Summary and Theme

The theme of a story is the

• main character

• message about life that the author expresses

• sequence of events

• short summary of what the story is 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 a 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 a 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

Read the following from a story: As Tai strummed the guitar, Charlesa looked at her with pride. For so long, Tai's fingers had clumsily tripped over the strings, but now she played the song with ease. Getting to this point hadn't been easy for Charlesa, either. She sighed, trying to bury the memories of all the screaming tantrums Tai had thrown. Once, she nearly threw her guitar against a wall. But now when Tai smiled, and the tune of "Sweet Home Alabama" floated out of the instrument, Charlesa smiled, too. It had been worth it.

Which of the following is most likely a theme of the 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.

When would you most likely summarize a book?

• when you want to forget a book you've read

• when you want to tell a friend your opinion of a book but not what it was about

• when you want to tell a friend the gist or main ideas of a book

• when you don't understand a vocabulary word you read in a book

A summary should

• answer the 5 W's: who, what, when, where, and why

• describe the details but not the main ideas

• never mention the plot of the text

• always mention the age of the author

You should write your summary

• in your own words with complete sentences

• in a secret language that you make up

• in one draft without revising

• in fragments without punctuation

What can you summarize?

• only novels

• only nonfiction

• only movies

• anything you read or watch

The article "The Three Men Who Invented the Telephone" is about three different men who contributed to the invention of the telephone. Which of the following should you include in a summary of this article?

• details about how smartphones and cell phones work

• a detail about where the phrase "put someone on hold" came from

• a brief explanation of how each man was involved in the invention of the telephone

• your opinion about who really invented the telephone