what is theme? discovering a theme stating a theme practice theme feature menu

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What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

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Page 1: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

What Is Theme?

Discovering a Theme

Stating a Theme

Practice

Theme

Feature Menu

Page 2: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

What Is Theme?

A work’s theme is the central idea about human life.

Many elements contribute to a work’s theme.

Theme

settingconflict

characters plot

Note

Page 3: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

What Is Theme?

The theme:

• reveals the writer’s personal attitude toward the world and the people in it

• may give readers insight into life and human nature or help them realize the importance of what they already know

Page 4: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

Identifying the Theme

The theme will always be a statement of some kind, not a single word.

Example Theme:

“Sometimes if you love someone, you have to let them go and give them their freedom. Love is not possessive.”

NOT

• “Love” and “Freedom”

Page 5: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

A work’s theme is sometimes confused with its

What isn’t a Theme

• subject—what the story is about

• plot—the events of the story

• moral—the rule of conduct that the story teaches

These parts of a story are important, but they are not its theme.

Page 6: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

What Is Theme?

Identify each item as one of the following:• subject• plot • moral• theme

Three siblings go swimming in a creek even though their grandfather warns them not to. One sibling is almost swept away by the current.

The story of a dangerous swim

Young people’s overconfidence can put them in danger; young people often learn a lesson the hard way.

[End of Section]

Quick Check

Listen to your elders.

Page 7: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

Discovering a Theme

Usually, the author does not say what the theme is directly. You must INFER what the theme is.

• Think about the title.

• Pay attention to story’s conflict and how it is resolved.

• Think about what the protagonist learns. If the protagonist realizes something important about life at the end of the story, that is probably the theme of the story.

Page 8: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

Apply your knowledge to a story you know.

Practice

“The Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket”

What does the title mean?

How does the main character change?

How is the conflict resolved?

What, in general, does the story reveals about life?

What is the story’s theme?

[End of Section]

Page 9: What Is Theme? Discovering a Theme Stating a Theme Practice Theme Feature Menu

The End