"What is an Allegory?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

[@SWLF]

This video now includes Spanish as well as English subtitles. For a full list of dual-language videos in our series, please see the following site: liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/oregon-state-guide-english-literary-terms

[@omkasarkhedkar9413]

I'm watching all the videos of this series to write my rap songs. Thank you and keep the good content!

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for supporting the series, Om!

[@Khatoon170]

Allegory is form of narrative that uses plot , setting or character to stand for message that has larger moral or lessons or makes teaching commentary on real world issues. Types of allegory biblical invokes themes from bible . Often explores struggle between good and evil , one of best known allegories classical as Plato allegory of cave . Modern allegory. In poetry faerie queen by Edmund Spenser used as allegory to explore Vice and virtue. Poetic allegory is extended metaphor in which character places , objects in narrative carry figurative meaning . Thank you for your wonderful educational literary channel.

[@superyellowfolder]

Thanks so much. New Zealand teacher of English here, and I will be using this content to help with student understanding.

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Greg! We hope you enjoy the other videos in the series as well!

[@englishgrammarloverspathsh2579]

From India, I love your lecture. Please keep on teaching 🙏🙏❤️❤️

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Naresh!

[@cdcdogs4961]

♦️ Probably the best explanation describing allegories this country girl ears have heard. I think I’ll keep listening, I might actually learn something. 😉👏🏼😁

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, CDC Dogs! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the video and we hope you enjoy the others as well!

[@SWLF]

If you liked this video, let us know by dropping us a comment, asking a question, or sharing your favorite example of allegory! Doing so will help to establish this comment section as a rich digital learning environment.

[@tyronebalaguer7487]

This is a good content. Looking forward for more contents like this. Kudos!

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Tyrone! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!

[@vaevin33]

Wow, this is incredibly well put.

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for your kind words, Josh! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!

[@1995yuda]

Second time watching this and I have a few short Q's - How do I know if an allegory is the best way to convey my message? If it is, how do I decide which allegory is best? Are there types of allegories? Lastly, can you recommend a book that goes in depth about the nature, structure and execution of an allegory and the elements(Tenor, Vehicle, etc) which comprise it? I adore you guys btw.

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for the questions, 1995yuda! As to your questions--we think allegory is a good genre to work within if you (the writer) are interested in storytelling as a way to convey certain philosophical, religious, political, or moral truths about the world. That's certainly one reason why people tell stories (it is a staple of religious instruction) but it is by no means the only reason that people write or read stories. Allegories are typically broken up into categories related to these "truths." You'll often see people referring to political allegory and religious allegory as the only types, but they really mean that those types are the most common. As far as vehicle and tenor go (and you can also find a video in our series on that subject) IA Richards is a good person to check out, though his language can be a bit strange to modern audiences. Another old-school book you might check out is Northrup Frye's Anatomy of Criticism. What does everyone else think?

[@1995yuda]

@@SWLF Thank you so much for such a detailed and caring response to my inquiries! I'm going to check out the sources you mentioned ASAP. Like I said in another comment - you guys kick some serious ass!

[@digitalsalsas]

check out The Master and Margarita (Ginsburg translation)

[@asmaaswer3602]

Such an interesting and intriguing way to explain this literary device!

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for your kind words, Asma! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!

[@1995yuda]

The ending is GOLDEN.

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for supporting the series, 1995yuda!

[@tetzlaffjo]

Sooooo... does this mean that *I'm* left to find out if a poem/story/whatever is an allegory, and what that allegory means? Can I, the reader, ascribe a system of meaning onto the objects, characters, or scenes of something I'm reading to make the piece mean what I want it to mean? (Like, you know, the results of an election? I can make that mean what I want it to mean, right?). Or are there commonly-held meanings that allegories point to that I can somehow uncover? There is this poem I love by Tony Hoagland called "A Color of the Sky" that reads: "There are the dark parts on the road when you pass through clumps of wood and the bright spots where you have a view of the ocean, but that doesn’t make the road an allegory." Well, why not? Why don't the road the forest and the light shining or not shining on or through them make an allegory, especially if I want it to? Is it a metaphor instead? And if so, what exactly is the difference between a metaphor and an allegory?

[@SWLF]

Great post, Jodi! In terms of the Hoagland quotation, we'd say that, as Prof Bude suggests, an allegory is as much about how the reader interprets the work as what the writer means by the work. In other words, just because the author tells us that the road isn't an allegory doesn't mean the dark parts of road can NOT make an allegory either. As readers, we make the poem's meaning just as much as the author does. As to your second question, one difference between metaphor and allegory is that allegory usually involves multiple kinds of metaphors or other kinds figurative language that interact with one another to form a symbolic network. In other words, metaphors are usually on-offs, while the multiple vehicles and tenors of an allegory interact with one another to create more complex meanings (the owl in the Ship of Fools example interacts with the ship, or the allegorical feeling figures in Inside/Out interact with one another.) That interaction between symbols is what makes an allegory an allegory. Thanks so much for keeping the conversation going!

[@marwanalshater665]

So far so clear... More thanks 🙏👍👏

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Marwan!

[@uthmanyoussef4509]

is it just me or is she clearly reading a script lmao I'm so mean.

[@trulyklover2166]

fr😂

[@jossypoo]

If you think there are youtube videos done wholly unscripted, i don't know how to help you.

[@urkovcharterservices]

Great video. Thank you. What was that piccolo at 3:30? BTW Ship of Fools, Grateful Dead, solid tune.

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for your kind words, @urkovcharterservices ! And we're not sure what that is at 3:30! We'll have to check out the Dead song when we get a free moment.

[@sporadikos6879]

I always loved movie allegory, most notably Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice just has layers on top of layers which imo makes it just a masterpiece of art in the form of a film.

[@SWLF]

Thanks for the comment, Sporadikos! Would you care to elaborate on these allegorical layers?

[@1995yuda]

Yes, do elaborate, since I usually pick up on allegories but in B vs S I've seen none, which didn't help since I thought the movie sucks anyway. Open to the possibility of changing my mind, Sporadikos.

[@safinahmed6648]

It's great figure of speech for talking something.Thank you ma'am for talking something. Ma'am could you please talk about satire and Irony?

[@SWLF]

Thanks, Safin! We have recorded lessons on both satire and irony for our series and you are free to check them out on our KZbin page.

[@user-gj8tg6bj2j]

plz don't stop m,aking vedios like this...

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, @user-gj8tg6bj2j ! We're actually working on a few more right now!

[@bantupumpfbktv1008]

Lovely, i love your interpretation.

[@SWLF]

Dang, three in one day! Thanks for your support of our series, @bantupumpfbktv1008 !

[@happythoughts541]

Thank you for the video, but how is allegory different from symbolism? They both represent something else. Thank you for taking the time to answer!

[@SWLF]

Great question, Happythoughts! The short answer is that there are so many different ways that one thing (a vehicle) can represent something else (a tenor) that literary critics have found the precision of these terms useful. To see some of these different ways, check out our metaphor, simile, metonymy, figurative language, symbolism, and synecdoche videos.These different ways of representing things often have different effects on how we understand them.

[@samuelekpeti3818]

U guys are the best u make it so clear

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for supporting the series, Samuel!

[@oliveleiladelossantos7249]

This is so great, let me hit the subscription.

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for supporting the series, Olive!

[@hemalakshmi4250]

Most known example is John Bunyan's Pilgrims progress ! Really thank you mam, by the way ur dogs are so cute 😍

[@SWLF]

Nice one, hemalakshmi! Thanks for sharing the example! And those dogs are pretty cute.

[@hemalakshmi4250]

@@SWLF ok 😅👍 Those dogs are pretty cute.

[@Joy-yk9pw]

Whenever I think of "allegory," John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress comes to my mind.

[@SWLF]

Great example, Joy! Thanks for keeping the conversation going!

[@imohammadhussain]

The Inside Out example really helped. 😅

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Mohammed! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!

[@imohammadhussain]

@@SWLF i subscribed right after this video. Will definitely watch the rest. Great work you guys! 🤩🙏

[@SWLF]

@@imohammadhussain Thanks so much for supporting our work!

[@leorising11]

Animal farm is the best example of an allegory.

[@SWLF]

Great example, Leo Rising! Thanks for keeping the conversation going!

[@jrmjay9478]

Can one single word within a text be considered an allegory?

[@SWLF]

Hmm, interesting question, jrm. We'd say probably not. Could you give us an example?

[@marfinedd4368]

Beautiful !!!

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, MarFin! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!

[@edgewaterz]

The music is extremely distracting but the content is good.

[@SWLF]

Thanks, edgewaterz! We'll try to keep the music down in future videos.

[@ChefFarisMom3]

Thank you sooooooooooo much

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Chef Faris! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well.

[@hamzaalwan9864]

Like maybe characters or events have symbolic meaning?

[@SWLF]

Yes! These are certainly some properties of allegories. Thanks for keeping the conversation going, Hamza!

[@ramseyal-mansouri4443]

This is really so informative. #Oregon_State_University

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much for your kinds words, Ramsey! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!

[@matthewperez4811]

Going to max the support and explain on KZbin, dinosaur quest for VR help thank you

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, Matthew!

[@Bigfluffinfluff]

well shit, I feel smarter. Thank you.

[@SWLF]

Ha! Thanks, BMFF!

[@pineappleprincess9704]

-I'm sorry. I had to XD- "Allegory! A story where the characters stand for abstract ideas! For example, good and evil!... CAUSE I WAS-"

[@SWLF]

Ha! I think this comment is better suited for our "What is an Allusion?" video.

[@pineappleprincess9704]

@@SWLF I know! I was just going with they lyrics of the source it came from XD

[@SWLF]

@@pineappleprincess9704 To be fair, Arthur gives a pretty good summary here.

[@Ziaullah-bk5ut]

We can say that,animal farm by George Orwell is a good example of allegory 👀

[@SWLF]

Yes! Great example, Zia! Would you care to share how the allegory works?

[@Ziaullah-bk5ut]

In simple words... allegory is a story which symbolize an event or characters...it would be better to defferentiat between allegory, analogy,simile, metaphor, symbolism, exampleflification..😘

[@SWLF]

@@Ziaullah-bk5ut Nice work, Zia!

[@sohansheikh1027]

I love you,Madam❤

[@SWLF]

Thanks so much, @sohansheikh1027 ! We're delighted to hear you enjoyed the lesson, and we hope you'll check out more in our series!

[@nicolasgamez3466]

A picture says a thousand words.....

[@SWLF]

And if that picture is an allegory, maybe even more! Thanks for the comment, @nicolasgamez3466!

[@kengoss6878]

Regarding the Chinese allegorical wall hanging over the Study settee ... I believe that may be a historical reference to the legendary political Gung Ho Moonshine Wars . ( Just kidding 😁 )

[@SWLF]

We're a little baffled by this comment, @kengoss6878 ...

[@kengoss6878]

So sorry. This comment is an answer/reply meant for someone else that accidentally got posted here as a reply. Whoops. Thanks for calling it to my attention.@@SWLF

[@SWLF]

Ha! thanks for clearing things up! @@kengoss6878

[@anthonymurphy1624]

So are writers that create political cartoon using Allegory in most cases!

[@SWLF]

Yes! Political cartoon often use allegory to convey their meaning, for sure. The cartoon has to simplify complex ideas and one easy was to do that is to employ symbols to stand in for these ideas. Thanks for keeping the conversation going, Anthony!

[@vincentfoster6811]

The Holy Bible. That's allegory, Adam not waking up is a clue for how it should be read.

[@rylandpeters8982]

so basically a metaphor

[@SWLF]

Sort of, rylandpeters8982... A metaphor is a specific kind of figurative language that is constituted by a comparison between two different things. Some of the examples that Dr. Bude uses (e.g. the Inside Out examples) aren't metaphors. Unfortunately, metaphor has become a kind of catch-all term for figurative language in popular literary discussions, and we're trying to help people spot the many different ways that language can be figurative. The other big difference is that allegories involve multiple kinds of figurative language working together (e.g. all the participants of the ship of fools). One of the delights of allegory is seeing how these different vehicles interact with one another to create complex kinds of meanings. Hope that helps!

[@Cypher791]

🤨

[@SWLF]

🫤

[@blue7lvn245]

So Tolkien didn't like this.... Hmmm

[@SWLF]

Hmm, care to elaborate, Blue?

[@thedanhler]

If you don’t understand Math so well the explanation might be a problem.😭😭

[@SWLF]

Ha! True. Happily, both get easier with practice, though!

[@learnmoreknowmore1332]

Like bharat mata, Germania

[@SWLF]

Yes! Bharat Mata is a painting that could be easily read as an allegory in a manner akin to that of Ship of Fools. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!

[@impactando7373]

Thanksss

[@SWLF]

You're very welcome, Impactando!

[@impactando7373]

@@SWLF ❤