Transcript Theme and central/main idea

FOA
Use these words in a sentence that shows true
understanding of the meaning of the words.
Analyze
Articulate
Cite
Theme, central/main idea and
POV
I can determine an author’s POV in the
text as well as determine the CI of a text
and cite evidence to support my analysis.
What is central/main idea?
After you read a book or see a
movie, do you ever tell
someone else what it is about?
When you do this, you state
the main idea. The main idea
is what something is mostly
about.
Main idea/central idea
Main idea = central idea
Main ideas are typically found in a literary passage.
Central ideas are found in an informational text.
Use the WIN strategy to help determine the central/main idea:
WHO/WHAT - Figure out the most important who or what
INFORMATION - Figure out the most important information about
the who or what
NUMBER OF WORDS - Write the main idea using the fewest possible
number of words
Theme
The theme is the lesson or message that the
writer wants to get across in his or her story.
Usually theme is a statement about life or the
way the world works. People apply these
lessons or ideas to their own lives.
How do I find theme?
To find the theme, ask yourself, What lesson did
the main character in the story learn or fail to
learn? Other questions to ask yourself:
What is the moral of the story?
What lesson is the author trying to teach?
Which idea in the story can relate to everyday
life?
How are the theme and central idea
developed throughout the text?
• Through characters’ actions
• Through key plot details
• Through the conflict
Common themes
The more you read, the more you will notice that
some themes are used again and again. Here are
some common themes:
 Too much pride can destroy a person
 Crime does not pay
 Treat others the way you want to be treated
 Going through hard times can make a person
stronger
 Love conquers all
Now you try
Identify theme and strategies of finding theme within a story.
Identify central idea and main idea
What are similarities and differences between the two?
What strategy do I want to use to find central/main idea?
How are theme, main idea, and central idea are developed in a text (hint:
think of point of view)
What is the Central Idea?
• 1. A penny for your thoughts? If it’s a 1943
copper penny, it could be worth as much as fifty
thousand dollars. In 1943, most pennies were
made out of steel since copper was needed for
World War II, so the 1943 copper penny is ultrarare. Another rarity is the 1955 double die penny.
These pennies were mistakenly double stamped,
so they have overlapping dates and letters. If it’s
uncirculated, it’d easily fetch $25,000 at an
auction. Now that’s a pretty penny.
What is the Central Idea?
• 2. Before you put on that Angry Birds costume and
exhaust yourself roving from door to door pandering
for candy, take a minute to reflect on the tradition in
which you are taking part. Halloween is believed to
have come from an ancient Celtic festival dating back
some 2,000 years. November 1st was the Celtic New
Year and marked the end of summer to the Celts, so
they celebrated on its eve by wearing costumes made
of animal skins and dancing around bon fires. Over the
next two millennia, this primitive celebration grew to
be candy fueled costume ball that we know today.
What is the Central Idea?
• 3. When one hears the term “reality” applied to a
television show, one might expect that the events
portrayed occurred naturally or, at the least, were not
scripted, but this is not always the case. Many reality
shows occur in unreal environments, like rented mansions
occupied by film crews. Such living environments do not
reflect what most people understand to be “reality.”
Worse, there have been accusations that events not
captured on film were later restaged by producers. Worse
still, some involved in the production of “reality” television
claim that the participants were urged to act out story lines
premeditated by producers. With such accusations floating
around, it’s no wonder many people take reality TV to be
about as real as the sitcom.
What is the Central Idea?
• 4. It is estimated that over twenty million pounds
of candy corn are sold in the US each year.
Brach’s, the top manufacturer, sells enough candy
corn to circle the earth 4.25 times if each piece
were laid end to end. That’s a lot of candy corn,
but that’s nothing compared to Tootsie Roll
production. Over 64 million Tootsie Rolls are
produced every day! But even Tootsie Rolls have
got nothing on the candy industry’s staple
product, chocolate. Confectioners manufacture
over twenty billion pounds of chocolate in the
United States each year. Now that’s a mouthful!
Answers
• http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/reading
-worksheets/main-idea-answers.html
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/styl
e/life-for-slave-children-in1861/2011/05/17/AGqrq6UH_story.html
Author’s Choice
• Author’s choice is simply asking yourself after
reading-Why did the author write that way?
• When dealing with author’s choice we must
examine the structure and the point of view of
the text.
Purpose and Text Structure
• Author’s Purpose is to entertain, persuade, or
inform.
•
•
•
•
•
•
There are 5 different text structures:
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
CAUSE AND EFFECT
PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
SEQUENCE
DESCRIPTION
Compare and Contrast
• This type of structure examines the similarities
and differences between two or more people,
events, concepts, ideas, etc.
• Example: A book about ancient Greece that
explains how Spartan women were different
from Athenian women.
Cause and Effect
• This structure presents the relationship
between an specific event, idea, or concept
and the events, ideas, or concepts that follow.
• Example: Weather patterns being described
that explains why a big snowstorm occurred.
Problem Solution
• This type of structure sets up a problem or
problems, explains the solution and then
discusses the effects of the solution.
• Example: A text discussing the problem with
modern Olympics becoming too big and
expensive to operate.
Sequencing
• This text structure gives readers a
chronological of events or a list of steps in a
procedure.
• Example: Majority of the information in your
Social Studies text book.
Description
• This type of text structure features a detailed
description of something to give the reader a
mental picture.
• Example: A book that tells all about whales or
describe what the geography is like in a
particular region.
Point of View
• The types of Point of View
– First Person
– Second Person
– Third Person- Limited and Omniscient
First and Second
• First Person- The main character is telling the
story. The reader can only experience the
story through that person’s eyes. The pronoun
“I” is used often.
• Second Person- This is generally used through
instructional writing. It is told from the
perspective of “you”.
Third Person
• Third Person Limited- The POV is limited to only
one character. This means that the narrator only
knows what the main character knows, feels, and
thinks.
• Third Person Omniscient- The POV the character
is not limited to what one character knows, the
narrator knows everything. The narrator may
know things that others do not and make
comments about what is happening and can see
inside the minds of other characters.
HOMEWORK DUE FRIDAY
• YOUR ASSIGNMENT IS TO FIND AN EXAMPLE
OF EACH STRUCTURE OF TEXT AND EACH
POINT OF VIEW.