Allegories can be fun to work through with your students. After all, understanding them can feel like unlocking a mystery or puzzling through a complex brain teaser. But getting students to the point that they can actually analyze an allegory can be a slog. In this blog post, I’ll cover how to teach allegory and introduce essential concepts, so you can get to the fun part–reading one.

Want to skip the prep? Check out this complete Allegory Introduction Lesson! It includes everything you’ll need: an editable presentation, exit ticket, graphic organizer, and more.

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How to Teach Allegory Step #1: Introduce The Topic

Begin by defining allegory simply: it’s a literary device where characters, events, and settings symbolize deeper, often abstract, concepts. 

You’ll also want to explain why authors might choose to present their stories as allegories. In some cases, like fables or children’s books, authors might use allegories to simplify stories for certain audiences–like children.

Other authors use allegories to separate themselves from political or societal criticisms made in their stories. 

How to Teach Allegory Step #2: Differentiate  Allegory and Symbolism

Personally, I think the hardest part of understanding allegories for students is understanding how they’re different from symbols. Take some time to explain explicitly the relationship between allegories and symbolism.

While both involve using one thing to represent another, allegory extends this representation across an entire narrative, with characters and plot elements serving as embodiments of abstract ideas. 

Symbolism, on the other hand, focuses on individual objects or actions standing for something else within a specific work.

So while all allegories use symbolism, not all symbols are part of an allegory.

How to Teach Allegory Step #3: Analyze Allegorical Texts

Once you’re confident that students understand the difference between symbols and allegories, it’s time to present them with an example they can work through and analyze. 

Guide students through the process of identifying allegorical elements in texts. Encourage close reading and critical thinking by asking questions such as:

• What symbols can you identify in this story?
• What larger themes or ideas might the characters or events represent?
• How do these symbols work together to tell a story?
• Can any real-world parallels be drawn from the allegory?

You can use a graphic organizer (like the one provided in this lesson) to help students track symbols throughout the allegory.

Examples of Allegorical Stories

Another difficulty in teaching allegories is finding good examples. Many of the great allegories are too long to serve as a simple example. Here are some allegories worth incorporating into your classroom.

Short Allegories

Aesop’s Fables can serve as excellent, short examples of allegories. In the handout in my Allegory Lesson, I use “The Tortoise and the Hare” as an example. “The Ant and the Grasshopper” is another great example you can use.

I use “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss in my Allegory Lesson as a primary example. This children’s book is a wonderful allegory about embracing others’ differences. 

Longer Allegories

“The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis is a Christian allegory, with Aslan representing Christ and various characters embodying virtues and vices.

“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato explores themes of enlightenment, perception, and reality.

George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is a classic historical allegory about the Russian Revolution of 1917.

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman is a fantastic graphic novel in which animals are allegories for groups of people during World War II. I think this is an especially great text for introducing allegories because the allegory itself is simple and easy to understand–even if the rest of the text is complex.

Lastly, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is another great option if you’re looking for a long worker that’s not too long. The allegorical symbols in The Alchemist are a little harder to pinpoint than in other texts like Maus or Animal Farm, but it’s a short, easy-to-read novel.

Conclusion

Teaching allegory offers a gateway to deeper literary analysis and critical thinking. By guiding students to uncover the hidden layers of meaning within allegorical texts, we empower them to engage with literature on a profound level. Through thoughtful exploration and analysis, allegory becomes not just a literary device but a window into understanding the complexities of the human experience.

Need to introduce your students to allegories but want to skip the prep work? Grab this editable Allegory Lesson and get started today!