Theme What is a Theme An idea or

Theme

What is a Theme? • An idea or message about life, society or human nature. The big message that an author wants you to get from reading their book

How Do You Find Theme? • Level 1 - Know the plot – The first step to finding theme is to know the plot. You can’t go any deeper until you know what happens in the story • Level 2 - What lessons do the characters learn? – The second step is to look at the main character or characters. What lessons do they learn? How do they change from the beginning of the novel to the end? • Level 3 - Pull out theme – The last step is to find the bigger message. A theme is something that applies to everyone, including the reader. Many different books can have the same theme. It is the big message the author wants you to have

Writing About Theme • Theme should always be said in a complete sentence. Bad: Motherhood Good: Motherhood sometimes has more frustrations than rewards. Bad: Love Good: Love often causes us to do things we wouldn’t normally do.

Writing About Theme • Theme should be a general statement. Don’t use character names and story specifics • Good: “Everything happens for a reason. ” • Bad: “The events in Stanley’s life, both good and bad, work together for a reason. ”

Writing About Theme • Be careful using words like every, all, never, always. They can make your theme TOO big. • Bad: “Evil is always punished. ” – This is impossible, we know that good can’t always win. • Good: “People who continue to make bad choices usually end up meeting bad ends. ”

Writing About Theme • Theme statements must be supported by the story. – The theme must fit with ALL the events of the story. – It must be based on real facts from the storynothing that is only suggested – No events can go against theme

Writing About Theme • Remember that there is no one way of stating theme. – Many stories have multiple layers of theme. – There are many ways of getting at a similar idea.

Theme Story • PRE-WRITING- on a sheet of paper, decide the following things: – What theme will you base your story on? – What characters will you include? – What is your setting? – What lesson will your characters learn/how will they change from the beginning of the story to the end? (remember, this MUST illustrate your theme! • Now map your plot! – At the bottom of the page, draw a plot diagram and jot down what will happen at each plot stage of your story, including what your climax will be.