Theme Review

Theme Review

What is Theme?

The theme of a story is the underlying message in the story. The theme is not directly stated but is implied. The reader must think about the character's experiences and choices to come up with the theme of the story.

How can we find the theme?

Think about:

1. What is the BIG idea in this story?
2. What larger message is the author trying to convey?
3. What did the author want the reader to understand?

Is my theme too specific?

Your theme should be able to be applied to multiple stories. Your theme should never include specific character names, places or ideas from the story. Let's look at some examples.

Poll

Select which theme applies to the movie Frozen? You don't need to have seen the movie to get the right answer.

• Love is the most powerful magic of all

• Anna helped her sister Elsa.

• Anna shouldn't trust a man she just met (Hans).

• The movie was great because it had good music.

Frozen Theme

The first answer was correct because it could apply to multiple stories. The second option was more a summary of what happened in the movie and not a theme. The third option had a lesson but was too specific by mentioning character names. The fourth option just talked about the reader's feelings and not what was learned from the movie.

Now we will read a few passages and select the correct theme. Be ready to listen as I read the passages.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following could be a theme of a story?

• You can never turn your back on your family.

• A young girl returns to her family after moving away.

• Most people have at least one brother or sister.

Mrs. Olson was always yelling at Mara's family for making too much noise, or leaving toys in the driveway, or letting their grass grow too long. One day, Mara was playing in the front yard when Mrs. Olson dropped a whole bag of groceries on her porch. Mara rushed to help. Despite Mrs. Olson's objections, Mara helped her to bring the groceries inside and to clean up the broken jar of applesauce. The next day, Mrs. Olson called Mara over to her house. At first, Mara was a little scared. But Mrs. Olson just wanted her to help get some. After that, Mara started helping Mrs. Olson around the house a few times a week. The years passed and Mara grew up and went to college, but whenever she came home, she always made sure to visit Mrs. Olson. One day, Mara got a letter from a lawyer. Mrs. Olson had died in her sleep. Mara was sad, but also surprised. The letter said that Mrs. Olson had thousands of dollars in the bank and she left it all to Mara.

Multiple Choice

What was the theme of the story?

• Sometimes grumpy people have a lot of money

• We should help people out and hopefully get money

• Treat people with kindness

• Mara treated Mrs. Oldson nicely and got money from her.

“I don’t want a new baby brother!” whined Kim. “Honey, you don’t have a choice. He will be here next month,” mom said rubbing her big belly. Kim couldn’t believe that she would have to be around a loud, slobbery baby. Plus, the thought of sharing anything, especially attention from her mom and dad, with a new baby didn’t sound fun at all!

“You will be one of the most important people in his life!” mom exclaimed. “He will need you to look out for him and to teach him new things!” “Hmm, I guess that’s true. I will be showing him a lot of new things. Maybe it won’t be all that terrible having a little

rugrat running around here,” Kim replied with a sigh. “Just don’t expect me to change his diapers!”

Multiple Choice

What is the theme of this story?

• Babies are just loud and slobbery.

• Feeling important can help you accept change more easily.

• Kim didn't want a new baby brother.

One minute we were goofing around and having

fun and the next thing I knew, Hank’s body soared

over the top of the patio and suddenly his life was

in danger. With fingers grasped tightly on the

railing, he desperately cried for help. I watched his

grip slowly slip away and knew that a 40-foot

plunge to the ground could be disastrous. Without

stopping to consider my own safety, I jumped into

action.

My heart pounded through my chest and fear

pulsed through my veins as I clutched his hands and

pulled up as hard as I could.

Multiple Choice

What is the theme of this story?

• It takes courage to face dangerous situations.

• Hanging off a balcony can be fun sometimes.

• People should only play around inside.

Georgia decided to take a sewing class, but felt

very frustrated when she couldn’t sew a straight

line on the first day.

“This looks so easy, but it’s not! Clearly I’m

just terrible at sewing!” she complained.

Even though she felt frustrated, she continued

to go to class week after week. Each week, her

sewing instructor helped her. By the last week of

class, Georgia finally completed a project all by

herself! She created a rectangular pillow for her

bed... with four mostly perfect straight lines.

Multiple Choice

What is the theme of this story?

• If they really want to help, teachers should do all the work.

• Hard-work pays off

• Sewing is hard