Transcript Thinking & Language

Understanding Theme
Identifying themes in our reading of
The Power of One
 Turn
to the Literary Terms Review
crossword puzzle.
 We’re going to keep all our literary
terms and definitions in one spot in
our binder.
 On the back of the Literary Terms
Crossword puzzle you will record
our definition and notes about
theme.
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Keep in mind when recording definitions that
wording does not matter. I will not ask you to
memorize definitions word-for-word. Instead, it is
more important for you to understand how a
literary term is used. This means that you will need
to decide what is most important to remember
when we go through literary terms in class.
Use clues to help you figure out what is most
important. Clues might include:
– Bold-face font
– Underlining
– Italics
– Repeated information or phrasing
Keep this in mind as you add the next term to the
back of your literary terms cross word puzzle.
Theme
What exactly is this elusive thing called theme?
The theme of a fable is its moral. The theme of a parable is its
teaching. The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life
and how people behave. Essentially, a theme is a comment
on humanity, reality, and perhaps society.
In fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or preach. In
fact, it is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the
characters, action, and setting that make up the story. In
other words, you must figure out the theme yourself.
The writer's task is to communicate on a common ground
with the reader. Although the particulars of your experience
may be different from the details of the story, the general
underlying truths behind the story may be just the
connection that both you and the writer are seeking.
Definition
 Theme
–
the central insight or truth
regarding human experience
that is expressed through the
fictional world that the writer
creates.
Keep this in mind…
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Themes are generally implied rather than directly stated.
Themes are not directives; they do not direct the reader
to do or not do something.
– Example • Not a theme: People should not judge each other based on
stereotypes.
• Theme: People unconsciously use stereotypes to prejudge
members of particular groups.
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The theme is not the plot; however, a statement of
theme often emerges from the central conflict of the
story.
Themes are declarative sentences that relate the
specifics of a story to the human experience.
Themes are not single concepts or one word abstract
ideas
– Example • Not a theme: Heroism
• Theme: Devotion to an ideal can make a simple life heroic.
Finding the Theme
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Here are some ways to uncover the theme in a
story:
– Check out the title because sometimes it tells you about
the theme.
– Notice repeating patterns and symbols as they may lead
you to a theme.
– What are the details and particulars in the story? What
greater meaning may they have?
– Remember that theme, plot, and structure are
inseparable, all helping to inform and reflect back on
each other. Also, be aware that a theme we determine
from a story never completely explains the story. It is
simply one of the elements that make up the whole.
– A story may have more than one theme.
Applying our definition of theme
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Now working with a partner, you will
need to write a theme statement for
your reading of chapters 1-6.
Underneath your theme statement
you will need write two specific
examples from chapters 1-6 of the
text (with page numbers) to support
your theme.
EXAMPLE
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A person’s hunger for power over
others can lead corruption and
inhumane treatment of others.
– The Judge leads the younger students to
pee on Pisskop. “When the Judge and
his council of war had all peed on me…”
(5).
– The Judge beats Pisskop when Judge
thinks Pisskop insults him. “The Judge’s
eyes seemed to pop out of his head…”
(23).