Theme

What is the theme of a story?

• main character
• the lesson or moral of the story
• sequence of events
• short summary of what the story is about

What is a main idea?

• the main character in a story
• the message about life that an author expresses
• the sequence of events in a story
• a description of what the story is mostly about

Which of the following could be the theme of a story?

• Fear is more dangerous than any beast.
• A brave young girl pretends to be a man and takes her father's place in the army.
• a fear of heights
• "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too."

Which of the following could be the theme of a story?

• a 35-year old woman named Essie and her brother
• a small apartment in Marfa, Texas
• telling the truth may cause pain, but in the end, it's better than lying.
• Essie lied to her brother about her identity for two years, but she finally decided to tell him the truth.

Which of the following could be the theme of a story?

• Your past does not define you.
• returning home after a long time
• A man sees a group of people he used to work with a long time ago. 
• an old man who used to be a farmer

A toad and a lizard learn to get along while on a journey through the wilderness. 
What is this sentence an example of?

• plot
• character
• main idea
• theme

Friendship helps people get through hard times. 
What is this sentence an example of?

• plot
• character
• main idea
• theme

A woman risks her life to spy for the Union during the Civil War. 
What is this sentence an example of?

• plot
• character
• main idea
• theme

As Fardos played basketball,  Ahmed looked at her with pride. For so long, Fardos played badly and would mess up dribbling the ball, but now she played very well. Getting to this point wasn't easy for Ahmed either. He sighed, trying to erase the memories of all the screaming tantrums Fardos had thrown. Once, she nearly threw the ball at Ahmed's face. But now when Fardos smiled while she was dribbling the ball, Ahmed smiled too. It had been worth it. 
What is the theme of this story?

• Playing a musical instrument is too much work. 
• Hard work can bring great rewards. 
• Friends shouldn't try to teach each other new things. 
• It's OK to give up on yourself.

True or false: A story can only have one theme.

• True 
• False
• I don't know
• Maybe