Skill: Theme in The Monkey's Paw

Skill: Theme in The Monkey's Paw

Open Ended

Think of a story/movie/show/video game or song.

List the title and hashtag what the lesson of it was.

For example: Finding Nemo #nevergiveup

What is a theme? 

• Theme is the central idea or message an author expresses in a work of fiction, poetry, or drama. 

• Sometimes an author explicitly states a theme through a title, the words of a character, or a descriptive line.

• Themes grow and develop over the course of a text, and they are not directly stated at all.

• In this case, you will have to infer (guess) the theme

• When readers try to infer the theme of a story, novel, poem, or play, they usually ask themselves: What is this text really about? 

Multiple Choice

What is the theme of a text?

• a topic that an author writes about in their story

• central idea or message an author expresses in a work of fiction, poetry, or drama

• the most exciting part of the story

• the song that plays when your favorite tv show starts

Multiple Choice

Why is theme sometimes hard to identify in a story?

• An author will not directly state the theme

• An author will explicitly state it in the first sentence

• You need a new pair of glasses

• Themes aren't real

Multiple Choice

What are you doing when you figure out a theme that isn't stated directly?

• Guessing

• Thinking

• Not listening

• Inferring

What is a theme? 

• Often, though, readers confuse the subject (or topic) of a text (what the text is about) with the text’s theme.

•  A topic can often be summed up in a word or two, while a theme is usually stated in a sentence.
  

• "Slow and steady wins the race"

How do I identify the theme?

• Identify the narrator and the point of view from which the work is written.

• Listen to the narrator-- readers should look at what motivates the narrator and the characters and what happens as a result of their actions.

• Pay attention to cause-and-effect relationships (If…happens...then…)

• Consider the plot’s central conflict and how it’s resolved

• Details from the setting

• Using details from the text to infer the theme

Identifying the theme in The Monkey’s Paw

• Once the family discovers that Morris has already made three wishes, Mr. White wants the paw (after getting it from the fire) 

•  What type of person is Mr. White?

• Despite several warnings, he has received, he risks burning himself and snatched the paw from the fire.

•  As he decides on what he wants, Herbert suggests money, to help pay off their home. 

• Mr. White makes his first wish. “‘I wish for two hundred pounds,’ said the old man distinctly.”

Identifying the theme in The Monkey’s Paw

• By making a wish, Mr. White has caused a “twist of fate” to take place, because if his wish comes true, it will change the sequence of events in his life. 

• The “twist of fate” is literal and actually happens because he paw twists in his hand.

• Morris warned, “He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow” (paragraph 26).

Open Ended

What do you think the theme of The Monkey’s Paw is?

After you have identified the theme, be p