Download Themes and Motifs

Theme
What is a theme?
Musical Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqM1qmpi8fs
Musical Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1tc493bZM
What is a theme?
• A common thread or repeated idea that is
incorporated throughout a literary work,
usually involving some insight into
human existence
– Themes are often related to the author’s
purpose in writing the literary work.
• Theme differs from the subject or topic of
a literary work in that it involves a
statement or opinion about the topic
What is theme in literature?
• Theme is the main idea or message about
mankind or life conveyed by a piece of
literary work.
• A theme should be expressed by a
complete sentence, thought, or idea rather
than just one word.
• Not every piece of literature has a theme.
• A theme can be the “moral” of a story, or
lesson, but it does not have to be.
How does a reader identify
theme?
• The theme may be stated clearly in the
story or implied through the story’s plot.
• The theme might be presented by the
actions, thoughts and feelings of the main
characters.
• The theme might be deep or difficult to
understand.
How does a reader identify
theme?
• The reader may slowly come to realize the
theme of a story as she processes the text
and reads the story in its entirety, all the
way through to the end.
How does a reader identify
theme?
• Many popular children’s stories rely
heavily on theme.
• Stories remain timeless because theme is
timeless.
• Theme is often a moral.
Let’s practice!
• Charlotte’s Web:
• Theme:
• Friendship
What is the theme?
What is the theme?
Practice – what is the theme?
Practice – what is the theme?
Examples of theme
• The need to take care of one’s own
behavior now, for it affects one’s condition
in the afterlife (Dante’s Inferno)
• The struggle of young girls turning into
women (Little Women)
• Inhumanity of racism (The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn)
Questions to help locate a theme
• Does the text examine some common life
experience or problem?
– Does the text offer any solutions or answers to
common problems?
• How do the other elements in the story
work together? What ideas or observations
about life do they reveal?
How is theme presented?
• Often, stories suggest a theme through the
details of:
–
–
–
–
Characters
Plot
Setting
Point of view
• Themes of most literature have to do with
emotions and experiences that make us
human—fear, courage, loss, love, etc.