Elements of Literature

1
Elements of Literature

• Theme

2
Definition

• The central idea of a story the underlying
  message
• What does the story mean?
• What is this story about?
• What insight do you gain from the story?
• Usually a story is unified around its theme
• Theme is not the subject
• Subject Two friends working on a ranch
• Theme Hard work makes a dream come true

3
Understanding Theme

• Look for Motifs
• Motifs are conspicuous ideas that repeat or occur
  frequently in a story
• Some themes are stated explicitly
• Some themes are implied in the story the reader
  must infer the theme.

4
Understanding Theme

• Express themes as a statements
• Not Love
• Love makes a person happy is a theme.
• Generalize when expressing a theme
• Not Lennie makes George happy
• Friendship saves a person from loneliness
• Avoid cliches when expressing a theme
• Not You cant judge a book by its cover