“Everything that has a story, has a lesson”(Bezio). I find this statement to be really interesting as it puts value on everything we communicate. While words are weird symbols on pages and seem as though they don’t have true meaning, they are prime attributes to our lives as humans. Along with words, there are symbols. Symbols are things that stand for something else. Symbols make things so much more complicated within our lives and the stories that we create. As humans, we are faced with words, signs, and symbols. The process of figuring out how to interpret all of these different categories is the process of close reading. 

Within the process of close reading, it is vital to look at what is being read or shown, the how, why it is being shown that way, is there a context that’s important, and why is this important to me? This last step is important because in some ways many ideas connect to real life. Many aspects of pop culture represent bigger ideas or fight for bigger pictures within our society. This can be seen within music, television shows, movies, and more. I’m doing my end of the year essay on The Handmaids Tale and this is a prime example of symbolism and ideas having a larger impact on society. This series represents a deeper image of sexual assault, motherhood, and leadership. All of these ideas apply to our modern-day system and therefore, many people can learn from the show.

The Yellow Wallpaper is an additional example of using words or symbolism to represent a larger image. Within this piece of writing, the theme of feminism surrounds the audience. It is a deep piece of literature that goes deep into the roles of a woman and represents their inner struggles. While this piece of writing was published a long time ago, it is still prevalent today. It shows that pieces of writing or culture can resonate with us forever.