English 115:

Introduction to
Literature
Section 5 | Summer, 2021

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

Reading stories
and novels Be an active reader.

✔ Ask questions
✔ Make predictions
✔ Jot down notes of your thought process
while reading
✔ Underline unfamiliar words
✔ Highlight/underline or make notes of
passages that thematically connects to the
story.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

Reading stories After reading, complete the following steps:
and novels - Put yourself in the character’s shoes.
- Form an opinion of what is going on in the story.
- Write down quotations that you find important in the story.
- Start making connections with what you already know from
the story
o Connection includes text to text, text to self and text to
world
▪ Text to text: connect what you are currently reading
with a book that you have previously read.
▪ Text to self: make connections with the character’s
experiences with the experience that you may have
gone through in life.
▪ Text to world: connect the book with what has
happened or what is currently happening in the world
or the society.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 • What are the elements of a story?
• What points should a reader keep in
Review mind while reading a story?
• If you were to write a short story, what
theme would you like to select and
why.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 THEME
• The theme is the general idea or the message
of a story. In literary fiction, a theme is rarely
obvious. The reader must do a bit of detective
work to find the theme. Many great literary
piece of writings have multiple themes.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 THEME
• The theme does not always have to have a moral
message. The reader must look at the story using the
elements to formulate the theme of a story.
• Look into the character and mark their growth or
breakdown as the story progresses. Think about their
thoughts and perceptions.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 THEME
• In many stories, the theme is the center, the moving force
and the principle of unity. Look for the thread that ties up
the entire story.
• Theme is larger and more abstract than how we put it in
words. The general description can be useful to sort out as
categories, and that is the first step of finding the theme.
Then look for the truth or the insight of what the story is
revealing. Then sum it up into a sentence
© Adila M. Jahan, 2021
 THEME
Go through the following checklist of questions to help formulate a
theme of a story:
✔ Does the main character undergo a change in the story? Does s/he
stumble upon any realization or understanding? Are you left with any
realization or understanding you did not have before?
✔ Does the author make any general observations about life or human
nature? Do the characters make any observations?
✔ Does the story contain any symbols or illustrations that may point to
the central theme of the story?
✔ When you have written the theme as a statement, is it general or just
a given plot summary?
✔ Does your statement hold true for the story as a whole or for just a
part of the story?

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 •What is the theme of O’
CLASS Henry’s story, “The
ACTIVITY Nightingale and the Rose” ?
Use the checklist of
questions to formulate the
theme.
© Adila M. Jahan, 2021
 Thematic Writing
• - Thematicwriting is another form of essay writing where the student
formulates the theme of the story they have read and will be writing
about. After the theme has been formulated, the student uses the
evidence found in the text to prove the accuracy of the formulated
theme.
• - It contains: Introductory paragraph, Body paragraphs and
Concluding paragraph.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 ❖ Paragraph 1: (Introduction) The thematic essay introduction
presents the main subject of discussion in a captivating way.
The first sentence of the intro should be a hook statement that
Introductory makes some intriguing claim about the subject of discussion.
Paragraph If done correctly, this will grab your reader's attention.
Afterwards, provide any necessary background information
from the literature that will help the audience understand your
claims later on. Lastly, put together a well thought out thesis
statement that reflects the central theme of the novel.
• Brief information of the text. (Introduce the character and the
plot)
• Must contain the theme that you have formulated.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 ❖ Body paragraphs: (can be two or three body paragraphs)
The body paragraphs follow a thematic essay format. Since
each body paragraph’s purpose should be to present a literary
Body device as evidence, the topic sentence should introduce the
Paragraphs claim and gateway into the evidence. Every topic sentence
must mention a literary device and its relationship to the
literature.
- Afterwards, to validate your claim, use examples from the
book that strengthen the reasoning of your statement. These
can be actions from the plot or quotations that are parallel with
the central theme. It’s imperative to explain how the
action/quote links back to your thesis statement, as it shows
that you can support your logic.
© Adila M. Jahan, 2021
 Remember: each claim must use a literary device. It cannot
just be a random moment or inference. Thematic essays are
all about proving thesis statements using critical literary
Body devices.

Paragraphs
❑Must contain a topic sentence.
❑Must use details from the story that supports the theme.
❑Analyze the supporting details using the elements that you
have learned in class.

*Follow this for all the body paragraphs, make sure each
body paragraphs have different supporting details from the
story to make your claims stronger.*
© Adila M. Jahan, 2021
 ❖The thematic essay conclusion has three main objectives
to complete before wrapping up the entire paper. It
should not present any new information or facts but
should summarize the information already given. First,
Concluding restate your thesis statement in a new way. Then,
Paragraph summarize the central claims you made within the body
of your paper and their influence on the thesis statement.
To finish off the entire work, present an overall
concluding statement with a global analysis of the
subject. Leave your reader with another hook, making
him/her interested in digging deeper into the topic.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021

 Class Go to Google Classroom, under Short
Activity Stories, you will find Task 6. Then complete
the following tasks:
Read the story called “The Happy Prince ”
from the book, Happy Prince and other Tales
by O. Henry.
Answer the questions.
Formulate a theme and analyze the story
using the Elements of Literature.
Submit your work once you are done.

© Adila M. Jahan, 2021