Identifying the Theme of a Passage

Theme

What is it? What does it look like? Why is it important?

What is theme?

• The theme is the underlying message in the story.

• Stories can have multiple themes.

• Many times, people confuse the main idea or the summary of a story with the theme of a story or passage.

• The main idea is a summary of what the whole passage is about, while the theme is an inference that related to the underlying message in a story

• The theme is not directly stated, but is implied.

• The reader must think about the character's experiences and choices to infer the theme of the story.

How do you identify the theme?

• Observe what the character in a story does, feels, thinks, or says.

• Ask yourself, "What are the consequences of these actions?"

• Ask yourself, "What are some BIG idea in this story"

• Ask yourself, "What does the author believe about these topics?"

Theme Rules

• Themes are a complete sentence.

• Themes never contain character names.

• A theme is universal and can be true for many books.

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Theme

We will infer the theme of a few short films

Watch Video 1 from the Virtual Classroom

https://youtu.be/EUm-vAOmV1o

Multiple Select

What is a possible theme for the short film? (Choose all that apply)

• The key to happiness is getting what you want.

• Successful people keep trying even when they fail.

• Use your resources to be successful.

• Not everyone is who they seem.

Watch Video 2 from the Virtual Classroom

https://youtu.be/vPuRBiBCxyk

Multiple Select

What is a possible theme for the short film? (Check all that apply)

• We are made strong through our struggles.

• Families Stick together.

• Love conquers all obstacles.

• True friendship has no boundaries