Literary Elements Theme THEME A central idea or

Literary Elements: Theme

THEME ¨ A central idea or “truth” that a work of literature expresses ¨ A comment that a work of literature makes on the human condition ¨ Different readers may find one theme more intriguing or more important than another.

THEME IS: ¨ A LIFE LESSON OR TRUTH ¨ The idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject ¨ The writer’s view of the world or a revelation about human nature. ¨ Expressed in a sentence.

THEME IS NOT… ¨ expressed in a single word ¨ the purpose of a work ¨ the moral ¨ the conflict ¨ the subject

SUBJECT VS. THEME ¨ Subject: what a work is about. It can usually be expressed in one word. For example, “Love” is a subject of Romeo and Juliet ¨ Theme: What does the work say about the subject? It should be a complete sentence or statement. For example, “In Romeo and Juliet, we learn that teen romance can be a stronger force than family ties. ”

TO BE A THEME… ¨ To be a true theme, the truth or comment must apply to people or to life in general, not just the characters in the book. ¨ For example, “In Beauty and the Beast, Belle learns that true beauty comes from within, ” only applies to the story. Instead, express theme like this: “In Beauty and the Beast, we learn through Belle and the beast that true beauty comes from within. ”

MORE THAN ONE THEME. . . ¨ Many books have more than one theme, so do not think that there is one “right” theme to any book you read. In fact, most great literature has multiple themes.

IDENTIFYING THEME: 1. First identify the story’s plot, the way the story uses characterization, and the primary conflict in the story. 2. Summarize the plot by writing a onesentence description for the exposition, the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.

Finding the Theme: 3. Identify the subject of the work. 4. Identify what the book said about the subject. • How did the protagonist change? • What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution of the conflict? 5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences that state what was learned and how it was learned. Express that insight in your own complete sentence and make that sentence general enough to be universal, though not so general that your comment could apply to any story. ** Avoid boiling all down to the moral of the story!

SAMPLE THEME STATEMENTS ¨ The theme of The Old Man and the Sea is that striving, struggling, and suffering are the only ways to achieve victory. ¨ In My Antonia, Willa Cather demonstrates that the land is what makes people happy and fulfilled. ¨ In Lord of the Flies, William Golding suggests that a democracy is better than a dictatorship.

THEME TEST ¨ Can you prove theme with evidence from the work itself? ¨ Are all the author’s choices of plot, character, conflict, and tone controlled by this theme? In other words, do the story’s elements all relate to theme?