Theme

The Search for Meaning

What is a Theme?
Theme: Life lesson, meaning, moral, or
message about life or human nature that is
communicated by a literary work.

In other words…
Theme is what the story teaches readers.
Themes
A theme is not a word, it is a sentence.
You don’t have to agree with the theme to
identify it.
Examples
Money can’t buy happiness.
Don’t judge people based on the surface.
It is better to die free than live under tyranny.
 What is the theme?
Jenny Puchovier was so excited. She had a
pack of Starburst in her lunch and she had been
looking forward to eating them all morning. Lunch
finally came and Jenny sat down to eat her
Starbursts when her friend Yudy sat next to her.
“Let me get the pink ones,” asked Yudy. Jenny
liked the pink ones best, but she thought Yudy was
funny and Jenny wanted Yudy to like her, so Jenny
gave Yudy all of her pink Starbursts. Before Jenny
was done giving Yudy the pink ones, Carrie sat on
the other side of Jenny. “Let me get the red and the
orange ones, Jenny. Remember when I gave you
that Snickers?” Jenny didn’t remember that, though
she did remember when Carrie ate a whole Snickers
in front of her, but Jenny thought Carrie was cool, so
she gave her the red and the orange Starbursts.
Now that she only had the yellow ones, Jenny
wasn’t so excited about eating starbursts anymore.
Example Answers
You can’t buy friends.
You have to take care of yourself.
Not everybody is your friend.
Identifying Themes
Themes are not explicit (clearly stated).
Themes are implied.
Themes are bigger than the story.

Small Big World of the Theme.

World Applies to the “Real” World.
of the
Story
Themes are about the big picture.
Not “Yellow Starbursts taste bad”
Not “Yudy and Carrie are bad friends.”
Think BIGGER.
Find “Real” World advice.

Small Big World of the Theme.

World Applies to the “Real” World.
of the
Story
 Review
1. Theme is what we can learn from a
story.
2. Themes must be inferred.
3. Themes are about the BIG world.
 Practice
1. Read each story.
2. Write what you think the theme is.
3. Write another sentence explaining what
happens in the story that leads you to
believe this.

How does the small world of the story

connect to the big world theme?
 Once there was a mean little boy who lived in a
small village. This mean little boy loved to mess
with people, so one day he ran up to a sheep
herder and shouted, “WOLF! WOLF! A wolf is
attacking the town!” The sheep herder grabbed his
staff and ran to defend the town, but realized he
had been fooled when the boy started pointing and
laughing at him. “Ha ha! I made you jump,” said
the boy. Then the boy ran up to a farmer and
shouted, “WOLF! WOLF! A wolf is attacking the
town!” The farmer grabbed his pitchfork and ran to
defend the town, but when the boy started pointing
and laughing at him, he realized he had been
tricked. As the boy went back to his family’s farm
laughing about the funny trick he played, he saw a
real wolf in his father’s chicken coop. As the wolf
ate all of his father’s chickens, the boy screamed
over and over again, “WOLF! WOLF! Please help
us!” But nobody came to help him.
Example Answers
Don’t ask for help unless you really need it.
Don’t play tricks on the people around you.
 Angie loved to draw. She made colorful designs
of people’s names with bright hearts & flowers, but
she lost own markers, so she borrowed her
teacher’s. The school day was ending, but Angie
wanted to keep coloring, so she took the teacher’s
markers home and lost them in her messy room.
She came back to school the next day and wanted to
color again, so she asked the teacher for more
markers. The teacher replied, “Sure, Angie, but this
is my last pack.” Angie said she would be careful,
but by the end of the day the markers were scattered
all over the floor and the custodian swept them up
and disposed of them. When Angie came in the next
day, she asked the teacher for more markers, but
she was disappointed to find that there weren’t any
more. “I don’t know where all of my markers went,”
said the teacher, “but I don’t have them.” Angie
had to draw her pictures with drab pencils.
Example Answers
Take care of shared resources.
Some things will not replenish after they are
exhausted.
 Jenny hated reading class. She didn’t
understand point of view or figurative language, and
not knowing how to do the work frustrated her. She
asked the teacher for help, but he spoke so fast and
used such big words that she still couldn’t
understand. The teacher asked if she understood,
and she nodded her head, but she didn’t. Jenny’s
friend Katie knew that Jenny was having trouble,
and, rather than just giving Jenny all of the answers,
Katie explained to Jenny how to solve the problems.
Katie spoke clearly and at Jenny’s level, and Jenny
was happy that she finally learned how to do the
work. Later in the week, Katie was having trouble in
math class. She didn’t understand coordinates and
was really frustrated. Seeing that Katie was having
problems, Jenny, who understood math very well,
taught Katie coordinates. Both girls made honor roll
that quarter.
Example Answers
Cooperation is the key to success.
We can all do better when we work together.
 What is the theme?
Carrie loved her phone and her tablet. She was
always looking at one or the other. Her parents would try
to talk to her about her life, but she would just ignore
them or give them monosyllabic answers until they left
her alone. When she was at school, she'd sneak peeks
at her phone under her desk whenever she could get
away with it. When she was at parties, she spent more
time interacting with the devices in front of her than with
the people around her. Even at concerts and sporting
events, Carrie seldom removed her eyes from these tiny
screens. One day Carrie was walking home from a
friend's house and watching a funny video of people
slipping on ice. She began crossing the street just after
the light changed. She was so into the video that she did
not notice the oncoming traffic. She walked directly into
the traffic while laughing at the falling people on her tiny
screen and was hit by a bus. Carrie sustained mild
injuries, but both of her devices were destroyed. As far
as she was concerned, her life was over.
Example Answers
Practice moderation with all things desirable.
You can get too much of a good thing.
Safety first.

Explanation:
Carrie loves to use her phone, but she
needs to balance that desire with the more
practical concerns of safety and wellbeing.
Identifying Themes
Themes are not explicit (clearly stated).
Themes are implied.
Themes are bigger than the story.

Small Big World of the Theme.

World Applies to the “Real” World.
of the
Story
Themes are about the big picture.
Not “Carrie should get off her phone.”
Not “Phones can be dangerous.”
Think BIGGER. Find “real” world advice
that applies to many situations.

Small Big World of the Theme.

World Applies to the “real” world.
of the
Story
 Review
1. Theme is what we can learn from a
story.
2. Themes must be inferred.
3. Themes are not limited to story
specific details: they are about the BIG
world.
 Practice
1. Read each story.
2. Write what you think the theme is.
3. Write another sentence explaining what
happens in the story that leads you to
believe this.

How does the small world of the story

connect to the big world theme?
 Kelly had a job at the movie theater, but it didn't
pay very much and she was sick of working there.
Nonetheless, the work was steady and she needed
all of the money that she could get. To her delight,
Kelly got an interview at a big office downtown for a
job that paid much more. The interview went very
well and the bosses all but offered her a
position. They said that she would fit the role well
and they promised that they would call her back
within two weeks. Kelly couldn't wait to quit her job
at the movie theater. As soon as she got back she
put in her two week notice. She spent the next two
weeks bragging to her coworkers about her new
high-paying job in the big city. Yet, two weeks
passed and she received no phone call. When
Kelly decided to follow up on her interview, she
learned that the bosses had chosen a different
candidate. Kelly was crushed.
Example Answers
• Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
• Nothing is a sure thing before it happens.
• If you are going to burn the bridge, wait until you
first cross the river.
Answer Explanation: Kelly conducts herself at
her old job as though she had been hired at the
new job. She should have waited until she
received the job offer before she quit her old job;
furthermore, when she quit her old job, she
should have done so in a respectful way, without
bragging to her coworkers.
While most of his peers enjoyed high school, David did not. "I
can't wait to get to college and really start my life," he'd often
tell himself. When David got to college, he found out that it
wasn’t much different from high school. "I can't wait to
graduate and get a job so that I can really get started on my
life," David would tell himself. When he graduated from
college and found a job, David realized that he did not really
like working that much. "I hate slaving away at work. I can't
wait until my retirement. That's when my life is really going to
begin," David told himself. He worked away his days and
nights, enjoying them very little and always thinking about
how things would be better when he retired. When he finally
retired, he found that he was in too much pain to do the things
that he had planned on doing earlier in life. Having nothing
else to look forward to in life, David spent his final days on a
bench in the sun, thinking about how much happier he would
be in heaven.
Example Answers
• Plan for the future but live in the present.
• Life is what happens while you are waiting
for things to happen.
• You have to stop and smell the roses.

Answer Explanation: David spends his whole

life waiting for the next stage of
life. Consequently, he does not take the time to
enjoy and appreciate his life while it is
happening. Sadly, he never realizes how much
he has missed.
 When she wasn't going to school or doing
homework, Sharon spent most of her time
drawing. She drew elaborate manga inspired scenes
of heroic warriors and beautiful princesses. She drew
detailed landscapes dotted with colorful monsters and
menacing villains, but she never shared her work with
anyone. Time passed and Sharon continued to
develop as an artist. She had mastered the skills of
shadowing and texturing her artwork and she
graduated from high school. Too afraid to share her
work with others, Sharon pursued a college degree in
business rather than art, but she continued to
passionately work on her artistry when she was
alone. More time passed and now Sharon was
managing a department at a large corporation. She
didn't really like her job, but she was comfortable
doing it. By now, Sharon had pretty much given up on
creating her own art, but she still appreciated the art of
others.
 Example Answers
• You will never make a shot that you don't take.
• Beauty unseen is beauty unappreciated.
• You have to take a risk to receive a reward.

Answer Explanation: Sharon seems to be a natural

born artist who might have a promising and fulfilling
career in art, but she chose a different route
because she was afraid to expose her work to
criticism. She may be comfortable working in
business, but she isn't happy.