Central Idea vs Theme Unit 3 Survival What

Central Idea vs. Theme Unit 3: Survival

What is central idea? • CENTRAL IDEA refers to what the text is mainly about. • Central idea is NOT the topic of the text. • Central idea can most often be stated in one sentence.

Application Tim hated his old baseball glove. He wanted to play with a new glove, but he didn’t have any money, so he decided to steal it. But when Tim got caught stealing the glove, his parents said he couldn’t play baseball summer. 1. What is the topic of this paragraph? 2. What is the central idea of this paragraph?

Responses • The TOPIC might be: “Tim’s new baseball glove” • The CENTRAL IDEA might be: “Tim couldn’t play baseball because he stole the glove” • BOTH the topic and central idea are SPECIFIC to the story (include character’s name and actions)

What is theme? • Theme is the life lesson, author’s message, or moral of a story. • Readers have to make inferences to determine themes in literature because themes are NOT directly stated. • In order to determine theme of a story, readers have to think beyond the small details. Instead, readers must figure out the big world lesson of theme.

What is theme? • • Theme IS NOT the same as central idea. Theme IS NOT the same as topic. One story can have multiple themes. Themes are often recognizable and repeated throughout literature.

Common Topics for Themes NOTE: The following are not themes. They are common topics or big ideas on which themes are centered. * Courage * Hard work * Kindness * Being yourself * Hope * Love * Jealousy * Doing the right thing * Honesty * Acceptance * Fears

Common Themes • • Be careful what you wish for. Honesty is the best policy. Crime doesn’t pay. Sacrifice leads to reward. We are all the same on the inside. Money cannot buy happiness. Love conquers all.

To determine theme, ask yourself… 1. What did the character(s) learn? 2. How did the character(s) grow or change? 3. Why did the character(s) act this way?

Application Tim hated his old baseball glove. He wanted to play with a new glove, but he didn’t have any money, so he decided to steal it. But when Tim got caught stealing the glove, his parents said he couldn’t play baseball summer. REMEMBER • The TOPIC might be: “Tim’s new baseball glove” • The CENTRAL IDEA might be: “Tim couldn’t play baseball because he stole the glove” BUT THEME might be: it is more important to do the right thing than get what you want all the time.

EXPLANATION of Theme Tim hated his old baseball glove. He wanted to play with a new glove, but he didn’t have any money, so he decided to steal it. But when Tim got caught stealing the glove, his parents said he couldn’t play baseball summer. The THEME it is more important to do the right thing than get what you want all the time. Applies to the text because we see that Tim experienced a negative outcome after stealing the baseball glove. The reader INFERS that if he had not stolen the glove, he would have gotten to play baseball during the summer – which would have been a POSITIVE outcome for Tim.