What's the difference between allegory and symbol?

Allegory


Definition:

  • (n.) A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The real subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
  • (n.) Anything which represents by suggestive resemblance; an emblem.
  • (n.) A figure representation which has a meaning beyond notion directly conveyed by the object painted or sculptured.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Byatt said that, while she had not wished to present an allegory or a polemic, the story was impelled by a profound sense of gloom about the environment and indeed about all human endeavours.
  • (2) But the bedeviled foray also works as a potent allegory on the slow, vice-like workings of conscience, as guilt hunts down the protagonists with the shrieking remorselessness of Greek furies.
  • (3) Christians believed, and believe, that the body is not only physical, but also spiritual and mystical, and many believed it was an allegory of church, state and family.
  • (4) In a country addicted to novelty and invention, he was proceeding to supply an instant lore of allegory, myth and fable.
  • (5) They had become an allegory for unhappy love, a foreshadow of Romeo and Juliet set in the Hindu Kush .
  • (6) Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Macabre allegory’: Otto Dix’s The Triumph of Death (1934).
  • (7) Heavy with symbolism, analytical rather than dramatic, it attempts nothing less than an allegory of colonialism and apartheid, one that dares to linger in complexity."
  • (8) But even more than this bravura dramatic writing, the story of Dr Rieux's selfless struggle with the illness, and the different responses of other citizens, colleagues and chance acquaintances, unfolds an urgent allegory of war.
  • (9) Their music has long been free of such unnecessary clutter as metaphor, allegory, and poetic conceit.
  • (10) Bamba Issa took its inspiration from a Disney comic book, Donald Duck and The Magic Hourglass , which UFO felt was “an allegory for capitalism, its arrogance and shortcomings”.
  • (11) Could we fight back against a world ruled by men?” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Armed with a brush … Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting, by Gentileschi.
  • (12) So he positively enjoyed draping what is, in fact, a chilling allegory of paternal possessiveness and pseudo-scientific fanaticism, in the gaudy fabric of a "romance", just as the author pretends, in his pseudo-preface, to have discovered it among the works of "M de l'Aubépine" (French for "haw-thorn").
  • (13) The Double , it's said, is meant as an allegory: the straight man is Dostoevsky in real life, shy and often awkward; the arriviste is the author 2.0, the person he sometimes wished he was, who is quick-witted and irresistible to women.
  • (14) The sociology, the anthropology, the communication is so important, not like the veterinary or the wildlife or medical sciences," he told IRIN, explaining that epidemiological facts have to be translated in simple ways for ordinary people to understand, by using local allegories for instance.
  • (15) The film, like some of the original Apes movies, mixes intellect and allegory with adventure and special effects.
  • (16) They approached the cold war as melodrama and McCarthyism by way of allegory.
  • (17) Another way of reading it could be as an allegory about the self-destructive consequences of women's obsession with shaving.
  • (18) Clearly it is not so much a kiss he is portraying as an ecstatic allegory of all the copulations he can remember or imagine.
  • (19) She experimented towards the end, not always successfully, with symbol and allegory, and but for her success as a novelist would have been remembered as a great master of the short-story genre, which she always defended for its concentration, integrity and lack of compromise.
  • (20) Somehow the people who create television failed to create television, I believe Erin put it best when she referenced Plato's Allegory of the Cave – a very quick read if you would like to make this evening worthwhile.

Symbol


Definition:

  • (n.) A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation; a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.
  • (n.) Any character used to represent a quantity, an operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.
  • (n.) An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.
  • (n.) That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.
  • (n.) Share; allotment.
  • (n.) An abbreviation standing for the name of an element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with a following one; as, C for carbon, Na for sodium (Natrium), Fe for iron (Ferrum), Sn for tin (Stannum), Sb for antimony (Stibium), etc. See the list of names and symbols under Element.
  • (v. t.) To symbolize.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A tiny studio flat that has become a symbol of London's soaring property prices is to be investigated by planning, environmental health and fire safety authorities after the Guardian revealed details of its shoebox-like proportions.
  • (2) In Tirana, Francis lauded the mutual respect and trust between Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Albania as a "precious gift" and a powerful symbol in today's world.
  • (3) They operate on a mystical and symbolic plane, which is foreign to the practice of "Western" medicine.
  • (4) They include the Francoist slogan "Arriba España" and the yoke-and-arrows symbol of the far right Falange, whose members killed the women.
  • (5) Plasma drug concentrations, subjective self-ratings, and the digit symbol substitution test (DSST) were evaluated during 24 hours after dosage.
  • (6) YOH shifted the healthy subjects' mood towards feeling panicked, elevated systolic blood pressure and plasma prolactin concentrations, reduced digit symbol substitution, and induced drowsiness and passiveness.
  • (7) Brazil and Argentina unite in protest against culture of sexual violence Read more The symbolic power of so many women standing together proves that focusing on victims does not mean portraying women as passive.
  • (8) There on the street is Young Jo whose last words were, "I am wery symbolic, sir."
  • (9) Third, the appropriation of these symbolic forms of society, self, and the emotions by the current Iranian Islamic state and the role of the state in defining the meaning and legitimacy of emotions and their expression is analyzed.
  • (10) The philosopher defended his actions by referring to Pierre Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence, naturally enough, but it didn't wash with HR.
  • (11) This museum is a symbol of the artistic vitality of Paris.
  • (12) The best was the oral version of the Symbol Digit Modalities test, which by itself accounted for 70% of the variance of the full-sized-vehicle driving score.
  • (13) The performance tests included tracking, choice reaction, flicker fusion, exophoria, nystagmus, digit symbol substitution and the subjective assessment of mood.
  • (14) Besides, Francis says, once their reformation had gone on longer than their initial career, the rest of the band were starting to feel wary about just playing the old material, particularly when they found themselves booked to play a Canadian casino, the kind of venue that is traditionally the preserve of oldies acts: "It was just sort of symbolic, like ha-ha, here we are, at the casino.
  • (15) To investigate this issue, data from two previous papers were reanalysed to investigate the complete time course of precuing target location with either: (1) a peripheral cue that may draw attention reflexively, or (2) a central, symbolic cue that may require attention to be directed voluntarily.
  • (16) This more recent system has developed embedded wlithin the posteriorly located analytic and mnemonic cortical tissues and provides for communications between individuals within the species at symbolic, verbal levels.
  • (17) The top of the fence can also be manipulated in certain ways such as including curvature outward at the top of the fence to make scaling it much more difficult for most.” Some critics, including Washington DC congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, have warned against excessive fortification, but the report argues: “We recognise all the competing considerations that may go into questions regarding the fence, but believe that protection of the President and the White House must be the higher priority.” “Every additional second of response time provided by a fence that is more difficult to climb makes a material difference in ensuring the President’s safety and protecting the symbol that is the White House.” The panel also urges that a new head of secret service, to replace ousted head Julia Pierson, be brought in from outside the agency, ensuring it is better staffed and trained in future.
  • (18) "They said I was speaking about things I should not be speaking about ... insulting national symbols.
  • (19) It would be symbolic – not legally binding – but Pearson’s proposal is not just constitutional poetry.
  • (20) The task was to discriminate the orientation of the middle [symbol: see text].