Unit 3 The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket by Kawabata

Unit 3 The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket by Kawabata

9th Grade

The theme of a story

• The theme of a story, or its central idea, may express an attitude or an underlying message about life or human nature.

• Themes are seldom stated directly.

• Instead, you must make inferences, or logical guesses, about them using evidence in the text and your own common sense. 

Theme

• To determine theme, think about the experiences story characters go through, and note key statements that say something about life or people in general.

• Then ask yourself, “What conclusions can I draw about theme using these details?”

Check your understanding!

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is true?

• A The narrator is annoyed with the children.

• B A grasshopper is rare, and a bell cricket is common.

• C Fujio sees his name reflected onto Kiyoko’s kimono.

• D The children are looking in some bushes for insects.

Multiple Choice

Where is Fujio when he finds the grasshopper?

• A He is climbing the embankment.

• B He is at a distance from the other children.

• C He is sitting next to the narrator.

• D He and Kiyoko are standing together.

Multiple Choice

What does the narrator see on the clothing of Fujio and Kiyoko?

• A A bell cricket

• B A grasshopper

• C The reflection of each others’ names

• D Multicolored circle and diamond shapes

What have we learned?

Text Analysis

Open Ended

The narrator experiences back-to-back Aha Moments beginning in paragraph 22.

How does the story change after these Aha Moments?

Open Ended

Determine the theme, or underlying message, that the narrator expresses in paragraph 26 when he thinks,

“Even if you have the wit to look by yourself in a bush away from the other children, there are not many bell crickets in the world. Probably you will find a girl like a grasshopper whom you think is a bell cricket.”

Open Ended

Remember: The time and place of a short story’s action is the setting.

In what ways is setting important in this story? How does the setting connect to themes about love, nature, or being an individual?