Theme Lesson

Theme Lesson

How does theme affect a story?

Multiple Choice

Should a theme be written as a single word?

• YES

• NO

Multiple Select

Which of the following are themes?

• People risk their own identity to find love.

• Without empathy, there can be no justice.

• Family

• Wealth

• Power corrupts humanity.

Theme Statements

• Since themes shouldn't be a single word, we need to create a theme statement.

• Topic IS NOT a theme statement.

• So, how do we write one?

How to write a theme statement:

• Create a list of theme topics that can be supported with evidence from the text and choose ONE topic that is best demonstrated by the text.

• Next, write a sentence about the author's message. (The author's message is that...)

• Finally, cross out "The author's message is that," and you should be left with a theme statement!

• Let's try it out together.

What are some theme topics for the Harry Potter novels/movies?

Poll

Which of these theme topics do you think are present in the Harry Potter books/movies?

• Death

• Love

• Fear

• Leadership

• Tolerance

First, we ask ourselves, "What is the author's message about leadership (or whichever theme topic you choose)?

Next, we write our author's message statement.

Finally, we cross out "The author's message to the reader is that"... and we are left with our theme statement!

Let's try one more!

Open Ended

What is one theme topic (single word!) you can think of in Fahrenheit 451 so far?