Honors Assignment #1

Symbol Analysis

For our first honors assignment, I would like for you to choose an important symbol from your
book to examine its significance in society and your book.

Your paper should be 500-600 words in length.

Include subtitles and at least one visual within your report.

Choose just one symbol from the novel and find 2-3 important passages regarding the symbol
from different sections of the story.

How to write the paper

● Start the paper with your personal take on the meaning of the symbol in society today.

● Follow this opening with examples of the symbol in real life. Is there a historical
significance? Is there a famous statue or painting with this symbol within it?

● Next, look to see if your symbol has any significance in folklore and/or religion.

● Then, spend some time talking about your symbol and how it impacts your book. Add
your direct quotes from the book here and analyze the author’s purpose behind injecting
this symbol into the story.

● Finally, share where this symbol shows up in pop culture. Can you find any song lyrics,
movie moments, advertising campaigns, etc. that use this symbol?

● You will be pulling outside resources to write this paper, so be prepared to share a
Works Cited page at the end of the report.

You should be finished with your novel by December 1st

Due date for this paper: December 9th

You will need to choose a second novel by December 9th as well

Symbolism – The Willow Tree

Because of its shape and its branches which fall down to the ground, a willow tree is often
associated with sadness or, in some cases, with eternity (branches pointing down back to earth).  

They are also a symbol of resonance and harmony.   

Willows generally grow in place nearby water. In Celtic culture, they are linked to the moon and
magic (and places for ceremonies intended for enhancement of psychic abilities, that honour the
moon as well as increasing the essence of love in our lives).
Life on Earth can't exist without water, which is why the willow, a tree found in or near watery
bodies, figures so prominently in creation legends, biblical references, Shakespearean tragedy
and modern associations. The meaning of a willow tree shifts from author to author, but it's
always an important symbol or representation in literature and mythology.

Willows as Power Symbols

Water is a part of most creation legends -- and the mythic creatures that are central to them -- so
it's not surprising to find mythological references to willow associated with life, magic and
power. Hecate, the malevolent Greek goddess of witchcraft, used willows for wands, while
Orpheus, the bringer of song, used willow wood as a talisman against evil as he journeyed to the
underworld. The harp, gifted to Orpheus by Apollo, was originally of willow wood, and you can
still find handmade antique harps with their sound boxes carved of willow. Mythically, willow
amalgamates sound, protection and power in its substance.

Willows in Scripture, Symbols for Revival

Biblical references to willow trees include Psalm 137, in which Jews held in captivity to Babylon
weep remembering their homeland: "There on the willow trees, we hung up our harps." Instead
of a source of power, the willow here symbolizes loss, along with the hope of future retrieval.
But the willow maintains its life force in Ezekiel 17:5 where the prophet plants a fruitful seed
and "sets it like a willow tree," suggesting permanence and revival. It's also celebratory, as
Leviticus 23:40 commands believers to take "willows of the brook" as a festival offering.

Shakespeare's "Willow Song" at the Globe

One of the most poignant references to willow trees occurs in Shakespeare's "Othello," where
Desdemona sings the "Willow Song" as she awaits her husband. Shakespeare's irony is that the
willow here becomes a symbol of impermanence: The song refers to a faithless lover accusing
his partner unjustly of infidelity. The irony is repeated as Othello strangles Desdemona, another
innocent, for suspected infidelity, and the murdered woman's maid Emilia, also dying, re-sings
the song. Shakespeare-oriented entrepreneurs in 2007 crafted Willow Globe theater in Powys,
Mid Wales. This outdoor theater for Shakespearean performances is woven of willow branches.

My mother had a maid called Barbary,

She was in love, and he she loved proved mad

And did forsake her. She had a song of “Willow,”

An old thing ʼtwas, but it expressed her fortune

And she died singing it. That song tonight

Will not go from my mind.(4.3.25–30)

Pop Willows

Pop culture hasn't forgotten the mythic willow, as several tree-creatures populate modern works.
Along with J.R.R. Tolkein's Ents and the talking apple trees in "Wizard of Oz," Disney added
wise old Grandmother Willow to the animated film "Pocahontas." Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling's
"Harry Potter" series features the "Whomping Willow," an indiscriminate destroyer of anything
unlucky enough to cross its roots. And pop star Pink named her child Willow after the tree whose
flexibility will withstand any trial.