Without theme, most writing would be _____.

a. boring

b. shallow

c. unenduring

d. all of the answers are correct

2. In Golding's novel The Lord of the Flies, one theme is _____.

a. tropical islands make great vacation spots

b. children are naturally good

c. evil resides in the heart of mankind

d. boys will be boys

3. Which of these phrases describes the 'theme' of a piece of

literature?
e.

f. the conflict
g.

h. the characters
i.  
j.

k. the deeper meaning or message

l.

m. plot

year 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TInpLd3rb8

https://literaryterms.net/theme/ theme site

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13182491/ slide
The graphic organizer includes guiding questions to help students to identify universal themes and
craft a thematic statement. Then I reinforce the idea of theme by having students create a text-based
collage with words, images and quotations from the text to accompany their thematic statements.
You can read more about this activity and see student samples in this blog post. The second activity,
one I usually use with larger/longer pieces of literature, but would still work for shorter ones, is a
project in which students design a literary theme park based on a recently read text. The theme of
what students have read dictates the design of the park, the rides, concessions, entertainment, etc.
The project reviews a variety of other literary terms, such as plot, setting, conflict, characters, and
symbolism, and is perfect for any time of year, but definitely makes for a fun end of year project or
summer reading assignment. After creating a poster of their literary theme park, students can also
give a persuasive presentation. You can read more about this activity and see student samples in this
blog post. Creative Application Once students seem comfortable with the terms or if students need a
challenge, I introduce students to a digital breakout, "Theme Song Playlist" for additional practice. A
digital breakout is an online scavenger hunt-like game where players use teamwork and critical
thinking to solve a series of challenging puzzles in order to open a series of locks. In this breakout,
students are putting together a playlist of songs that fit the theme of the end of the year school
dance. They used an online survey to find out what songs the student body wants to hear, but a
glitch in the computer system has scrambled the results. They have to use their knowledge of theme
and interact with a variety of text and media to solve a series of puzzles and figure which songs to
play at the dance. In addition to needing content knowledge to successfully complete the game,
breakouts require students to think critically, communicate, collaborate, and use creativity. I also love
breakouts because they provide students with many opportunities to fail and try again. Every
unsuccessful attempt to open a lock forces them to reexamine their information and their thinking.
Assessment While many of the activities described above allow students to show their
understanding of skills and terms, as a summative assessment I use a set of textbased assessments,
each with a reading or two passages, 7 multiple choice questions, and a short written response
question to assess my students’ knowledge of theme. The variety of passages and text complexity
levels allows me to retest students as needed and make accommodations for struggling readers. The
variety was also helpful in the years that I had classes whose eyes tended to wander during quizzes
or tests. If I'm assessing students understanding of theme in a larger work, I often assign a theme
analysis essay. Most of my students have never written a piece like this before and need to be guided
step by step through the process. I first have students brainstorm themes and practice writing
thematic statements before writing a thesis for their essay. Then, students complete a graphic
organizer of the connection between plot and theme to help them identify events connected to their
chosen theme and supporting evidence (quotations) from the text. This step must be completed in
class, which prevents students from relying on a SparkNotes or CliffNotes type website for quotes.
When students are ready to begin writing, I guide them through each part of each paragraph with
choices of openings and closings, examples of each step, and suggested transitions. Finally, students
engage in self and peer review before submitting a final draft. I do lots of check-ins throughout the
process, and students who work through each step as they are supposed to can't help but turn out a
tight, well-written essay. You can find all of my resources for teaching theme here. Identifying the
theme of a story is a higher order skill and requires the reader to make an inference. Consequently,
some students have a difficult time identifying themes. Because this skill is frequently evaluated on
state reading tests, it is important that your students identify themes with reasonable reliability. I
find that properly teaching students how to identify themes goes a long way toward meeting this
goal. 1. Properly Define Theme: students need to know that theme is the life lesson of a story or the
author’s message. 2. Prepare Students To Infer: students need to understand that in most stories
(with the exception of fables), the author will not tell readers what the theme or lesson of the story
is. Readers will have to think about what the characters did wrong or right and what they can learn
from the character’s experience. 3. Teach Students To Extract The “Big Idea”: One common mistake
that students make when attempting to identify the theme is that they get hung up on the characters
or events in the story. They cannot think beyond the small world elements of the story to extract the
big world lesson of the theme. I will use the following short story as an example: Tim hated his old
baseball glove. He wanted to play with a new glove, but he didn’t have any money, so he decided to
steal it. But when Tim got caught stealing the glove, his parents said he couldn’t play baseball all
summer. A student who understands the concept of theme is likely to give a response like, “The
lesson of the story is that if you want something, you should work for it.” A response like this shows
that the student is processing the events of the story and extracting a larger idea, one which can be
directly applied to someone’s life. A student who doesn’t understand theme will fixate on story level
events. For example, “Tim shouldn’t steal.” While this response demonstrates comprehension of the
text, it doesn’t show higher order thinking. The student is stuck in the small world of the story and
needs to take the mental jump to the big world idea. Teaching students to distinguish between the
small world of the story and the big world idea will help them to more accurately express their
understanding of story themes. 4. Give Students Practice Identifying Themes: While I encourage you
to study and discuss themes in each story that you read as a class, immediately after learning about
theme, students need a variety of examples with which they can practice. I have created worksheets
and activities where students identify themes in a variety of very short stories. Also, I have uploaded
the PowerPoint slide show I used to teach theme to my students this year. I hope these resources will
help your students better understand theme and more consistently identify themes texts. CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.CCRA.R.2 – Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development;
summarize the key supporting details and ideas. View All CCSS Standards Related to Theme
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.2 – Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of
their central message or lesson. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2 – Recount stories, including fables and
folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral. CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.RL.3.2 – Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures;
determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details
in the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2 – Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in
the text; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 – Determine a theme of a story, drama, or
poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or
how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.2 –
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details;
provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.RL.7.2 – Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2 – Determine a
theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.RL.9-10.2 – Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development
over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELALiteracy.RL.11-12.2 – Determine two or more
themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including
how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective
summary of the text. View Source Common Core Lesson and Unit Plans Understanding Common
Core State Standards Related Content Still looking for something? Search here. What is the main
point of the story? Cite evidence from the text that would support your argument. In this
assignment, you will read a short story and determine the theme. The story is about 2 girls. Find
three quotes that illustrate the major thoughts and concepts of the story. We will work on relating
literature titles that we have read in the past to topics and then expand upon them. Follow the
example. You will read the story of Harry. He is new to a school and was a tall muscular kid. His
nature did not fit his physical features. See where it goes and explain what you are seeing. You will
choose from the topics: family, love, loss, hope, and freedom. You will take a position on that topic
and write a journal entry on it. Read the story. Breakdown what you read and then see how a
position is formed and the story revolves around it. You are looking for the message that an author
wants to convey through the story. The story of six chickens that live on the farm and feared the fox.
A recurring theme is a message that occurs in more than one literary work. We will explore this and
show you how to find this in what you are reading. Read the assigned text. Fill out the graphic
organizer below to help you understand how it is developed through each of the identified story
elements. Read the story and show how this message is developed over the course of the story. A
universal theme is a concept that everyone can relate to. Because it has to do with what it means to
be human, it normally transcends gender, culture, and geographical differences. Some of the lines
below are single-sentence summaries of stories. Some are expression of theme. Can you tell the
difference? Read the story. Identify the theme. Then say what happens in the story that tells you this.
Remember, they take a position on a topic. What is the theme of a story, and how do you identify it?
Whether you're an avid reader or have just stepped foot into the literary world, you may find
yourself puzzled by the same ordeal. Before we begin describing how to identify the theme, let's first
dive into determining what it entails. In simple words, the theme is pretty much the central idea of a
narrative. However, this is where it gets tricky. Just about any tale can have several of theme. For
instance, while a short story usually has one, a novel often has more than a single theme. Woven
throughout the course of the narrative and impacted by the motivations, interactions, actions and
characters, the theme can change as the story progresses. Theme vs Plot: Are They Similar? The
story's moral or plot isn't the same as the theme. The plot depicts nothing more than the events that
take place in a tale and their sequence. The moral, on the other hand, is the lesson the writer
associates with the characters and the story. Collectively, these factors serve as the overall theme,
and the lesson you acquire out of it relates directly to the theme. In case you find yourself perplexed
about the central message of the work, ask yourself the following question: What exactly is the
author trying to convey through the events and characters? Examples: How Can You Find It? In the
book "The Catcher in the Rye," the actions of Holden Caulfield are primarily motivated by his
reluctance to grow up. Hence, the theme we can deduce is "innocence preservation" or
"preservation of innocence." Similarly, the most prominent themes portrayed in the book "Pride and
Prejudice" were love, marriage, social status, class and family. Then, in J.K. Rowling's famous "Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the main character, Harry, visited several homes from his childhood
during his quest to finish the Horcruxes. For someone like Harry, who had struggled as an orphan and
never truly found where he belonged, Hogwarts was where he felt at home. And so, he chose to
hand himself over to Voldemort in order to save the school and the people dearest to him. It was
through his actions and thoughts that he conveyed to the readers that home is always worth saving.
Hence, it turned out to be the central role of the story. Here are some ways to identify the theme of
a story: - Dissect the novel's title- Dissect the synopsis- Remember that it can keep changing
throughout the course of the tale, especially in a novel. Why Is It Important? Remember that your
story's theme is always connected to the protagonist's internal journey. It connects the external plot
with the character's journey, soul, passion, etc. After all, it is the theme that gives the reader a sense
of purpose to root for. If that very link is missing, the plot will go nowhere, and you'll most likely lose
interest. In simple words, it will be nothing but a soulless story. It is the theme that turns a good
narrative into a compelling one. It shows Harry's willingness to put himself in danger in order to
protect his home. It shows Elizabeth's struggles in distinguishing superficial goodness from actual
goodness. Our Final Thoughts This concept really captures the soul of a story. Without it, it's as good
as a waterless pond. However, sometimes determining it isn't as easy as dissecting the first few lines
of the synopsis. Hence, we recommend going with the flow and not sticking to a single idea for a
theme.