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Chapter 4--Theme

Chapter 4--Theme. From Perrine’s Structure, Sound, and Sense Fall 2006—Coach Adams. What’s the difference?. Look at the two jokes at the beginning of the chapter. Joke #2 relies upon our understanding of theme; joke #1 is a simple play on words.

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Chapter 4--Theme

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  1. Chapter 4--Theme From Perrine’s Structure, Sound, and Sense Fall 2006—Coach Adams

  2. What’s the difference? • Look at the two jokes at the beginning of the chapter. Joke #2 relies upon our understanding of theme; joke #1 is a simple play on words. • A theme is the controlling idea or insight central to a work of literature • Larger works have room for multiple themes; short stories typically are built around a single theme.

  3. Themes are not the reason for the story… • So why write stories at all? • To bring ideas (themes) to life. • Very few writers sit down to make some major, predetermined point. Rather, the point emerges as a truth about human nature as the author imagines the story. • A theme is not a ‘moral’ or ‘lesson.’ • Not all stories are didactic (intended to instruct)

  4. How to find a theme • Don’t ask what a story teaches; instead, train your brain to seek what a story reveals about life. • You may not always agree with the theme or content of a story; good readers can enjoy a story which contains a theme they reject—just like you can have friends with whom you completely disagree on several topics.

  5. Some points on theme • Statements of theme should be a sentence (“Our anger often drives us to commit sins worse than the ones that made us angry”), not a single word (“Anger”) • Statements of theme should be general to life, not specific to the story • Statements of theme should be only as general as the story warrants—one character doesn’t provide evidence for the entire human race.

  6. Points on theme—cont. • Statements of theme should be of the unifying central idea • Account for all major events • It should not be contradicted. • Should not rely on supposition. • Statements of theme can be put together in a variety of ways—there is no “right” way to state a theme. (p. 98—”Miss Brill” themes)

  7. Points on theme—cont • Statements of theme shouldn’t be familiar, tired aphorisms we’ve all heard before (“honesty is the best policy” or “you can’t judge a book by its cover”)

  8. The stories • Required—”Defender of the Faith” p. 117 • Questions to be assigned and answered in groups • Required—”The Son From America” p. 99 • Answer #5 in an essay first • Then answer #4 (short answer format) • Make-up—”A Lot of Ways to Die” p. 105—questions 3-6 to be discussed on the assigned morning.

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