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Delve into the theme of self-reliance and believing in oneself through various characters' experiences and transformations. Explore how self-confidence shapes outcomes and influences success in life.
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THEME The message or insight into life presented by the author through a story What the writer wants you to remember the most
Understanding Theme • Find the “big ideas” or general topics • Find out what the characters do, say, and experience that relates to the topic • Come up with a STATEMENT of the writer’s point or message about the topic
Step 1: Find “Big Ideas” or Topics • Look for clues • Title • introductory information • summaries
Common Topics • Growing up, self-improvement, self-reliance, identity • Love, hate, hope, faith, truth, patience, loyalty • Freedom, family, friendship, independence • justice, nature, prejudice, war, violence
Step 2: Relate characters to topics • Characters’ thoughts about “big ideas,” or emphasized topics, or life in general • Usually a clue to theme • Often from protagonist (but not always)
A Change in a Character What caused the change? What is important about the change? • Does the character learn anything? • Does her physical appearance change? • Does the character feel differently about herself? • Do other characters notice changes?
Step 3: Write a theme statement • What might the author be saying about an important topic? • What is important to think about or learn? • Support is CRITICAL! • Characters’ actions, words • Conflict • Mood & tone
Topic What characters say or do What is important to learn Theme Organizer
Writing good theme statements • Make a point. • A complete sentence • Says something important about the topic • “The Fifty-First Dragon” • Topic: believing in oneself • Theme: People will believe in anything when they don’t believe in themselves.
Writing good theme statements • Avoid vague (unspecific) words • Be precise with word choices • “The Fifty-First Dragon” • Vague: Self-confidence is good. • Specific: Having self-confidence is better than relying on false hope.
Writing good theme statements • Avoid using character names • Apply to life, to people in general • Make a statement about life, not the story • “The Fifty-First Dragon” • No: Gawaine should have believed in himself rather than magic. • Yes: Believing in oneself is a much better predictor of success than believing in false hope, such as magic.