Understanding Theme

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Understanding Theme
Identifying themes in our reading of The Power of
One
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• Turn to the Literary Terms Review crossword
  puzzle.
• Were going to keep all our literary terms and
  definitions in one spot in our binder.
• On the back of the Literary Terms Crossword
  puzzle you will record our definition and notes
  about theme.

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• Keep in mind when recording definitions that
  wording does not matter. I will not ask you to
  memorize definitions word-for-word. Instead, it
  is more important for you to understand how a
  literary term is used. This means that you will
  need to decide what is most important to remember
  when we go through literary terms in class.
• Use clues to help you figure out what is most
  important. Clues might include
• Bold-face font
• Underlining
• Italics
• Repeated information or phrasing
• Keep this in mind as you add the next term to the
  back of your literary terms cross word puzzle.
  

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Theme

• What exactly is this elusive thing called
  theme?The theme of a fable is its moral. The
  theme of a parable is its teaching. The theme of
  a piece of fiction is its view about life and how
  people behave. Essentially, a theme is a comment
  on humanity, reality, and perhaps society.In
  fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or
  preach. In fact, it is not presented directly at
  all. You extract it from the characters, action,
  and setting that make up the story. In other
  words, you must figure out the theme
  yourself.The writer's task is to communicate on
  a common ground with the reader. Although the
  particulars of your experience may be different
  from the details of the story, the general
  underlying truths behind the story may be just
  the connection that both you and the writer are
  seeking.

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Definition

• Theme
• the central insight or truth regarding human
  experience that is expressed through the
  fictional world that the writer creates.

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Keep this in mind

• Themes are generally implied rather than directly
  stated.
• Themes are not directives they do not direct the
  reader to do or not do something.
• Example -
• Not a theme People should not judge each other
  based on stereotypes.
• Theme People unconsciously use stereotypes to
  prejudge members of particular groups.
• The theme is not the plot however, a statement
  of theme often emerges from the central conflict
  of the story.
• Themes are declarative sentences that relate the
  specifics of a story to the human experience.
• Themes are not single concepts or one word
  abstract ideas
• Example -
• Not a theme Heroism
• Theme Devotion to an ideal can make a simple
  life heroic.

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Finding the Theme

• Here are some ways to uncover the theme in a
  story
• Check out the title because sometimes it tells
  you about the theme.
• Notice repeating patterns and symbols as they may
  lead you to a theme.
• What are the details and particulars in the
  story? What greater meaning may they have?
• Remember that theme, plot, and structure are
  inseparable, all helping to inform and reflect
  back on each other. Also, be aware that a theme
  we determine from a story never completely
  explains the story. It is simply one of the
  elements that make up the whole.
• A story may have more than one theme.

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Applying our definition of theme

• Now working with a partner, you will need to
  write a theme statement for your reading of
  chapters 1-6. Underneath your theme statement
  you will need write two specific examples from
  chapters 1-6 of the text (with page numbers) to
  support your theme.

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EXAMPLE

• A persons hunger for power over others can lead
  corruption and inhumane treatment of others.
• The Judge leads the younger students to pee on
  Pisskop. When the Judge and his council of war
  had all peed on me (5).
• The Judge beats Pisskop when Judge thinks Pisskop
  insults him. The Judges eyes seemed to pop out
  of his head (23).