CITY MONTESSORI SCHOOL,CHOWK

CAMPUS

ONTO
THE
NEXT
TH
CHAPTE
CLASS 12 FAREWELL
 Lessons we
learnt:
Always begin the day with the
school prayer

1 2 3 4
Provide an objective Determine two or more Analyze the Cite strong and
summary of a text themes or central ideas development of themes thorough textual
of a text or ideas over the evidence to support
course of the text their analysis
Introduction
When we read and analyse texts in English class, often you'll be asked to identify their
themes or central ideas.

Although we might start with one word topics, in upper school, the expectation is that
students should be able to identify, specifically, what the text is saying about the topic. That
is, they should be able to state themes as explicit ideas. In literature, this can be a moral or
message or it might just be a comment on, or an exploration of, a particular human
experience. In an informational text, central ideas might the the authors argument or
comment on a topic or it might be a more general exploration of an event, person or issue.

Through themes, writers can communicate their thoughts about things they find interesting
or concerning about people, society or the world. Texts can have multiple themes or ideas,
some more dominant than others, so it's important to be able to identify these as well as
consider how they develop throughout the course of the text.
 Summary Vs.
Analysis
Before we delve into themes and ideas, it's important to understand the difference between summarising a
text and analysing a text.
Summary
The "what" of the text.
A summary is usually a short description that restates the
topic or content of the text. It is used to give the reader
an overview of what the story or article is about. It
provides a brief account of what is covered in the text
(main points only) and is written in a short, clear and
concise way, without delving into specific examples.
Analysis
The "how" of the text.
An analysis is a more detailed and in depth exploration
of the text. It aims to deconstruct a text by examining its
parts and commenting on how they work together to
achieve a purpose. The writer evaluates, examines and
interprets the content, drawing their own conclusions and
providing specific examples to illustrate their points.
 Identifying
Themes & Ideas
As previously mentioned, the easiest way to start identifying themes and ideas is to ask:
What is the text about? What topics or issues does it explore? We might begin by
writing down singular words or short phrases e.g. war, growing up, homelessness,
bravery or environmentalism.

Then, we need to turn these into statements - that is, we write them as a series of
specific ideas rather than as a single word.

Start with a keyword to help you build a phrase. Your statement should not identify any
examples from the text (i.e. specific characters/people, settings/places, or plot
features/events) but rather focus on the broader idea about people, society or the world
that the text conveys.

To be successful, you should be able to use the phrase "The text conveys the idea that..."
before your theme statement to form a complete sentence.
 Examples
Here are some examples of themes that have been turned into specific ideas.

The journey from innocence to experience often involves changing ideas

Coming of Age about oneself and one’s place in the world.

An irrational commitment to biological and familial ties can be destructive on

Family an individual.

Our identify is not fixed but fluid; it can shift and change depending on
Identify different circumstances.

Racism and prejudice are limitations to progress, both to the individual and
Prejudice society as a whole.
Adding
Complexity
It is rare for a text to centre around one theme or idea; often there are multiple. Some
might be more dominant or obvious than others. These themes and ideas might
interact and/or rely on one another in order to form a complex story or investigation.

For example, a coming of age narrative novel for an adolescent audience might
explore themes of bravery, family relationships, friendship, coping with change and
maturity. An informational feature article for an audience of parents on the topic of
standardised testing might explore ideas about education, student stress, academic
success and differences in individual abilities and learning needs.

It's also important to note that different readers can read the same text and identify
different themes or ideas due to their personal context. These ideas may not always be
deliberately intended by an author, but a reader might interpret them based on their
personal reading of the text.
Development of Ideas
Considering the fact that themes and ideas can be quite complex, it's
important to consider how they develop throughout a text.

Beginning Middle End

How does the author introduce the
theme or idea? What comments are
made about the theme early on in
the text?
Consider the opening paragraphs of
an article or the opening chapters of
a novel.
How are the themes or ideas
developed further through the body
of the text? Do they stay the same or
evolve?
Consider the use of narrative
elements in literature or evidence
provided in informational texts.
How do the themes or ideas
conclude at the end of the text? Is
there a final stance taken or is it left
open ended?
Consider if there's a moral or
message to a literary text or if an
informational text has a balanced or
one sided argument.
Making Inferences
Another important thing to consider is that although some texts can state themes or ideas
explicitly (such as an author of an informational text stating their argument or a character
in a literary text directly stating an idea directly through dialogue), many texts infer these
themes more subtly and it is up to you to draw inferences based on what is available.

To clarify, an inference is a conclusion reached based off evidence and reasoning. This
requires you to 'read between the lines' to extract a theme or idea based on the textual
elements or information available to you. This might take the form of conclusions,
predictions, critical judgements or interpretations.

As humans, we do this naturally every day but the study of texts in English is an active
and reflective process whereby you not only need to identify the ideas but consider how
you came to reach them. You might compare this to mathematics where you are not only
required to calculate a correct answer but you also must 'show your working out' in order
to achieve full marks. English is no different.
Citing Textual
Evidence
The final step after identifying your themes or ideas is to cite strong and
thorough textual evidence to support your analysis. This requires you to
identify specific examples or elements of the text that have influenced your
interpretation of these ideas.

Remember, in upper school we avoid paraphrasing examples as this can be too

general.

Instead, we look for explicit evidence such as direct quotations from the text to
illustrate our analysis.

We should also go a step further and comment on the textual conventions,

language features, structural features or stylistic choices that are shown
through each specific quotation.
 Conventions & Language
Features
These will differ depending on whether the text you are discussing is literary or informational.
Literary Texts
The textual evidence you provide might include:
• examples of narrative conventions such as
characterisation, setting, point of view, plot events or
symbolism
• language features such as descriptive language,
figurative language, lexicon and connotation
• structural features such as flash back,
foreshadowing, prologue or epilogue
Informational Texts
The textual evidence you provide might include:
• evidence supplied by the author including facts,
statistics, expert opinion, personal anecdotes or case
studies
• language features such as rhetorical question,
inclusive language, repetition or hyperbole
• structural features such as cause and effect, problem-
solution, compare and contrast
 Your Turn
In this course, we will be reading, summarising and analysing a range of literary and informational texts.
Identifying multiple themes or ideas and analysing their development over the course of a text is a central
skill that we will need to achieve success in the course. You will also need to be able to cite strong and
thorough textual evidence to support the text's explicit ideas as well as your own inferences drawn from the
text.

Now, let's put these skills into practice by completing some analysis activities. Good luck!
Elements Used: