SETTING AND

THEMES
MS. RUBY
BASIC QUESTIONS

• 1. Where does a story take place?

• 2. When does a story take place?
• 3. Other questions?: what are the “social conditions” of the
story?
• Example: A story about 1860s in the South. Parasite
QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT “SOCIAL
CONDITIONS”
• 1. Nationality?
• 2. Ethnicity?
• 3. Social/Economic Status
• 4. Government
• 5. religion
• 6. values, goals and ideals?
WHAT ARE THEMES?

• Themes are underlying messages of the story that a reader puts together a
puzzle
• An author won’t tell you exactly what the themes of the story are, the
readers need to piece them together as they read.
 WHAT IS A THEME?

• 1. what is the moral of the story?

• 2. Addresses a broader, universal idea.
• 3. Dramatize a message, or feeling that the author wishes to
convey
HOW TO RECOGNIZE A THEME?

• 1. Opening Exposition and preludes

• What did the characters talk about?
• 2. Recurring symbols
• For example: The one ring in the Lord of the Rings
HOW TO RECOGNIZE A THEME?

• 3. Character relationship, roles and back story, traits

• Eg. Harry potter, Voldemort have similar past
• 4. Recognize a theme by setting?
PRACTICE

• Re-read the preludes and first chapter of the book thief and
figure out the setting of it.
• Try to recognize the themes of the book thief