What is THEME?

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What is THEME?

• What is the author trying to tell us with their
  story?

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Definition

• The theme of a story is often a lesson about
  life. It is the Big Idea of a text that
  expresses what the work is really about. A
  theme is always expressed in a complete sentence
  that expresses the authors point of view.

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Examples of Topics That Become Themes in
Literature

• Some examples of topics found in literature that
  create themes are
• Love
• Friendship
• Honesty
• Racism
• Finding happiness

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• Mostly, the THEME is what the author wants you to
  remember MOST about their piece of writing.

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Identifying Theme

• What kind of conflicts are described in this
  writing?
• What is the authors purpose in writing this?
• How are those conflicts resolved?
• Does the dialogue help convey the theme?
• What mood does the author create?

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Identifying Theme

• There are a few key steps to identifying a
  storys theme.
• Make a list of TOPICS.
• Pick the 2 MOST IMPORTANT ones.

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Identifying theme (part 2)

• 3. Find CLUES and EVIDENCE (context clues) to
  support your two chosen ideas.
• 4. Determine the theme by evaluating the clues.

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Lets talk about some Aesops Fables!

• Directions Read along and look for possible
  themes or lessons the author is trying to
  teach us.

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The Ant and the Grasshopper

• In a field one summer's day, a Grasshopper was
  hopping about, chirping and singing to its
  heart's content. An Ant passed by bearing along
  with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to
  the nest.
• "Why not come and chat with me," said the
  Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in
  that way?"
• "I am helping to lay up food for the winter,"
  said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."
  
• "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper.
  We have got plenty of food at present."
• But the Ant went on its way and continued its
  toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no
  food and found itself dying of hunger, while it
  saw the ants distributing every day corn and
  grain from the stores they had collected in the
  summer.

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Step 1 What are the topics?

• Provide some examples of topics found. I came up
  with
• Being prepared
• Summer
• Winter
• Laziness
• Hard work
• Responsibility
• Friendship

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Step 2 Determine the two most important topics.

• Being prepared
• Summer
• Winter
• Laziness
• Hard work
• Responsibility
• Friendship

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Step 3 Find supporting clues and evidence.

• The grasshopper was not prepared and he starved
  in the winter.
• By the time the grasshopper wanted to prepare it
  was too late.
• The grasshopper was not responsible either, he
  was lazy and hung around all summer.
• The ant WAS prepared for winter, he used the
  summer to store food.

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Step 4 Determine theme by evaluating the context
clues.

• It is important to be responsible and prepare
  for the future now, before it is too late.

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The Wind and the Sun

• The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was
  the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveler coming
  down the road, and the Sun said "I see a way to
  decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause
  that traveler to take off his cloak shall be
  regarded as the stronger. You begin."
• So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind
  began to blow as hard as it could upon the
  traveler. He was cruel in his attempts, biting
  into the mans skin with his blows. But the
  harder he blew the more closely did the traveler
  wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind
  had to give up in despair.
• Then the Sun came out and shone in all his
  glory upon the traveler, gently and kindly
  shedding his warmth. The man soon found it too
  hot to walk with his cloak on and removed it.

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What is the lesson?

• What does the author want us to take away? Jot
  down a few concepts in your notebook.