Determining and Analyzing the Theme of a Short Literary Work

Which statement best defines theme?

• the details of a plot

• the subject of a literary work

• the underlying conflict in a story

• the author’s message, idea, or opinion

Choose the two characteristics that make a clear theme statement.

• includes story details

• states an idea or opinion

• refers to the subject or the topic of a story

• presents a universal concept

Which two statements are examples of themes?

• self-identity

• Kindess can bring great rewards.

• conflicting situation

• Giving in does mean giving up.

• The story's character struggle against the power of nature.

Which idea most resembles a theme?

• Inspiration comes in many forms.

• The main character discovers his dreams.

• love

• Don’t give up.

Read these lines from a poem by Emily Dickinson. Choose the theme is expressed in these lines?

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne'er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.

• One’s needs are determined by one’s wants.

• Struggling makes you appreciate the times when you are thriving.

• Life is better when you have very little.

• You should learn to value everything you have.

Which statement best reflects a central theme of this poem?

You Cannot Put a Fire Out

by Emily Dickinson

You cannot put a fire out;

A thing that can ignite

Can go, itself, without a fan

Upon the slowest night.

You cannot fold a flood

And put it in a drawer, —

Because the winds would find it out,

And tell your cedar floor.

• You cannot create a solution to a problem you did not cause.

• It is dangerous to misunderstand the power of nature.

• Nature is strong and cruel.

• It is pointless to try to control that which is uncontrollable.

Read the story “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” Then choose the theme that the story conveys.

an adaptation of

The Blind Men and the Elephant

by James Baldwin

There were once six men who were blind who stood by the road-side every day, and listened to people as they passed. They had often heard of elephants, but they had never seen one; for, being blind, how could they?

It so happened one morning that an elephant was driven down the road where they stood. When they were told that the great beast was before them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they might see him.

Of course, they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was.

The first blind man happened to put his hand on the elephant's side. "Well, well!" he said, "now I know all about this beast. He is exactly like a wall."

The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said, "you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else."

The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. "Both of you are wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this elephant is like a snake."

The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that he is round and tall like a tree."

The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold of the elephant's ear. "The blindest man ought to know that this beast is not like any of the things that you name," he said. "He is exactly like a huge fan."

The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before he could find the elephant at all. At last he seized the animal's tail. "O foolish fellows!" he cried. "You surely have lost your senses. This elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree; neither is he like a fan. But any man with a particle of sense can see that he is exactly like a rope."

Then the elephant moved on, and the six men sat by the roadside all day, and quarreled about him. Each believed that he knew just how the animal looked; and each called the others hard names because they did not agree with him. People who have eyes sometimes act as foolishly.

• Through multiple experiences, one can finally recognize truth.

• Being blind is better than seeing the truth.

• Those who are blind to the truth will never admit it.

• With limited knowledge, the truth is a matter of perspective.

A theme is most commonly revealed through a text’s treatment of what essential story element?

• mood

• figurative devices

• conflict

• pacing

Which three of these story details can help a reader identify the theme?

• the author’s background

• repetition of ideas

• the amount of dialogue

• the interaction of story elements

• the main conflict

Select the correct part of this excerpt from Voltaire’s Candide that best develops the theme that different people find value in different things?

The mountains which surround my kingdom are ten thousand feet high, and as steep as walls; they are each over ten leagues in breadth, and there is no other way to descend them than by precipices. However, since you absolutely wish to depart, I shall give orders to my engineers to construct a machine that will convey you very safely. When we have conducted you over the mountains no one can accompany you further, for my subjects have made a vow never to quit the kingdom, and they are too wise to break it. Ask me besides anything that you please."

"We desire nothing of your Majesty," says Candide, "but a few sheep laden with provisions, pebbles, and the earth of this country."

The King laughed.

"I cannot conceive," said he, "what pleasure you Europeans find in our yellow clay, but take as much as you like, and great good may it do you."

At once he gave directions that his engineers should construct a machine to hoist up these two extraordinary men out of the kingdom. Three thousand good mathematicians went to work; it was ready in fifteen days, and did not cost more than twenty million sterling in the specie of that country. They placed Candide and Cacambo on the machine. There were two great red sheep saddled and bridled to ride upon as soon as they were beyond the mountains, twenty pack-sheep laden with provisions, thirty with presents of the curiosities of the country, and fifty with gold, diamonds, and precious stones. The King embraced the two wanderers very tenderly.

• When we have conducted you over the mountains no one can accompany you further, for my subjects have made a vow never to quit the kingdom, and they are too wise to break it. Ask me besides anything that you please."

• "We desire nothing of your Majesty," says Candide, "but a few sheep laden with provisions, pebbles, and the earth of this country."

• The King laughed.

• "I cannot conceive," said he, "what pleasure you Europeans find in our yellow clay, but take as much as you like, and great good may it do you."

• There were two great red sheep saddled and bridled to ride upon as soon as they were beyond the mountains, twenty pack-sheep laden with provisions, thirty with presents of the curiosities of the country, and fifty with gold, diamonds, and precious stones.