Before he began his career as an artist, Bearden received a degree in education

Phrase or clauses

Before he began his career as an artist is a dependent clause.

Explanation:

Although both phrases and clauses can begin with 'before', 'until', 'after', etc., only clauses have a subject and a predicate. In this case, the subject is 'he', and the verb is 'began.' This is a dependent clause, which means that it cannot stand on its own. It must be connected to an independent clause to make sense (Bearden received a degree in education).

it dosen't

explanation:

because it dosent

as for symbolic actions, the narrator's tearing down the wallpaper in an attempt to find the "woman" in the wallpaper represents her struggle to retain or regain her sanity.   the wallpaper has been part of her confinement and by her tearing it down, she is freeing herself from that confinement.