.

Through his use of unique vocabulary, Poe engages readers, forcing them to devote their attention to his writing and be mindful of his message. Powerful symbols seen in The Raven also require that readers interpret the tale beyond its superficial happenings. When explaining the method by which he detects the intelligence level of an opponent, Dupin describes the typical schoolboy as being full of spurious profundity (Poe, p. 823). Poe could have chosen to employ a more simplistic term, By requiring that readers actually contemplate the meaning of both his intricate vocabulary and its relationship to the more profound implications of the story-line, Poe ensures that they will dedicate their complete attention to his writing and grow intellectually.

Strengthening readers comprehension of his writing is also a key function of the

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imagery Poe uses. By including imagery, readers can create a mental image, allowing them to visualize and interpret his aesthetic qualities as they relate to the story. Through this visualization, readers are also able to place themselves in the story, as if they are familiar with The Raven And Ulalume, and almost experience its events as they unfold.

Imagery in Poes writing clearly involves readers in the story, and his use of repetition and complex vocabulary ensures that readers understand his themes and implications. By including repetition in his works, Poe places emphasis on certain concepts, informing readers that they are vital to the storys development. Complex vocabulary serves a similar purpose, highlighting certain themes and requiring that readers devote their attention to them. The inclusion of unique symbols also challenges readers to deliberate, instead of simply reading for pleasure. That being said, any author who requires readers to think should be regarded with seriousness. What is the purpose of reading, if not to help one grow intellectually?

C. Statement of the Problem

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The purpose of this paper is to identify the symbols used by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem The Raven and to present the creative and meaningful presentation of his words to show how these symbols and the one it signifies creates a cohesive and meaningful whole.

It is a difficult task to really determine what is the core of this emerging discipline as a whole because of the symbols that are being used. Considering too, that symbols are not just simply as it is but to the one it signifies. We have always presupposed that words that are used in any literary works are simply just words with their semantic meaning. Then what is this symbolism that we have?

Now that we have asserted that symbols signifies something, we have our own understanding, how do we know then that this is our own unique way of thinking, our own way of identifying? Is it in contrast with Edgar Allan Poes The Raven on how our literal way of grasping symbols in the true meaning of his words.

For us to understand the nature of this discipline, I would like to segregate bit by bit the elements and the researches needed to understand it. Therefore this

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paper will attempt to analyze the emerging Symbols he used in his poem The Raven based on the following questions:

1. What are the symbols that are being used in Edgar Allan Poes The Raven ?

2. What are the implications of these symbols?

3. How did these symbols create a meaningful work of an art??

4. What are the major roles of symbols in a literary work?

All of these questions will be answered in the following chapters of her paper. Meanwhile, we shall first state the importance and the significance in knowing this discipline and on how it will help the reader or the people in general.

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D. Hypothesis

All of us are puzzled of the symbols that are being used in any literary pieces. We first understand symbols by its denotative meaning and left the one it signifies. The researchers educated guess about the poem is simply just the raven symbolizes death as what is being foretold by the folks. Without foreknowledge of what symbolism is all about, the researcher thought that the poem was simply all about death. In the following chapters, we will be dealing of the detailed discussion about symbols and how it signifies a thing.

E. Scope and Limitation

As what it is stated above, this study emphasizes only the symbols that are used in the raven and how Edgar Allan Poe used these symbols. So, it may be a wrong interpretation of the paper if one will look at or focus to only one interpretation. So the very first thing to consider is to look at this paper in the eyes of how Poe used these symbols.

This paper may take into consideration some of the researches on his symbols to present, but it will limit itself to the contributing factors and materials in the surfacing

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and rooting out the real nature of symbols in his work. It will briefly include all the symbols used in every stanzas of his poem the raven.

In the second chapter of this study, we define the meaning of symbols. Likewise, it will discuss the working definition of Symbols, which will be derived from the results of the methods of research conducted and from the different sources of materials gathered. It tries to lay down the main core of the discipline and what is it all about. There we can find the major definitions of symbols in different aspects of defining a term. It is to be noted that, since this is just a paper on the basic knowledge about symbols, I deemed it right to only expand the sub categories under the three definitions only into the first level of understanding terms and disciplines.

After giving the definition of symbols, chapter three deals about the background of the Edgar Allan Poe and of the Raven and will show the major influences and the factors contributing to the discipline. Connotative and denotative considerations are discussed here in briefs and the other factors that has a direct contribution in shaping our mind.

Denotative and literal meaning may have shaped our mindset, our worldviews, and our being. Chapter four elucidates and compares the literal and the connotative meaning and then states where what symbols signifies. It gives the main thought of what we thought of the word doesnt just mean as it is. S ince symbol is not well known and only a few gives recognition to it, this paper will try to include some of the contrasting points in the study on which we can derive some other points of

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researches and for further studies. A chapter is devoted to focus on the influences of Filipino Philosophy as well as the criticisms that contend the discipline.

The last part of this paper, focuses on all the findings and therefore summarize the main points and ideas, the creative and controlling agents, the force or principles operating it paving the way to the raw nature of symbols. It also points out some suggestions on how and what to do in order to further deepen, expand, develop, and progress this discipline.

F. DIFINITION OF TERMS A. Symbolism-Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a
symbolic meaning or character.

B. Symbol-A symbol is something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity.

The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning.
C.

Raven-A raven is

one

of

several

larger-bodied

members

of

the genus Corvusbut

in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied. They have black plumage and large beaks. D. Connotation-A connotation is a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word's or phrase's explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.

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H. Significance of the Study

In order to study the notion and characteristic of an entity or of a discipline, we must be able to study clearly what is the real and true nature of that entity or of those symbols. There have been many studies, researches conducted, books and articles published but the researcher has been trying to formulate the thought in her own way of understanding on how these symbols plays an important role in any literary pieces. This paper will study closely the notion of symbols in the Raven, surface and root characteristic of a symbols and the one it signifies Likewise, it will try to synthesize all other researches made by other researchers and authors in different perspectives giving importance then to the concept of what are symbols that are being used and the thing it signifies. Moreover, this paper will give us pride as to the extent that a Purisimian indeed have her own homegrown understanding not just as other historical people there are. In the end, this paper will be able to come up with a definition of what is Filipino Philosophy that would be useful as reference for further study of the symbols. It could be a source of criticism to scrutinize and detect hidden assumptions of the work and further formulate other alternatives to the findings of my research; a basis for arguments in the interpretation of studies of symbols in the Raven; and will give rise to a more comprehensive point of view of what is really the nature of symbolism most especially to the field of the study which is Edgar Allan Poes The Raven.

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Chapter 2

Review of Literature and Related Studies

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Halliday, Michael Alexander Kirkwood, The Linguistic , Cambridge Press, 1955.

Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M.A.K. Halliday) (born 13 April 1925) is a British linguist who developed the internationally influential systemic functional linguistic model of language. His grammatical descriptions go by the name of systemic functional grammar (SFG).[1]Halliday describes language as a semiotic system, "not in the sense of a system of signs, but a systemic resource for meaning"

Halliday, M.A.K., and C.M.I.M. Matthiessen (2004). An introduction to functional grammar, 3d ed. London, Arnold
Jakobson, Roman, Methodologies in linguistic analysis, February, 1934 This book by Roman is the basis of this study in terms of its methodology and analysis This book deals about the function of words used in any literary pieces. This book for beginners who taking up a language course.

Forsythe, Robert. "Poe's 'Nevermore': A Note", as collected in American Literature 7. January, 1936.
This book daels about the life of Poe and his poem The Raven

Krutch, Joseph Wood. Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.

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This book by Krutch is about the interpretation of Poes the raven

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

The methodology used in this paper is the descriptive documentary method of research using library research as the major method. Variety of printed, published, and on-line articles, journals, and books from the libraries and archives of theColegio de la Purisima Concepcion and other Internet accessible the raven html documents were also used to gather all the information need for this paper.

CHAPTER 4

Chapter4-Presentation,Interpretation and Analysis of Data The meaning of symbols

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A.) The meaning

What are symbols? Why are they so powerful? Why do some readers relate strongly to symbols while others are reluctant to open their reading of literature to such meanings? What are the most fundamental distinctions we can make in talking about symbols in literature and what are some methods for determining if, indeed, our identifications and interpretations of symbols are warranted. What exactly are symbols and how do they differ from ordinary language and

other figures of speech? How can we determine if a text invites a symbolic reading? How can we distinguish various types of symbols such as personal,

conventional, cultural, archetypal and allegorical? These are some of the questions we hope to answer. New readers of fiction are often thrilled by the power of symbols to point to larger meanings. In language and culture in general, when we strive to express great significance, meanings that can transcend our power to explain them in mere words, we turn to symbols. Image vs. Symbol: In discussing fiction, it is best to start with symbols rather than other figures of speech though symbols are often discussed with other figures of speech. Janet Burroway again is very helpful for the clear way she distinguishes symbols from other figures of speech: A symbol differs from metaphor and simile in that it need not contain a comparison.

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A symbol is an object or event that, by virtue of association, represents something more or something other than itself. (273) She goes on to explain that although the cross, for example, can symbolize Christianity, its symbolic meaning does not arise from a comparison. The cross is "not similar to redemption" (273). If, in your personal life, a particular stuffed toy comes to symbolize your relationship with someone, it is not because the relationship is like the stuffed toy in any way, but rather because you have, for some reason, associated it with the relationship. Perhaps it was gift that came to express more than itself. Relationships often acquire such things: songs, places, rocks, anything, in fact. It becomes your personal symbol of your love because no one else is aware of its special meaning. In that sense all souvenirs aspire to be symbols of your experiences. But these things can be quite arbitrary and are associated by a mere physical presence in the relationship. Holmon and Harmon define a symbol as "something that is itself and also stands for something else. . . . In a literary sense a symbol combines a literal and sensuous quality with an abstract or suggestive aspect." They also go on to say, "it is advisable to distinguishsymbol from IMAGE, ALLEGORY, AND METAPHOR" adding two more concepts to the distinction Burroway makes. This is how they distinguish symbol from IMAGE. If we consider an image to have a concrete referent in the objective world and to function as image when it powerfully evokes that referent, then a symbol is like an image in doing the same thing but different from it in going beyond the evoking of the

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objective referent by making the referent suggest a meaning beyond itself; in other words, a symbol is an image that evokes an objective, concrete reality and prompts that reality to suggest another level of meaning. (Holman and Harmon) Without images there would be no literature at all, much less symbols. To Holman and Harmon images are either literal or figurative. The literal image calls up "a sensory representation of the literal object or sensation" while the figurative image involves us in a "turn" toward this other meaning. In "Young Goodman Brown" he takes a walk down "a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind it."(8) This is an image of the path with its "trees." Does the path "turn" to another meaning? Do the trees? If so, they are symbolic. One important idea here is that symbols begin with imagery. The reader is rarely told directly that the image also suggests another level of meaning; instead the image functions in the play of literal meanings in the narrative. Brown walks on the path. The image is particular, concrete, and sensuous. But does it have symbolic associations? Here you must make interpretive decisions. Your tendency to be willing to let an image reach beyond the literal may have as much to do with your own cognitive style as with the shape of the text. Figurative vs. Literal Reader: The reader who tends toward literal meanings bears resemblance to the CAM (Character-Action-Moral) reader George Dillon describes in "Styles of Reading" who treats the text as an extension or portion of the real world, the characters as real persons, so that we will recognize "the experience of

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characters as being like our own experience. . . . Thus, inferences [we] draw are based on commonsense notions of the way the world is, people are, etc."(524). Objects or images are likely to remain just what they are. When people walk on paths in the woods, they are standing on dirt, leaves, and twigs. Any other meaning is unnecessary. For Dillon's "Diggers for Secrets" readers, on the other hand, "the story enwraps secrets, the narrator hides them. . . and the reader must uncover them." Symbols attract the Diggers for Secrets, according to Dillon. (He goes on to discuss a third type, the Anthropologist, so if you do not see yourself in these two, you should find Dillon and read him (Dillon, George L. "Styles of Reading"Poetics Today 1982 Spring v3(2) p77-88 ). When you took Miall and Kuiken's Literary Response Questionnaire, did your selfassessment prove high in empathy, insight and imagery vividness? Those factors may correlate with Dillon's "Diggers for Secrets" and the strategy of being more open to more figurative readings. For our purposes, at this point, we must note that the CAM reader (or "story driven" reader in LRQ terms) is quite secure in his or her literal reading of the image because the image functions quite clearly as what it is. So how does one know when to extend that literal meaning to a different level? The Norton Introduction to Literature (Jerome Beaty, J. Paul Hunter. The Norton Introduction to Literature, Seventh Edition, 1999) textbook gives readers this

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excellent advice: A single item, even something as traditionally fraught with meaning as a snake or a rose, becomes a symbolonly when its potentially symbolic meaning is confirmed by something else in the story, just as a point needs a second point to define a line. (184-bold type is my emphasis.) Reading for symbols then becomes a matter of connecting the dots, so to speak, to form patterns. Beaty and Hunter say that two ways that the symbol can be confirmed are through repetition and through explicit statement. Look over, for example, the titles of many of the stories you may have read. Almost always a title is an invitation to think about an image from the story in terms of symbolic meaning. A title repeats an element in the story, and it is an explicit statement by the writer of significance. So if the title names "the yellow wall-paper" we can be sure that the writer is nudging us toward a closer examination of this image for its symbolic status. Symbol vs Allegory: The second term which Holman and Harmon distinguish the symbol from is ALLEGORY. They distinguish the symbol from allegory this way: "In allegory the objective referent evoked is without value until it is translated into the fixed meaning that it has in its own particular structure of ideas." In allegory, it seems to me, the goal of the work is to bring the reader to that "particular structure of ideas," and, in that case, the reader who tends to read literally is likely to miss the point entirely. That is a hard thing to do, by the way, since the allegorist is usually pointing all the time to this other level

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of meaning. Allegory is: A form of extended METAPHOR in which objects, persons, and actions in a NARRATIVE are equated with meanings that lie outside the NARRATIVE itself. Thus, it represents one thing in the guise of another--an abstraction in that of a concrete IMAGE. By a process of double signification, the order of words represents actions and characters, and they, in turn, represent ideas. Allegory often clarifies this process by giving patently meaningful names to persons and places. (Holman and Harman, emphasis mine) Have you heard of John Bunyon's The Pilgrim's Progress, a Seventeenth Century work? It is probably the most famous allegory. That should give you a clue that allegories are not as popular as they once were. Perhaps you have read a work like George Orwell's Animal Farm, however, a political allegory in which animals on a farm take over and attempt an ideal state. It was also made into a movie for TV recently. Here are more definitions of allegory. Symbol vs Archetype: As symbols attain a cultural life beyond any particular work of the imagination, they can become archtypes. Not all conventional symbols would be called archetypes. At this site, for example, we find a dictinary of symbols (Dictionary of Symbolism, Allison Protas, Geoff Brown, Jamie Smith, and Eric Jaffe (2001) <http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/> ). If you explore it you will find fairly obvious and standard interpretations for common objects. But keep in mind that dictionaries such as this one are all culturally determined. The color symbolism, for example, will hardly ever translate from one

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culture the next. Here is a bibliography of reference works for symbols. But archetypes are hypthesized as transcendent symbols. We might see Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown as allegory, but also myth, and archetype. As the structure of ideas which a set of symbols in an allegory convey through characters and their narratives becomes more associated with spiritual and cosmic significance, as well as with cross cultural patterns of significance, the allegory becomes mythic and archetypal. In fact, an entire area of literary criticism tries to uncover the universal or collective unconscious patterns of symbol and allegory that lie behind all cultures' narrative and artistic production. Sometimes called Archetypal or Myth Criticism, or Jungian Criticism, it is associated with major scholars such as Carl Jung, Northrup Frye and Joseph Campbell. The famous concept of the quest or journey motif, which structures "Young Goodman Brown," is one of the major common patterns which a critic such as Joseph Campbell has traced in his famous book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. You may want to read about one of the basic structuring stories behind YGB: The story of man's fall in the Garden of Eden. Clearly you can also read this story in Genesis, Chapters 2 and 3.

B.) The Definition of Symbols in Poetry

Symbols in poetry are objects used to represent abstract ideas. Unlike metaphors, symbols are not obvious comparisons; instead, they are objects that play a key role

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in the narrative and also represent an idea. Because of this, identifying what is a symbol and what is not can be tricky at first. However, symbols fall into a few different categories that make them easier to think. 1. Based on Similarity. Many symbols in poetry are based on similarity between an object and the idea it represents. For example, in "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost uses a pathway through the woods to symbolize the path one might take in life.The best way to identify this type of symbol is to pay attention to the particular details the poet mentions. Ask yourself whether the symbol resembles the emotion or idea being talked about, and if so in what way. 2. Symbols Based on Association

At other times, symbols in a poem can be established simply through repetition. In Wallace Stevens' poem "The Man with the Blue Guitar," Stevens draws a connection between a blue guitar and the imagination of the poet. He does this simply by repeating the symbol in different ways often enough that the reader begins to draw a connection. The best way to identify and define this type of symbol is to look for repetition. If an object keeps popping up in the poem, chances are the poet is using it as a symbol.

3.

Symbols Based on Literary Tradition

Many poetic symbols derive from previous use. Symbols can be drawn

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from the Bible, from mythology or from the work of other poets. An example would be the use of the snake as a symbol of evil -- a reference to the Garden of Eden. This type of symbol is more difficult to identify, but with practice you can learn to pay attention to when a poet is referring to another work. If you have not read the work, you can look it up.

4.

Symbols Based on Cliches

Some symbols are easy to identify because they have been used so often. These symbols are cliches that have lost their original power through overuse. Examples would be the association of love with a rose or the connection between the color black and death. If you are writing your own poems, it is best to avoid this kind of overly obvious symbol.

With what is being said above, the reasearher in her personal point of view can formulate that Symbols is an image that evokes an objective,concrete reality and has that reality suggest another level of meaning.However the symbols does not stand for the meaning; it evokes an ojectthat suggests the meaning.

As Coleridge saidIt partakes of the reality which it renders intelligibleIncludes permanent object value,independent of the meanings thatit may suggest. Embodies the idea or quality.

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Literary symbols are of two types: 1. One includes those emboying universal suggestions of meaningas

flowing waters suggests time and eternity, a voyage suggest life. Such symbols are used widely in the worlds literature. 2. The other type of symbol secure its suggestiveness not from qualities

onherent in itself from the way in which it is used in a given work.

A literary symbol is something that means more than itself. It is an objecta person, a situation ,a action, or some other itemthat has literal meaning in the story but sugegest or represent other meaning as well. A very simple illustration is to be found in the name symbolism.

One of the chief devices for bridging the gap between the writes vision and the readers is the symbol, A single item, even something a traditionally fought with meaning as a snake or a rose becomes a symbol only when it is potentially symbolic meaning is confirmed by something else in the story, just as point needs a second point to define a line.We must remember only tat symols do not exist solely for the transmissionof a meaning we can paraphrase, they do not disappear from the story our memory, our response once their meaninghas been sucked out with tem.

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You cant give a great symbolic meaning, anymore than you can give a cat a meaning.Symbolic are organic unitsof consciousness with a lifeof their own and you can never explain them away. An allegorical images meaning; symbols dont mean something . They stand for units of human feeling human experience.A complex emotionalexperienece is a Lawrence. symbol.-D.H.

The ultimate unprahasable nature of most symbolic images or stories is not vagueness but richness,not disorder but complexity,.

Often used sloppily and sometimes pretentiously, but properly used the term suggest of the most basic things about poems and short stories- their ability to get beyond what words signify and may larger claims about meaning in the verbal world. All words go beyond themselves. They are not simply a collection of sounds; they signify something beyond their sounds , of the things or actions or ideas. Although symbolism woks by the power of suggestion, asymbol is not the same as a meaning or a moral. A symbol cannot be an abstraction,rather, a symbol is the thing points to the abstraction. The nature of Symbol is one of those words that is often used in a confusing manners.Theonfusion is increassd by different scholars using the word to mean very different things .Most obviously genral semantics(Alfred Korzybski;S.I. Hayakawa) use

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symbol for to designate what other writers call a sign.

EDGAR ALLAN POE AND THE RAVEN

A.His life

Edgar Allan Poe was born on 19 January, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, to actors David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold. Edgar was the middle child, with an elder brother Henry and a younger sister Rosalie. When he was just a year old, his father abandoned the family, and two years later, his mother passed away from tuberculosis. After her death, Henry went and lived with his grandparents, and Rosalie was taken in by another family. Edgar was adopted by a wealthy Scottish tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan from Richmond, Virginia. It is said that, as a mark of respect, Edgar took up 'Allan' as a middle name, and henceforth came to be known as Edgar Allan Poe. In 1815, Edgar, along with the Allan family, went to Britain, where he attended Grammar School in Irvine, Scotland. He studied there for a short period of time, and in 1817 joined a boarding school in Chelsea, after which he attended the Reverend John Bransby's Manor House School at Stoke Newington near London. In 1826, at the age of 17, he joined

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the newly founded University of Virginia, and excelled in ancient and modern languages. But within a year, he dropped out from school due to paucity of funds, and later got addicted to gambling and alcohol. On returning home, he faced another setback when he came to know that his neighbor and childhood sweetheart Elmira Royster, with whom he had secretly gotten engaged to, got married to someone else. He was also disappointed and furious with John Allan for not providing enough money to complete his course, and left the Allans. In April 1827, he went to Boston (his birthplace), where he took up odd jobs to sustain himself. In May 1827, at the age of 18, he enrolled himself in the United States Army as Edgar A. Perry, and in the same year published his first book Tamerlane and Other Poems. By a Bostonian. Two years later, in 1829, he got the news that his foster mother, Frances Allan was suffering from tuberculosis, and wanted to see her before dying. But by the time Edgar reached, she was already buried. After her death, Edgar and John reconciled for a brief period. John even helped Edgar get an appointment in the United States Military Academy at West Point. Before leaving for West Point, Edgar stayed in Baltimore (his father's birthplace) for some time with his widowed aunt Maria Clemm, her daughter Virginia Clemm (Poe's first cousin), his elder brother Henry, and their invalid grandmother. At this time, his second book Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, was published. He entered as a cadet in West Point, and after only eight months he got dismissed due to poor handling of duties. In the meantime, Edgar got the news of his foster father's remarriage. This caused a rift between the two, and finally John disowned Edgar. After his dismissal from West

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Point, he went to New York and released another set of poems titled Poems, financed with the help of his fellow cadets in West Point. In March 1831, he came back to Baltimore, and in August his elder brother Henry who was ill, passed away. While Edgar was in Baltimore, Allan died, leaving him nothing. Poverty struck, and it was now that he entirely focused on writing. In August 1835, he became the assistant editor of the periodical, Southern Literary Messenger, Richmond. But after some weeks, he was discharged when his boss caught him drunk during work.

B. The Raven

The famous poem 'The Raven', which is considered to be one of the best poems of the nineteenth century, was originally named 'To Lenore'. But Edgar reworked on the poem to include the raven, when he heard about Charles Dickens' recently deceased pet raven over dinner.The poems of American writer Edgar Allan Poe capture the imagination with their dark imagery and fascination with the macabre. Although Poe is widely credited as the originator of the modern detective story and as a pioneer in the field of mystery writing, he thought of himself first as a lyric poet, and published poems and treatises on poetry. The poems that follow demonstrate Poe's use of rhythm and symbolism. In The Raven (1845), the speaker is overcome by the raven as a symbol of death, to the point where his own sanity is in question

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Interpretation of Symbols

A lonely man tries to ease his "sorrow for the lost Lenore," by distracting his mind with old books of "forgotten lore." He is interrupted while he is "nearly napping," by a "tapping on [his] chamber door." As he opens up the door, he finds "darkness there and nothing more." Into the darkness he whispers, "Lenore," hoping his lost love had come back, but all that could be heard was "an echo [that] murmured back the word 'Lenore!'"

With a burning soul, the man returns to his chamber, and this time he can hear a tapping at the window lattice. As he "flung [open] the shutter," "in [there] stepped a stately Raven," the bird of illomen (Poe, 1850). The raven perched on the bust of Pallas, the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology, above his chamber door.

The man asks the Raven for his name, and surprisingly it answers, and croaks "Nevermore." The man knows that the bird does not speak from wisdom, but has been taught by "some unhappy master," and that the word "nevermore" is its only "stock and store."

The man welcomes the raven, and is afraid that the raven will be gone in the morning, "as [his] Hopes have flown before"; however, the raven answers, "Nevermore." The man smiled, and pulled up a chair, interested in what the raven "meant in croaking, Nevermore." The chair, where Lenore once sat, brought back painful memories. The man, who knows the irrational nature in the ravens speech, still cannot help but ask the raven questions. Since the narrator is aware that the raven only knows one word, he can anticipate the bird's responses. "Is there balm in Gilead?" - "Nevermore." Can Lenore be found in paradise? - "Nevermore." "Take thy form from off my door!" - "Nevermore." Finally the man concedes, realizing that to continue this dialogue would be pointless. And his "soul

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from out that shadow" that the raven throws on the floor, "Shall be lifted -- Nevermore!"

In this poem, one of the most famous American poems ever, Poe uses several symbols to take the poem to a higher level. The most obvious symbol is, of course, the raven itself. When Poe had decided to use a refrain that repeated the word "nevermore," he found that it would be most effective if he used a non-reasoning creature to utter the word. It would make little sense to use a human, since the human could reason to answer the questions (Poe, 1850). In "The Raven" it is important that the answers to the questions are already known, to illustrate the self-torture to which the narrator exposes himself. This way of interpreting signs that do not bear a real meaning, is "one of the most profound impulses of human nature" (Quinn, 1998:441). Poe also considered a parrot as the bird instead of the raven; however, because of the melancholy tone, and the symbolism of ravens as birds of ill-omen, he found the raven more suitable for the mood in the poem (Poe, 1850). Quoth the Parrot, "Nevermore?"

Another obvious symbol is the bust of Pallas. Why did the raven decide to perch on the goddess of wisdom? One reason could be, because it would lead the narrator to believe that the raven spoke from wisdom, and was not just repeating its only "stock and store," and to signify the scholarship of the narrator. Another reason for using "Pallas" in the poem was, according to Poe himself, simply because of the "sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself" (Poe, 1850). A less obvious symbol, might be the use of "midnight" in the first verse, and "December" in the second verse. Both midnight and December, symbolize an end of something, and also the anticipation of something new, a change, to happen. The midnight in December, might very well be New Years eve, a date most of us connect with change. This also seems to be what Viktor Rydberg believes when he is translating "The Raven" to Swedish, since he uses the phrase "retssistanattvarinne, " ("The last night of the year had

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arrived"). Kenneth Silverman connected the use of December with the death of Edgars mother (Silverman, 1992:241), who died in that month; whether this is true or not is, however, not significant to its meaning in the poem.

The chamber in which the narrator is positioned, is used to signify the loneliness of the man, and the sorrow he feels for the loss of Lenore. The room is richly furnished, and reminds the narrator of his lost love, which helps to create an effect of beauty in the poem. The tempest outside, is used to even more signify the isolation of this man, to show a sharp contrast between the calmness in the chamber and the tempestuous night. The phrase "from out my heart," Poe claims, is used, in combination with the answer "Nevermore," to let the narrator realize that he should not try to seek a moral in what has been previously narrated (Poe, 1850).

Choice of words

Poe had an extensive vocabulary, which is obvious to the readers of both his poetry as well as his fiction. Sometimes this meant introducing words that were not commonly used. In "The Raven," the use of ancient and poetic language seems appropriate, since the poem is about a man spending most of his time with books of "forgotten lore."

"Seraphim," in the fourteenth verse, "perfumed by an unseen censer / Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled..." is used to illustrate the swift, invisible way a scent spreads in a room. A seraphim is one of the six-winged angels standing in the presence of God.

"Nepenthe," from the same verse, is a potion, used by ancients to induce forgetfullnes of pain or sorrow.

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 "Balm in Gilead," from the following verse, is a soothing ointment made in Gilead, a mountainous region of Palestine east of the Jordan river.

"Aidenn," from the sixteenth verse, is an Arabic word for Eden or paradise.

"Plutonian," characteristic of Pluto, the god of the underworld in Roman mythology.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Summary

Knowing the mindset and the of a literal mind, symbols as a discipline and as an identity is a major tool in understanding symbols used in any literary pieces. We must always consider the all the meanings of a word which includes its semantic, functional and structural meaning beforehand to understand the realities and the context of the of a symbol to the thoughts and ideasof a

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particular piece. Likewise, a shift of reference must be done it must be in the point of reference of the Literal mind, the literal way of our understanding to the connotative mind to which symbols are to be uderstood. The raven by Edgar Allan Poe is only a Manifistation that words that are used are not just as it is but to its connotative meaning.Symbols brings meaning to style and genre.

B. Findings After the rigid studies and research conducted, here are some things transcribed to be the answers to the questions raised in Chapter I.

Symbols are often made or included in literary pieces not just for the theme or for a style. They are indirect thought that a writer makes for a reader to think twice about the thing it signifies. Oftentimes writers who didnt want to express what he meant in a literal world express it through symbols. Edgar Allan Poe as what it is discussed above uses a lot o symbols in the raven. These symbols create an art of literary pieces that made it distinct with other literary pieces. Symbols used are also things that the author used to experience in his life. This is not all about the raven. It is also all about us. Symbols are everywhere and our task is on how we understand and use it in our own way

C. Recommendations

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After arriving at specific findings, the researcher would like to recommend that since we all have our own personal point of view to all things, we should have not to set a by standard of what a single thing connotes. In terms of literary pieces, still the only man that could be best explain the symbols used in his artwork is he himself and what to we have are only interpretations and perspective.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Books and Pamphlets

Adams, John F. "Classical Raven Lore and Poe's Raven" in Poe Studies. Vol. V, no. 2, December 1972. Available online

Forsythe, Robert. "Poe's 'Nevermore': A Note", as collected in American Literature 7. January, 1936.

Granger, Byrd Howell. "Marginalia Devil Lore in 'The Raven'" from Poe Studies vol. V, no. 2, December 1972 Available online

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Kopley, Richard and Kevin J. Hayes. "Two verse masterworks: 'The Raven' and 'Ulalume'", collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-52179727-6

Krutch, Joseph Wood. Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.

Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York City: Cooper Square Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8154-1038-7

Moss, Sidney P. Poe's Literary Battles: The Critic in the Context of His Literary Milieu. Southern Illinois University Press, 1969.

Ostrom, John Ward. "Edgar A. Poe: His Income as Literary Entrepreneur", collected in Poe Studies Vol. 5, no. 1. June 1982.

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Peeples, Scott. Edgar Allan Poe Revisited. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-8057-4572-6

Poe, Edgar Allan. Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 2002. ISBN 0-7858-1453-1

Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. ISB

B. Electronic Sources

http://www.garyrcollins.com/countries/philippines.html

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http://www.malaya.com.ph/apr03/edtorde.htm

http://www-old.fuller.edu/swm/abstracts/asia.html

http://www-old.fuller.edu/swm/abstracts/asia.html

http://www.apmforum.com/columns/orientseas48.htm

http://www.localtheologies.org/Localtheologies/0000004b.htm

http://www.chrisgo.com/thesis3/03-11_culture.php3

http://www.ucanews.com/html/fabc-papers/fabc-92d.htm

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http://www.vatican.va

http://www.cbcp.com

http://www.catholicweb.com

\\net data server\claretph.net\catholic encyclopedia.exe

\\net data server\claretph.net\catholic church.exe

\\net data server\claretph.net\samcc\library\main archives\religiousity.htm

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[1] Emerita S. Quito, The State of Philosophy in the Philippines ( Manila: De La Salle University Research Center, 1983).

[2] Leonardo Mercado is a Roman Catholic priest, member of the Society of Divine Word.

[3] 1987 Philippine Constitution (Quezon City: National Printing Press, 1987).

[4] F. LandaJocano, Filipino Prehistory (Quezon City: Punlad Research House, 1998), p. 20.

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[5] Britanica Encyclopedia CD 2000

[6] KiethYandel

[7] http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/hrc/philp.htm

[8] F. LandaJocano, Filipino Prehistory (Quezon City: Punlad Research House, 1998)

[9] Marcelino Foronda, The Filipino and His Society in Philippine History(Tacloban City: Divine Word Press,1980), pp.1-9.

[10] http://www.chrisgo.com/thesis3/03-11_culture.php3

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[11] Sheila de Torres, Understanding Persons of Philippine Origin: A Prinier for Rehabilitation Service Providers (Masters thesis,University of the Philippines, Quezon City, 2002).

[12] http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-8/chapter_ii.htm

[13] http://www.chrisgo.com/thesis3/03-11_culture.php3

[14] Leonardo N. Mercado, Applied Filipino Philosophy (Tacloban City: Divine Word University Press, 1977), p. 57.

[15] Ibid., p. 64

[16] EvangeliiNuntiandi (Manila, St. Pauls Press, 1965), n. 53, p.

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[17] RedemptorisMissio,(Manila, St. Pauls Press, 1965), n. 34, p.

[18] http://www.ucanews.com/html/fabc-papers/fabc-92d.htm

[19] Ibid.

[20] http://www.ucanews.com/html/fabc-papers/fabc-92d.htm

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