Identify an image in Rachel that you believe is functioning as a symbol. Recall that a beyond its literal meaning, often acquired over the course of a story or poem. Choose something that you believe is a symbol, and explain what it is symbolic of or how it acquires symbolic meaning. Explain its role and significance in the poem or the story. Use your discussion of the symbol to make a broader claim about what your poem or story is saying about its subject matter. Review the Short Paper guidelines carefully — especially the instructions for how to edit your paper before submitting.

Note about citation: I chose a txt file of Rachel so that you could copy and paste text as needed. However, I do have a pdf that might be easier for you to read, so if you want that, let me know. Apologies if there are any errors in the txt file. There might be because of how those are transcribed. However, it was our best option for a text that can be copied. When you’re citing this play, you can leave out the in-text citation. Normally, you would cite a play using Act, Scene, and Line numbers. For example, if you wanted to site Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 53-55, you would write (3.2.53-55) at the end of the sentence. Or, if there were just acts and lines, or just lines, you would only includes those elements. However, in cases where you have neither page numbers nor line numbers (which is sometimes the case with e-texts), you can omit the in-text citation entirely. Ideally, you would choose a better copy of the text to cite — one that has line numbers — but this is what works for our digital needs!