Day Four Library Research—

Theme

Day 4—Themes • Identify at least three (3) themes in your literary work.

– 1. What “big idea” is the story about?

– 2. What important lessons about life do readers learn? – 3. What do characters do or say that relates to that topic?

– 4. What ideas stirred controversy? Why?

Day Four— Other Questions to Find Themes • • • • • • What image of humankind emerges from the work?

Does the author believe people to be good or evil?

Does the author portray a particular society or social scheme as life-enhancing or life-destroying?

Are the characters in conflict with their society? What are the moral conflicts in the story? Are there moral values in conflict with one another?

Theme--Definition – An underlying message the writer wants the reader to understand – A perception about life or human nature – Is not stated directly, but inferred – More than one –

Theme is a statement (a complete sentence, not a word or a phrase)

– EX: Macbeth explores the corrupting effect of unbridled ambition, the corrosiveness of guilt, the lure and power of inscrutable supernatural forces, and the tragedy of psychological disintegration.

Where is the BEST place to find theme?

• • _____________ for Students (Novels, Drama, Poetry, or Short Stories) under “Themes.” http://www.galesites.com/menu/index.php?loc=mi ss50350 • Under “ebooks,” click “Literature.” • Find Drama, Poetry, Novels or Short Stories for Students.

• Type in the name of your work (on the left-hand side).

• Look under “Themes” in Novels for Students, etc.

• Where can I find a second source?

EBSCO:

http://www.fortbendisd.com/departments/technology/library/digital-resources/ebsco – Go to “Literary Reference Center.” – Type in the name of your research title.

– Look for your research title with Masterplots II, Masterplots, Critical Survey of ___ Fiction, or Magill’s Critical Survey (in bold) underneath it.

– Click on “HTML Full Text,” (NOT the name of your title).

– Look for “Themes and Meanings” in Masterplots II.

– Look for “Critical Evaluation” in Masterplots. – Look for “Analysis” in Critical Survey of ___ Fiction.

– Look for “The Work” in Magill’s Critical Survey.

Other Helpful Resources • • • • •

GALE:

http://www.galesites.com/menu/index.php?loc=miss50350 In Literature Resource Center, type the name of your research title.

In the yellow “Search” bar on the left, click the name of your research title again.

Click the “Topic & Work Overviews” tab at the top.

Look for overviews in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (under “Major Themes”) or Literature and Its Times (under “The Novel in Focus”).

Other Helpful Resources…for a Limited Few • In Gale, under the ebooks section for literature, Literary Themes for Students has the following selections: –

Literary Themes for Students: Race and Prejudice

• •

Heart of Darkness A Passage to India

•

A Room of One’s Own

–

Literary Themes for Students : War and Peace

• • “Easter 1916” “The Sniper”

Accessing Databases from Home • EBSCO—ridgepoint (login); panthers (password) • Gale—lonestar (password)