My Eleventh Grade English class has forever changed how I look at literature, the world, and movies: everything has a deeper meaning. Thanks to constant, deep analysis all year long, I now delve into the meanings of color, action, appearance, plot, etc. Every color means something in this realm of analysis. I remember watching a Lie to Me episode with my friends in which the closing image had red flags hanging from poles as Cal Lightman walked away. This brought us into a discussion of why the director had red flags in the end of the movie rather than green or blue flags. Then we caught ourselves analyzing the episode and had an amusing conversation on what our English teacher had done to us.
Even though I don’t think everything authors and directors do is completely intentional, I do think that they intend to put a lot of symbolism into their works. So, even though it is annoying sometimes, thank you Ms. Smith for how you’ve corrupted so wonderfully.
Mr. Vanhille's Writing Blog 
Funny post. I agree not everything is intentional, but symbolism is used far more than we think it is. You may want to use this site to even post some of your newspaper pieces. If you get a chance, change the “About” section to make it yours.
Yes, thank you, Miss Smith, for teaching us how to analyze everything. And how a strict 5 paragraph essay won’t get us far in life.
Haha, yeah, I dunno why all English teachers teach that way, but I remember reading “The Great Gatsby” and how the colors yellow and green held some sort of symbolic meaning (don’t really remember anything about it now). I never really bought into it, and every time me and my friend would talk about Mrs. Jespersen, we would impersonate her by saying, “Well you see Johnny, that chair he’s sitting on, represents the economy… and those three teacups on the counter represent the trinity.”
I think sometimes we can over-analyze stories to the point that we lose sight of what the author is truly trying to say, but you’re right, many authors write very intentionally and things like the colors do hold significance.
Haha, I like the impersonation. It is definitely exaggerated, but not by much. I wish we could bring authors back from the grave and ask them what they really meant in their stories. I think poetry analysis might be a bit different.