Inferring the Theme

Infer Theme

Theme: Life lesson, meaning, moral, or message about life or human nature that is communicated by a literary work.

In other words

Theme is what the story teaches readers.

How do we find the theme?

observe characters closely,

what they say and do

ask yourself what were the consequences of those actions?

How to write theme?

• A theme is not a word, it is a sentence.

  You don’t have to agree with the theme to identify it.

  Example:

  Money can’t buy happiness.

• Themes never contain on character names.

• Theme is true for everyone.

Let's Practice

• We'll Listen a story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrpO0rkzvHM

• Now Think

• What did the author want people to learn from this story?

• What is the deeper meaning of this story?

Multiple Select

What is the theme of Ezra's story?

• Dreams come true where there is determination.

• Ezra was a disabled child.

• you should never lose hope.

• Ezra shared his inspiring story.

• we should face our fears to overcome it.

Read this story to find its theme.

Jenny hated reading class. She didn’t understand point of view or figurative language, and not knowing how to do the work frustrated her. She asked the teacher for help, but he spoke so fast and used such big words that she still couldn’t understand. The teacher asked if she understood, and she nodded her head, but she didn’t. Jenny’s friend Katie knew that Jenny was having trouble, and, rather than just giving Jenny all of the answers, Katie explained to Jenny how to solve the problems. Katie spoke clearly and at Jenny’s level, and Jenny was happy that she finally learned how to do the work. Later in the week, Katie was having trouble in math class. She didn’t understand coordinates and was really frustrated. Seeing that Katie was having problems, Jenny, who understood math very well, taught Katie coordinates. Both girls made honor roll that quarter. 

Open Ended

What did you learn from this story ?