Theme and Summarizing

The theme of the 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 a 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 you 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 sentence: Friendship helps people get through hard times. The sentence is an example of a

• plot

• character

• main idea

• theme

Unlike the topic of literature, a theme ...

• can be expressed in one word

• always shows the setting

• is always stated directly in the text

• cannot be just one word

You can often infer the theme of a piece of literature by ...

• evaluating how a character has changed
• sharing a character's experience
• determining how the conflict has resolved
• ALL of the above

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

In the SWBST (somebody wanted but so then) strategy, what word tells you who the main character is? 

• Somebody
• Wanted
• Bus
• So

In the SWBST (somebody wanted but so then) strategy, what word tells you about the problem in the story? 

• Somebody
• Wanted
• But
• So