BTW READING FAST VOCABULARY REVIEW

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON SR. HIGH SCHOOL
F.A.S.T KEYWORDS REVIEW

Theme

Three Big Ideas About Theme:

• Themes CAN BE universal which means that people all over the world can relate to or understand the theme. 

• Themes are implied which means that it is not explicitly stated.

• “Bigger than the story” which means that the theme or message is true in other circumstances beyond just the ones in the story (it applies to the real world)

Multiple Choice

A story's main theme might be difficult to figure out because:

• Authors rarely want the reader to figure it out

• It has little to do with plot, characters, and other story elements

• Only complicated, adult stories have themes

• It is rarely stated explicitly

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements about theme is TRUE?

• Authors NEVER use the same theme twice

• Themes only repeat in short stories

• All poems have the same theme

• The same themes can occur in different stories/different authors

Multiple Choice

Themes are universal because ...

• all humans share common experiences
• authors add them to make the writing meaningful
• the entire universe enjoys them
• the stories go on forever

Things to Consider:

• A story can have more than one theme

• A lot of stories can share the same theme

• A reader doesn’t have to agree with the theme

• A theme should be supported by reasons, evidence, your own thoughts/words

• A theme will not include the character's name

• A theme is a sentence not one word (more on this later)

• DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEME vs. CENTRAL IDEA

• THEME= MORAL or message of story

• CENTRAL IDEA= what the text is mostly about!!!

How to find tone

• Tone is not stated directly.

• You must read between

  the lines to see what the author’s or narrator’s

  attitude is on the subject.

• Tone can be revealed through:

  - Dialogue between characters

  - Descriptions

  - Author’s diction (word choice)

  - The themes that emerge

Tone is the author's attitude.

We can figure out what the tone is based on the author's diction.

The diction affects the tone of the story.

Types of diction:

• Formal diction: Professional writing. This will have good grammar and vocabulary. You would use formal diction to talk to the Queen of England or writing an essay.

• Informal diction: More conversational writing. This is closer to how people normally speak. You would use this with family or friends.

For example,

• If I say "I woke up this morning and got ready to go to work" it's hard to figure out the tone. How do I feel about work? We are not sure.

• “The alarm clock's shrill ring jerked me out of my pleasant dream. I slowly got out of bed and got ready to trudge to work." In this one, we can tell that the author does not want to get out of bed. They are bitter.

• The diction (or word choice) of the second quote lets us know the tone of the story.

​

1.  diction:  word choice

2.  denotation:  the dictionary definition of a word

3.  connotation:  the associated, secondary meaning of a word

4.  syntax:  sentence structure

5.  point of view: the perspective from which an author tells his/her story or presents information

​

​

​

​Voice, Tone, and mood

A few more terms to know: (how an author establishes voice)

​

Multiple Choice

We have come together this afternoon to mourn the deaths of sixteen miners—our friends and neighbors—who were trapped by fire yesterday, deep below the earth. They lived bravely and they died too soon, leaving behind grieving wives and bewildered children. We bid them a final farewell.

• forgiving

• sorrowful

• angry

Multiple Choice

Often you feel you’ve done nothing when you’ve actually done a lot. That’s because what you did do seemed beneath notice—it was so small that it didn’t “count.” But it did—just as each stitch counts toward a finished dress, each brick or nail toward a house you can live in, each mistake toward knowing how to do things right.

• hesitant

• encouraging

• amused

Figurative Language