Theme and Evidence In Literature (Icarus)

Theme and Evidence In Literature

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Theme: the central idea, or insight, about life or human behavior that a story reveals

Theme Examples

• Living a simple life leads to greater personal freedom.

• The deepest loneliness is sometimes felt when we are among friends.

How do you find the theme?

• In most stories, the theme is not stated directly. Instead, it is revealed to us through the characters’ experiences.

• The subject is simply the topic. It can be stated in a single word, such as loyalty.

• The theme makes some revelation about the subject and should be expressed in a sentence: “Loyalty to a leader is not always noble.”

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT a theme?

• Love, if taken to extremes, can be negative rather than positive.

• friendship

• Independence is necessary to grow up, though it can be scary at times.

• Courage allows people to attempt difficult tasks in their lives even when there is a chance of failing.

How to Write a Theme Statement

• Must be ONLY one sentence.

• Do NOT include words such as “I” or “you” (people, one, society, an individual, etc.)

• Express what you learned from the text; avoid using a cliché! (overused expression)

• Use effective, powerful words (word choice always matters)

Multiple Choice

Which of the following has ALL of the required parts of a theme statement?

• Elsa in Frozen learns that holding back her feelings only causes damage. to herself and others.

• In 'Romeo and Juliet', Shakespeare presents the idea that love is more powerful than hate.

• The main lesson is about courage.

• Finding Nemo is about the strength of family bonds.

Multiple Choice

What is NOT a relevant subject/topic in the original Icarus Tale

• Carelessness

• Obedience

• Listening

• ice cream

Textual Evidence

• You need to prove your theme by going back into the text and finding evidence that supports what you are saying. Then you explain why that evidence supports your theme.

• You can cite or paraphrase your evidence.

• Cite: use the author’s exact

  words

• Paraphrase: putting something into your own word

Multiple Choice

Which of the following would be the best evidence for this theme statement from "Paperman" : Some risks are worth taking.

• The man gets in trouble with his boss

• The airplanes lead the man and the woman to reunite

• The man sees the woman across the street

• The airplanes does not make it into the window