Name __________________________________ Hayward/Class Period ______ Date _______________
Theme: The Search for Meaning
What is theme?
a _______________ _______________,
_________________,
_________________,
or ______________ about _________ or ______________ _____________
that is communicated by a literary work.
In other words…
Theme is ___________________________________________________________
A theme is NOT a ____________; it is a __________________________.
Examples:
Money can’t buy happiness.
Don’t judge people based on the surface.
Treat others as you want to be treated.
To identify theme, ask yourself:
What important _________________ are made by the _________________
or about the _______________________?
What __________________ do the _____________________ learn?
Do any ________________________ change over the course of the story?
If so, how do they change?
Identifying themes:
Themes are NOT explicit (__________________________________).
Themes are implied (_______________________).
To review:
Themes are what we can _______________ from the story.
Themes must be _____________________.
Themes apply to the _______, ___________ world.
What is a Story Theme?
THE THEME OF a story is the most important thing the author wants readers to understand.
It's the author's thoughts about a general belief of how things are or how they should be.
Here are a few other familiar themes you'll find in stories:
An author may not state the theme directly, but you can figure it out. Think about what the
characters in the story are like and what they do, and ask yourself questions like:
•
•
•
•
Did something that happened in the story change a character?
How do the characters' actions relate to things in my life?
What message is the author trying to send me?
Does the title of the story give a clue to the theme?