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I can identify and explain key symbols in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2023), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Key learning points

Symbolism is where writers use objects, characters, or elements in their work, to represent deeper ideas and themes.
Poe uses the old man’s eye to symbolise intrusion, truth and moral or spiritual judgement in the story.
Poe uses the heart beat to symbolise the narrator’s guilt, paranoia and time running out.
Symbols allow the writer to communicate hidden or deeper meanings within the text.
When writing about a writer’s use of symbolism, it is always important to discuss why it has been used.

Common misconception

Students often do not understand the depth of meaning that symbolism can provide.

Symbols communicate hidden or deeper meanings to the reader, so that they can better understand the characters or themes of the text.

Keywords

Symbolism - where writers use objects, characters, or elements in their work, to represent deeper ideas and themes
Spiritual judgement - the idea that people are morally-judged by a higher, spiritual being
Recurring - if something recurs, it repeatedly occurs - it keeps happening
Intrusion - when someone wrongfully enters a space they shouldn’t be - this can be physical or metaphorical space

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Hello and a super warm welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Miss Holiday and I will be teaching you today.

I am massively looking forward to getting started with today's learning because we are going to be looking at Poe's use of symbolism in \"The Tell-Tale Heart,\" and there is just so much to go at.

So I can't wait to start discussing with you what each of the symbols might be representing in the text.

So let's get started.

So today's lesson is called, \"Symbolism in the 'Tell-Tale Heart.

'\" And by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to identify and explain key symbols in \"The Tell-Tale Heart.\" But first, here are some key words that you will need to unlock today's learning, starting with the word symbolism.

Now, symbolism is where a writer uses an object, a character, or an element of their work to represent deeper ideas and themes.

Spiritual judgement is the idea that people are morally judged by a higher spiritual being.

Our next key word is recurring.

Now if something recurs, it repeatedly occurs, so it keeps on happening.

And finally, an intrusion is when somebody wrongfully enters a space that they shouldn't be in.

And this can be a physical space or it can be a metaphorical space.

So for example, you can intrude upon someone's privacy by reading their emails, but you can also intrude upon someone's home by physically breaking into their house.

If you would like to take a moment to pause the video while you jot any of these keyword definitions down, then please feel free to do so.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to split the lesson into three parts.

We're gonna focus in the first part on looking at the symbolism of the eye in \"The Tell-Tale Heart.\" The second part of the lesson is going to focus around us looking at the symbol of the heartbeat in the text before finally moving on in the third part, to bringing all that together and learning how to write about symbolism really effectively and convincingly.

But let's start first of all by looking at the symbolism of the eye in the text.

So symbolism is a really effective way for writers to convey complex messages.

Now in \"The Tell-Tale Heart,\" Poe uses many symbols to add real depth to the story and convey really important messages about his themes.

So what are the themes of the \"The Tell-Tale Heart\"? I'd like you to discuss this with the people around you.

You can either do this with others, or if you are working on your own, do not worry.

You can still absolutely have a go at this activity.

You can just bullet point some of your ideas down on a piece of paper if that's easier for you.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you discuss what themes we see in \"The Tell-Tale Heart,\" either with other people or just consider it independently.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

And off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

And I could see some really, really long lists there written by those of you working independently.

And I was equally hearing some fantastic suggestions from those of you working in groups.

Really well done.

Here are some of the themes that we see in the text.

So we've got death, we've got madness or delusion and versus sanity, we've got guilt, justice, and the theme of time.

Now let's have a look at the symbolism of the eye in a little bit more detail.

And I'd like you to think, \"Well, what do we associate with eyes or seeing?\" So for example, we associate watching with seeing.

So there's an example of the kind of thing that I'm looking for here.

What I'd like you to do now is pause the video while you discuss, either again with people around you or thinking independently, what we tend to associate with the concept of people's eyes or people seeing things.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider that.

Off you go.

Fantastic work.

And again, some really, really insightful suggestions there.

So let's talk through some of the answers that I heard that I liked the best.

So obviously we've got this idea of watching something.

And that can be something quite innocent.

So you can watch a match or you could watch a TV show.

But also that verb watching can be quite sinister, especially if somebody doesn't know that you are watching them.

And secondly, we've got this idea of judgement , okay? Now that can be physical, so we can judge people based on their appearance using our eyes, but also there's this idea of kind of spiritual judgement that we mentioned on our keyword slides.

So this idea that people are subject to some kind of moral kind of judgement or decision.

We also associate eyes perhaps with truth or seeing the truth.

And again, that can be literal.

So we can witness something and we know that what we see through our eyes is our truth.

And that can be metaphorical as well, because there is this kind of idea that the eyes are the windows of the soul.

And what that expression basically means is that allegedly we can see what somebody's true nature or character is like by looking into their eyes and seeing their soul.

So these were some of the ideas that you might have come up with of things that we associate with eyes or seeing in some way.

And what I'd like you to do with these next, is think, \"Well, how do these ideas link to \"The Tell-Tale Heart\"? Can we identify kind of any themes from the text that link to this specific symbol of the eye or the idea of seeing? So for each of these suggestions, I'd like you to think about how it might link to the text.

So in order to do this, I'd encourage you to work in groups.

However, of course, if you're working independently, then please feel free to do this task just by jotting some ideas down or thinking independently for yourself.

So what I'd like you to do now is pause the video while you consider how those ideas might link to the text.

Off you go.

Again, some really fantastic discussions there and some really perceptive suggestions as to how this symbol of the eye might link to the text.

So here's what you might have said.

First of all, Jacob says, \"Well, we see the idea of watching when the narrator is spying on the old man in the beginning of the text.

He then watches him for seven nights as he sleeps.\" Okay, so there we've got that kind of more sinister watching, that kind of sneaky watching that makes us feel really uncomfortable.

Okay, so thank you to Jacob for suggesting that.

I think that's a really good link that we can make to the text.

Alex says that we can see the idea of judgement as well \"in the concept of moral or spiritual judgement.

The old man's eye disturbs the narrator, possibly because he feels judgement from the old man.\" And maybe that's the reason that the narrator really hates the old man's eye because perhaps he feels it can see who he truly is in some way.

And he feels threatened by being seen that personally.

Maybe.

Jun contributes and says, \"Well, perhaps the narrator hates the old man's eye because he feels paranoid that it sees his true inner and wicked self, as eyes are supposedly windows to the soul.

So he feels the need to destroy it to protect himself.\" So there, Jun and Alex's ideas really similar, kind of almost following on from each other to create this really nice interpretation of what the eyes might symbolise in the text there.

And I really like this idea of the narrator perhaps actually being frightened of being truly seen.

So well done to our Oak pupils.

Fantastic work there.

So once we've formed our idea about what we think that a symbol represents, we've got to evidence it, because we know in English, we've always got to find evidence from the text to support our ideas.

So I'm going to show you how to do that now and then you are going to have a go at it yourself.

So we are going to find evidence from the text to support the idea that the eye could represent intrusion.

So being somewhere where you're not supposed to be.

So if we take this quotation here, \"I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.\" So this is obviously from the part of the story where the narrator is spying on the old man, which is very, very creepy.

Now here we see the narrator watching the old man as he sleeps, and that shows that he's intruding on the old man's privacy.

The eye therefore, or eyes more generally, could therefore represent this idea of intrusion.

So that's kind of how we would tie in the quotation to our idea as to what the object symbolises, what the eyes symbolise here.

Now you are going to have a go at trying to do this yourself.

So I'm going to give you a quotation and you are going to try and explain to me how that quotation might also support the idea that the eyes could be symbolic of or could represent intrusion in the text.

So here's your quotation.

\"Every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.\" Oh, so creepy.

So what I'm gonna do now is invite you to pause the video while you try and explain how that quotation shows us that the eye may represent intrusion or eyes generally might represent intrusion.

So pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you.

I can't wait to share ideas and see what you've come up with.

Again, some really fantastic work there.

So let's have a look at what you might have said.

So again, the narrator watches the old man, unbeknownst to him.

And that's the really disturbing part here, is the fact that the old man doesn't know he's being watched and observed in this way.

Now this shows not only a moral intrusion, because he is spying on the old man and that's not the right thing to do, so it's immoral, but also that level of physical intrusion, because he is entered the old man's room without permission.

So here we see the narrator really crossing moral and physical boundaries by intruding both literally and metaphorically on this old man's life.

So therefore the eyes in this story could be representative of this idea of intrusion.

And with intrusion there comes threat, because obviously if you're somewhere you're not supposed to be, you are posing a threat to the person that would normally inhabit that space.

So it's this idea that the eyes in the story could represent this kind of intrusion and therefore threat.

So well done if you got that, fantastic work.

So let's put that practise to the test.

And I'd like you to find evidence from the text to support each of the student's ideas.

And I'd like you to explain how your evidence supports the student's ideas.

So here are the pupil's ideas.

Jun says, \"The eye could symbolise truth.

The narrator arguably hates the eye because it makes him feel exposed- as if his inner true self is being seen when he feels the eye rest upon him.

The eye could therefore also represent the narrator's fear of himself.\" Love that idea, Jun, absolutely love it.

This idea of the narrator being frightened of himself, love that, really sophisticated and perceptive idea.

Alex's idea is that, \"The eye symbolises the concepts of moral or a higher spiritual judgement.

The narrator is really paranoid that the eye is somehow judging him.\" And actually, again, Alex's point linking quite nicely to Jun's point there, because actually the paranoia could come from that fear of himself.

So two really strong points here that you've got to take forward and find evidence for.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause a video while you look for evidence in the text to support these students' opinions.

Off you go.

Brilliant, brilliant effort there.

And I could see some really detailed notes being taken and some really fruitful discussions being had.

So a massive well done there.

Great, great start to the lesson.

So if we're taking Jun's idea that the eye could symbolise the idea of truth, or the narrator's fear of his own nature, which I just love, here is some evidence that you might have chosen.

So you might have chosen this quotation.

\"I saw it with perfect distinctness- all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones.\" And the explanation as to how this quotation could support Jun's idea could be this.

So this phrase, perfect distinctness, supports the idea that seeing someone's eyes means seeing their truth or the truth about them.

The fact that the eye chilled the narrator's very marrow in his bones could show that when the eye rests on him, he feels that his soul is being seen.

It's almost like the eye penetrates him right to his soul and that makes him feel really uncomfortable.

And finally, perhaps he knows deep down that he's mad, and he resents the eye because he feels it sees his madness in some way, or it kind of surfaces feelings of madness that the narrator is trying really hard to like back down and and suppress basically.

And I really like this idea, because I do think the narrator is very much frightened of himself and he is in some denial about his true state.

And maybe that's why he keeps telling us, \"I'm not mad, I'm not mad, I'm not mad,\" because he's trying to deny it, because it's part of himself that he really fears.

So thank you to Jun and thank you to you for finding that evidence and explaining it so well.

I think that is a fantastic point that you could really take forward to write about later in the lesson.

Secondly, in terms of Alex's idea that the eye symbolises the concept of moral or a higher spiritual judgement , you could have chosen this quotation here.

\"Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees- very gradually- I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.\" Ooh, scary stuff.

Now in terms of explaining how this quotation can support the idea that the eye symbolises moral judgement , well, it could show that the narrator feels morally judged by the eye and wants to get rid of the pressure of feeling judged by destroying the old man's eye, which he feels is the source of this kind of spiritual judgement.

Secondly, the eye to the narrator arguably represents higher judgement.

So in getting rid of the eye, perhaps the narrator feels safe from any kind of spiritual judgement or justice.

Again, maybe because he knows that he's a wicked person deep down and he's trying to avoid kind of confronting that spiritual or moral moral judgement in the moment.

So again, a really well explained idea here that you might want to consider when we're writing about symbolism in part three of the lesson.

But a, \"really well done\" for selecting those quotes so carefully and explaining them so thoroughly.

Really well done there.

So once the second part of the lesson now where we're going to have a look at the symbolism of the heartbeat.

So here are some quotations that reference the heartbeat in the story, and I'd like you to read them and think, \"Well, what might the heartbeat symbolise in the story?\" So I'm going to leave these quotations on screen for you.

Again, you can discuss this in groups or you can think about it independently.

It's completely up to you, but please, please use the quotations to help you.

That is what they are there for.

I'm going to set you off now and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

So pause the video and off you go.

Again, some really fantastic discussions there and lots of you getting the hang of it from earlier in the lesson when we kind of worked through that example of what the eyes might symbolise together.

So it's great to see how much your understanding of symbolism has already come on.

So I asked some Oak pupils, because while you were discussing, they were also discussing, and they had some fantastic ideas that I really wanted them to share with you, starting with Jacob.

So Jacob said, \"Well, the heartbeat symbolises guilt.

The narrator's crimes are inescapable, so he can't get away from them.

Despite destroying the old man, he still haunts the narrator, showing that guilt is inescapable.\" So I really like this idea of perhaps the heartbeat representing the guilt here, and therefore the fact that the heart keeps beating represents the idea that the narrator cannot escape his guilt.

Brilliant stuff.

And Jun adds, \"Well, I think the heartbeat symbolises paranoia.

The narrator is paranoid that he has not successfully destroyed the old man and that the heart will tell tales on him to the police.

So again, it's this kind of idea of maybe time running out until the narrator is caught and therefore the heartbeat representing the paranoia and the panic that he feels that he might be discovered.\" And finally, Alex kind of picking up this idea again, and taking it in a slightly different direction.

\"The heartbeat symbolises time running out for the narrator and the old man.

So the heartbeat sounds in the lead up to the old man's murder, which would symbolise the running out of time for him and his life, but also in the lead up to the narrator's confession.

And that would symbolise the lead up to the narrator's kind of time being up and him being sent to prison.\" So again, I really like this idea from Alex, because I like that he's given us two interpretations of the same idea here.

So it symbolises time running out for the narrator, but it also symbolises, maybe, time running out for the old man.

So well done if you've got any of those ideas, and thank you so much to our Oak pupils for their suggestions as well, some really great ideas there for you.

So let's check for understanding before we move on.

Which of the following does the heartbeat not symbolise in the story? Is it A, the narrator's intense paranoia about the old man? B, the narrator's inescapable guilt over his crime? C, time running out for the old man in the lead up to his death? Or is it D, time running out for the police to discover the body? I'm going to invite you now to pause a video while you make your answer selection.

And fantastic work if you selected D.

The heartbeat does not symbolise time running out for the police to discover the body, as they are not the ones who discover the body, the narrator confesses.

However, you could say that the heartbeat symbolises the time running out until the narrator confesses.

So well done if you chose D, you are absolutely right.

So it's on to our second task of the lesson now, and this is your chance to really impress me with how much you have learned.

And I'd like you to discuss, well, which one of these ideas do you agree with the most? You have to pick one.

You're not allowed to sit on the fence and say, \"Well, I agree with two.\" No, you have to just pick one.

And then you have to explain why you chose that one using evidence from the text.

So here are the ideas.

You've got Jacob saying that the heartbeat symbolises guilt, Jun saying that the heartbeat symbolises paranoia, and Alex saying that the heartbeat symbolises time running out.

Now, all of these are really valid suggestions.

So what I'm really looking to see here is you evaluating which you think is the most relevant to you and your reading of the text.

Remember, you are only allowed to pick one, and I'm looking for justification from the text.

Now, in order to help frame your conversations, I've provided you with a sentence starter.

So you might say to somebody else, \"Well, I agree most with whoever you agree with, because in the text,\" and then you are going to give me your evidence to support your opinion.

So that is how you might go about framing your ideas in a really kind of concise and respectful way to other people.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you make your decisions and then have your discussions.

Make sure you are justifying your opinion with evidence from the text.

I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

So off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

And it was great to see the room kind of divided.

We saw lots of people agreeing with Jacob, but then you know a fair few people in Jun's camp, and then a few less people in Alex's camp.

But it's still great to have those different diverse ranges of opinions.

That's what English is all about.

So really well done for being so respectful in your discussions with one another.

So when you are justifying your opinion using evidence from the text, I just want you to consider the way in which you went about selecting your evidence.

Did you pick the first quotation that you came across that you felt supported the student's idea? Or did you select a few relevant quotations and pick the one that you felt best supported the student's idea? And what I'd like you to think now is, \"Well, which of these two approaches to selecting evidence do you think is better and why?\" So I'm going to invite you now to reflect upon the way that you chose evidence, and then discuss that question with the people around you or just bullet pointing ideas if you're working on your own.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic discussions, and really well done to those of you that identified that Jun's approach to selecting quotations is much better than Jacob's, because it's always best to select a few relevant quotations and then decide which you think best supports your idea.

Because that way you know that you're actually selecting the strongest evidence possible.

So you're actually choosing a selection of quotations, then evaluating which you think is the best and narrowing it down to just the one.

And you'll know that that one is the absolute best one that you could have chosen because you've considered other options.

So it's always good to try and be a little bit judicious with selecting evidence, which basically means to weigh up different options and make sure that you are picking the best one.

So really well done for that.

And in future, try and make sure that you're being a Jun and not a Jacob in this case.

So for the last part of the lesson, we are going to draw together the strands of everything that we have learned in this lesson and use it to write a really amazing piece of writing about how Poe is using symbolism.

So when writing about symbolism, it's really important to consider why a symbol has been used.

And Jacob's absolutely right there, and Jun writes in and he says, \"Well, symbols allow the writer to communicate hidden meanings to us.\" And what I'd like you to consider now is, well, I want you to imagine that the narrator hated the old man's hair instead of his eye, and that his hatred of the old man's hair is what drove him to commit murder.

Why do you think that wouldn't have worked as well? What hidden meanings might we have missed out on if Poe had chosen to make the symbol of the narrator's hatred his hair and not his eye? So pause the video and discuss those questions with the people around you, or just think about them independently if you're working on your own.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

And I was really impressed to hear so many of you saying that actually it just wouldn't have the same effect at all.

So as Jacob explains, \"The symbolism of the eye is actually really important because it helps us to understand the narrator's paranoia and perhaps his fear of his true nature.

The fact that he's scared of the old man's eye subtly perhaps tells us that he's actually scared of being truly seen.\" Okay, so if he was scared of the old man's hair, for example, we might not have that hidden meaning that actually maybe his hatred comes from a fear of himself.

So really well done if you mentioned that in your discussion.

I think this was a really hard question and I'd heard some really perceptive ideas being raised there.

So really well done everybody.

So Jun states, \"Well, we decided earlier that the heartbeat could be symbolic of the narrator's guilt.

But why can't the writer just tell us that the narrator is feeling guilty?\" And it's an interesting question to raise, and it's one that I want you to discuss with the people around you or thinking independently.

So what I'd like you to do now is pause the video while you discuss that question, as I said, either with other people or thinking about it independently.

So pause the video and have those discussions now.

Fantastic discussions.

And I thought that in terms of some feedback, we could hear from Jacob, because he had some quite strong opinions about this that I thought would be really useful for you to hear as well.

And you can compare kind of the contents of your discussions with what Jacob is saying here.

So Jacob said, \"Well, this is a narrator who clearly isn't of sound mind.

I get the impression that he doesn't even understand how he's feeling most of the time or why he's feeling that way.\" And based on what Jacob has said, I'd like you to now discuss, well, how does using a symbol that represents guilt works so well then? So why does it work better than just telling us that the narrator feels guilty based on what Jacob just said? So I'm going to give you a moment now to pause the video while you reread what Jacob has just said, and use it to try and answer that question.

Again, this is a very difficult question, so don't worry if you're struggling a little bit.

That's what group discussion is for.

It's so that you can share ideas and get inspiration from other people.

So please, please share your thoughts, and equally you can ask other people if you are not sure as well.

So pause the video and have those discussions now.

Fantastic discussions.

And I could tell that this was a question that many of us were finding a little bit harder than some of the other ones.

As I said, that's absolutely fine.

We are looking to challenge ourselves.

This is a challenging text, so please don't worry.

Here, Jun is going to offer us some insight and he's going to hopefully clear up some of that confusion that some of you are feeling in that moment.

So don't worry.

So Jun's perspective on this is that, \"Arguably, the narrator is far too hysterical and out of control to actively realise that he's feeling guilty.

And perhaps this is an emotion that he doesn't actually understand, so Poe uses the beating heart to show us that this is how he's feeling.\" And I really like this idea, because I do think our narrator doesn't have a lot of self-awareness.

I don't think he understands necessarily how he feels most of the time.

So I think it wouldn't feel very real if he was to say, you know, \"I was feeling really guilty.\" Especially considering that he's clearly mad, but he can't admit to it.

So perhaps this is a narrator who doesn't like to admit his true feelings or his inner thoughts.

So having the narrator come out and say, \"I feel really guilty,\" perhaps wouldn't be very convincing in this text.

So instead, Poe uses the symbol of the beating heart to show us the narrator's feelings so that he doesn't have to say them.

So I think this is a really good idea from Jun, and I think it's a very complex one that it might, you know, you might want to pause the video at this moment and just kind of digest that for a second because it's such a difficult idea.

But I know that you can all take this forward and use it in your writing in the next task.

So really well done for your discussions.

And thank you to our Oak pupils for helping us out a little bit with that really difficult question.

So let's check for understanding before we move on.

Why might a writer use symbolism in a text? I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you read the three answer options and decide which you think is the correct reason.

So pause the video and make your decision.

And congratulations if you correctly selected B, you are absolutely right.

Symbolism can reveal or express hidden meanings or ideas to the reader.

And as we've just said, in this case, the beating heart kind of reveals the narrator's perhaps hidden or unrealized guilt in this moment.

So well done if you got B, you are spot on.

So when writing about symbolism, you've really got to cover why the writer has used the symbol in the first place.

You've got to think, well, what does the symbol teach us about the character in that moment? What hidden meanings are being uncovered through the use of the symbol? So for example, the narrator's hidden guilt.

Why has the symbol been used in this exact moment? So why right now? And finally, how does the symbol enhance or improve our understanding of the text more widely? So those are some really important questions that you can ask yourself when you are writing about symbolism.

So let's have a go at doing just that.

Now, I would like you to choose one of the symbols that we have looked at this lesson.

So it could be the symbolism of the eye or it could be the symbolism of the heartbeat.

And I'd like you to explain how you think it's been used using these questions that we've been told that we need to ask ourselves to guide you.

So what does the symbol teach us about the character? What hidden meanings are being uncovered? Why has the symbol been used in this moment? And how does it enhance our understanding of the text? Now, difficult questions here.

So I thought I'd be really, really nice to you and give you a little bit of help by giving you some sentence starters.

You are very welcome.

So these sentence starters will really help you to verbalise and to articulate your ideas about these questions.

So we've got, \"Poe uses the symbolism of the something to suggest that something.\" We've got, \"Here, the something, so the heartbeat or the eye, could symbolise mm because,\" and you're gonna tell me why.

And finally, \"Through the use of symbolism, Poe illustrates\" what? Okay? So this will really allow you to guide yourself through those questions and make sure that you are expressing your ideas in a really concise and effective way.

So what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video while you have a go at writing about symbolism.

If you get stuck, please use the sentence starters to help you.

I'm really excited to see what you come up with and I wish you the best of luck in this task.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic writing.

Really, really well done.

And here's what Jacob wrote in response to the same task.

Throughout the short story, \"The Tell-Tale Heart,\" Poe uses symbolism to illustrate the narrator's guilt and paranoia.

In both the lead up to, and following the death of the old man, the narrator believes that he hears the low, dull, quick sound of the old man's heartbeat.

The recurring sound of the old man's heartbeat could be symbolic of the narrator's guilt.

Poe effectively uses the sound of the heartbeat to show us the narrator's true feelings, as he's clearly a person who struggles with his inner desires and emotions.

Instead of telling us that the narrator perhaps feels guilty, Poe uses the heartbeat as a representation of the emotion that the narrator has not fully realised yet.

This also contributes to Poe's characterization of the narrator as out of control and delusional, as we see him really struggling to contain his emotions.\" So I love here that Jacob has really kind of given us a concrete example of where we see this symbol and explained the hidden meaning that it has uncovered, and then talked about what it teaches us about the narrator as the main character at this point.

So Jacob has really cleverly worked his way through each of those questions in this paragraph.

Now, what I'd like you to do is to check that, like Jacob, you have actually explained why Poe used the symbolism.

So Jacob has used phrases like, \"could be symbolic of,\" \"could show,\" \"could represent,\" \"we see him,\" and all of those phrases show me that he's really explaining his ideas and suggestions.

So what I'm going to do now is leave you for a moment to pause the video while you consider whether you've really explained why the symbolism has been used.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic reflection and really well done.

Many of you adding in little phrases here and there to improve your response.

And that's lovely to see.

So really well done.

So to summarise the learning from today, while symbolism is where writers use objects, characters, or elements in their work to represent deeper ideas and themes, Poe uses the old man's eye to symbolise intrusion, truth, and moral or spiritual judgement.

Poe uses the heartbeat to symbolise the narrator's guilt, paranoia, and time running out.

Now we've learned this lesson that symbols allow the writers to communicate hidden or deeper meanings within the text.

And we've also learned that when it comes to writing about symbolism, it's always really important to discuss why it has been used.

Thank you so much for coming to today's lessons.

I have loved hearing all of your ideas and suggestions, and I've been so impressed with your resilience because we covered some really challenging content today.

So I'm really proud and really impressed with your efforts today.

Thank you very much, and I'll next time.

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I foamed—I raved—I swore!\"" } ], "choices": [ { "text": "\"But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed.\"" }, { "text": "\"I bade the gentlemen welcome.\"" }, { "text": "\"Oh God! what could I do? 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