The Meaning of Imagery and Symbols

Learning Targets
 Identify the imagery and symbols that writers use as a way to infer a writer’s purpose and interpret meaning.
 Write an interpretive statement about meaning in a text by analyzing and synthesizing information.

Before Reading
You were previously given definitions for imagery and symbol. Take these definitions out so you can refer to them for
the following activity.

1. When you see the words “fire” and “ice,” what literal images come to mind? Brainstorm a list of the ideas,
objects, and events that you associate with these two words.
2. Now, with a partner, make meaning of the common figurative associations as presented in the sentences below:
 “Her icy stare let me know just how she felt.”
 “He acted so cold to me that I knew he was still angry.”
 “His face was red and flushed with the heat of his anger.”
 “The fierce fire in her eyes made her attitude clear.”

When images are used figuratively rather than literally, they are being used symbolically, that is, the image represents
itself but also stands for something more abstract. What do the images of fire and ice represent or symbolize in the
sentences above?

During Reading
3. Writers may use symbols to help readers recognize a theme. Now that you have discussed the literal
associations and figurative associations of the words fire and ice, consider the title of the poem “Fire and Ice.”
Think of the literal and figurative associations of these words, and predict what the poem with be about.
4. First, read the poem silently. Pay close attention to the punctuation marks that signal ends of sentences.
5. With a partner, take turns reading the poem aloud to each other. Read the poem so that you stop only at the
end of each sentence, not each line.
6. As your partner reads the poem to you, circle the words associated with the two major images.

About the Author

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was one of America’s most popular twentieth-century poets. For much of his life, he lived on a
farm in New Hampshire and wrote poems about farm life and the New England landscape. His apparently simple poems,
however, have many layers of meaning.

Fire and Ice

By Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
After Reading
7. Using the words and phrases that you circled, discuss and analyze the purpose of the imagery and symbols in the
poem with your partner. Annotate the text.

Check Your Understanding

Learning to write an interpretive statement is an important step toward learning how to communicate your
understandings. As you analyze and synthesize information you must learn how to put the ideas of text into your own
words. In one sentence, state what the poem is about by answer this question: What is Robert Frost saying about human
emotions in “Fire and Ice”? You might use this sentence frame to guide your writing:

In ___________________, __________________ suggest that _______________________________________

(title of text) (author) (purpose/meaning/main idea)