Literary analysis & Perks of being a wallflower

• Engels
• Middelbare school

Literary analysis

Perks of Being a Wallflower

What is the setting in a novel? Please describe (use key words, phrases)

Setting:

Setting is the time a story takes place and also the location where the story takes place. The setting can contribute to the mood of the story, so the time and location of the story can say something about what happens in the story.

The setting can change during a story. For instance, a book could initially be about a young prince who grows up in a castle and later you read about him as an adult king fighting at the battlefield.

In almost all books the setting, along with character and plot are a fundamental parts of the story.

What is the setting of Perks of Being a Wallflower?

What is a theme of a novel?

Theme

• Central idea(s) in a text
  
• What is the story (really) about?
  Often an underlying message.
• (usually) multiple layers (+,+..)
  
• What has the author meant to say?
  
• What does the reader think?
  

Name at least 3 themes in Perks:

What is a symbol? Give an example.

Symbolism

A symbol is something that represents something else:

• A symbol is a word, an image, or anything that somehow represents a larger idea. 
• In other words, what you see is not just what you get. 
• Symbols are more than meets the eye. They're loaded with meaning.

Example? In America, eagles are a symbol of freedom. In punk rock, the safety pin is a symbol of rebellion. In Western literature, the apple is often a symbol for sin. See how that works?

But when talking about symbols, it's also important to remember that the symbol is still itself, in addition to what it symbolizes. So when you see an apple in a book and immediately think of sin, don't forget that it's also just an apple. And someone's probably going to eat it. Or at least bake it into a pie.

Symbols carry great power in literature. In fact, we here at Shmoop set aside entire sections of our literature and poetry learning guides just to discuss them.

To see the Shmoop analysis gnomes in action, check out holes in, um, Holes or the birthmark in, uh, The Birthmark. Hmm, we're sensing a pattern here…

Examples

• A red rose = love
• The colour black = death
• An apple = sin
• A dove = peace  

The tunnel in Perks is a symbol of: