Theme

When Curtis transferred to our high school from some fancy private school, I was assigned the job of showing him around our building. First, I showed him our trophy case. Our school has done put together some quality teams and programs over the years, so our trophy case was pretty full. Curtis was not impressed. He claimed that the trophy case at his old school was at least twice as big as ours and much more crowded. Next I showed him our swimming pool. Not every high school has a swimming pool, so we were proud of ours, but Curtis couldn't care less. "The swimming pool at my old school is bigger and more modern. This one looks kind of dirty," he said with disdain. I continued to guide Curtis around the school, showing him our cafeteria, gymnasium, and even our garden, but Curtis seemed disappointed with everything that he saw. He'd quickly compare it to his old school, which in his words was superior to ours in every way. The last thing I showed Curtis was the front door. I told him that he would like this one best because he could walk through it and go back to his old school.

• Do not criticize things that are dear to others.

• A thing worth doing is worth doing correctly; cutting corners comes at a cost; better to do a thing once the right way then many times the wrong way.

• Give credit where credit is due; a good relationship has to have some give and take.

• Treat others as you wish to be treated; what goes around, comes around.

Alan had very few responsibilities, but one of them was to clean his room. It did not take long, but Alan still didn't like doing it. One day Alan thought of a way to save some time. Rather than putting everything neatly back in its place, he decided to just throw all the stuff on the floor into his closet. His mom would think that he had cleaned his room, and it would only take a fraction of the time. Alan was pleased with himself for thinking of this brilliant idea. He figured that this would save a lot of time and energy. The next time his room got messy, he piled everything up in the closet and the pile grew. It grew and grew. Then Alan's friend Steve called. "Alan, everyone is playing baseball at the park. Do you want to play too?" Alan loved baseball. "That sounds great, Steve. I'll be right there." Alan went to grab his baseball mitt when he realized that it wasn't in its usual place. Alan thought to himself, I guess it's in the closet. When he opened up the closet door, he was faced with a huge, unnavigable mess, some of which poured out as he opened the door. Alan began digging through the pile in a frantic attempt to find his mitt. He dug and dug, and as he dug his room got messier and messier. Soon his room was the messiest that it had ever been, and he still hadn't found his mitt. Alan sighed in despair. By the time he found his mitt, the boys had long concluded their game and Alan had hours of cleaning ahead of him before he'd be allowed to leave.

• Treat others as you wish to be treated; what goes around, comes around.

• A thing worth doing, is worth doing correctly; cutting corners comes at a cost; it is better to do a thing once the right way than many times the wrong way.

• Give credit where credit is due; a good relationship has to have some give and take.

• Do not criticize things that are dear to others, particularly if they are not seeking your criticism

One way you could figure out the theme is to...

• Skim through the story

• Just read the beginning of the story

• Think about what the character has learned

• Read the ending of the story

Which of the following is an example of THEME?

• Carry your laptops with two hands at all times.

• Cereal is the healthiest food you can eat.

• How much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

• Life is short; make the most of it.

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

True or False: A theme tells you what to do. (a)  

• true

• false

Themes are about the big picture.

• TRUE

• FALSE

The best definition of theme is...

• The lesson the author is teaching. 

• The message the author is sending.

• A word that summarizes the story.

• The character's main problem.

A theme should be supported by ...

• your own words

• evidence from the text

• rationale/reasoning

• ALL of the above

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