Survivor Symbolism

So I have been watching old episodes of "Survivor" lately and it dawned on me that it would be a good way to do a quick review of symbolism along with a little activity. 

At the start of every single tribal council the host, Jeff Probst, says, "Fire represents life on the island." I plan to ask my students why they think "Survivor" chose fire to symbolize life and how it symbolizes life. 

I found a supercut of all the times that JP said, "Fire represents life" and plan to show part of it to my kids (Or all of them if I feel like really hitting the point home).

I will then discuss with them the fact that at the end of each tribal council after someone is voted off the island they snuff out their torch. I will ask students what the symbolism of this is, why they snuff out the torch, and repeat the fire represents life phrase. 

Here is a supercut of "The tribe has spoken" 

As a quick little review activity I will ask students to come up with a short proposal for their own reality game show. They will have to come up with their own symbol/catch phrase for their show. For example, if the reality show was based on skateboarding they could use a wheel to represent their life in the game. The catch phrase could be something as corny as "Big wheel keep on turning." When someone is voted out of the game they will be told to, "Hit the road, Jack." Both really corny ideas but I think that you get the general idea.

To wrap up this lesson I am going to have my kids read "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury and ask them to come up with a symbol and phrase to represent the students, the teacher, and Margot from the story.