A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
Michael Ferber
Cambridge University Press
As a professor, I have found this book to be very helpful for my students.  Let's face it, we all have to start learning someplace, and to have this guide to help that process along is a wonderful bonus.  It isn't meant to be encyclopaedic--it's just meant as a decent guide.  If you are just beginning to learn literary analysis and haven't quite figured out what all of those silly symbols mean and just who made this stuff up, anyway, this is a perfect book to help you along.