Finding Theme…

What is Theme?

A theme expresses a writer’s perspective on some aspect of the human experience. It is their world-view, expressed in their art.

NEVER value-neutral. True of life “outside” the art. Not a moral – should rather than is.

Identify the theme

The story was pretty good.

It’s about how poor they are and the terrible things that happen to them.

Poverty

Poverty destroys life and potential. It makes us less than fully human.

Why are themes important?

BecauseTheyTransmitValues!

VALUES ARE EVERYTHING!

* happiness * sex* honesty * knowledge* courage * individuality* success * family* friendship * freedom* power * beauty* truth * marriage* divinity * love

Technique #1: Three Key Questions

Just ask yourself...

Question Number One

The main character is part of what group or groups?

Gender, age, physical appearance, race, nationality, religion, work, class, etc.

When you have figured out what groups he or she belongs to then make a statement about this character as though it were true of everyone in that particular situation.

Example One

Star WarsThe main character is a

young, energetic optimistic, with natural gifts and a desire to do good.

Possible Theme: Young, decent, optimists make the world safe from evil.

Example Two

The X-FilesThe main character is an

honest, extremely intelligent, hard-working, truth-seeker who is blocked by secret government agencies whenever he nears the truth.

Possible Theme: Honest hard-working, intelligent truth-seekers have little chance of succeeding, but their effort is heroic.

Example Three

Practically any romance made or written in America

The main character is a young, beautiful woman who wants a man to love her.

Possible Theme: Every woman wants and needs a man to complete her life.

Question Number Two

The opponent is part of what group or groups?

Like before, when you have figured out what group or groups the opponent belongs to then make a statement as though it were true of everyone in that particular situation

Example

The X-Files

Governments are amoral, repressive entities whose purpose is to keep you ignorant and thus under control.

Question Number Three

What about Setting? This choice implies judgments about the world we live in. That MUST shape theme…

Technique #2: Five Checkpoints

These checkpoints will not automatically determine theme, but they should help to establish a pattern for the main idea of the

story.

1. Goal

2. Obstacle

3. Turning Point and/or Climax

4. Last Words

5. Title

Checkpoint #1: Identify the Physical Goal of the Main Character

Physical Goal: The person, thing, or situation which the main character desires.

The boy or girl Children Money The win The career The House The Sports Car The border The Mountain

Checkpoint #1 (Continued):Identify the Abstract Goal

Abstract Goal: The unseen, usually unknown reason behind the physical goal.

Power Love Recognition Confidence Authenticity Loyalty Freedom Knowledge Revenge Affirmation

Here’s What I Mean

Physical Goal: To Become the King

Abstract Goal?

Power He feels unimportant

Love He needs love

Recognition He wants respect

Checkpoint #2: Find the Physical Obstacle of the Main Character

Physical Obstacle: The physical obstacle, like the physical goal, is concrete and can usually be seen.

The Police The Boy/Girl The Coach The Boss The Mountain The Army The Parents The Foreigner The Disease

Checkpoint #2 (Continued):Find the Abstract Obstacle

Abstract Obstacle: The Abstract Obstacle, like the Abstract Goal, cannot be seen but is usually the group, idea, or issue in society that the Physical Obstacle represents.

Ideologies Ignorance Majorities Poverty Nature Men/Women Idealism Racism Evil Fate

Checkpoint #3: Turning Point and Climax

Discovery (also called anagnorisis)

The Discovery is that point when the main character learns something important about her goal. This discovery may be expressed in a speech at the turning point or climax of the story.

Reversal (also called peripeteia)

Sometimes, as a result of this important discovery, the main character will change goals.

Checkpoint #4: Last Words

These words are usually stated toward the end of the story but not always in the last lines of the story

In a long book, you may find the last statement of theme in the chapter before the last.

The last word is usually a direct or symbolic statement of theme.

Examples

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”The Great Gatsby

“Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper.”Memoirs of a Geisha

Checkpoint #5: The Title

There are three basic types of titles:

Symbol

Direct Statement

Main Character

Title Type #1: Symbol

Lord of the Flies – Mankind is savage at heart. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Natural man

can free himself from dehumanizing institutional oppression.

The Color Purple – The lives of African American women are wrought with emotional suffering and physical pain.

The Poisonwood Bible – Acts of love can often be lost in translation if one is not especially careful in communicating.

Title Type #2: Direct Statement

When European society occupies non-industrialized African society Things Fall Apart.

The Old South is Gone With the Wind.

When you finally get your chance Stand and Deliver.

Children are The Outsiders.

Love in repressive English society can become a battle between Pride and Prejudice.

Title Type #3: Main Character

Romeo and Juliet – Hate destroys all good things, including and especially love.

Huckleberry Finn – Society is bad; uncorrupted human nature is good.

Antigone – Divine Law supercedes Civil Law.

Jane Eyre – Woman are morally supeior and emotionally stronger than men.

Technique #3: The Four steps

This method of discovering theme is most useful where character is the dominant element of the

story.1. Identify the central conflict of the story

2. Gathering evidence from the story, make a list of words which best describe the characters on each side of this conflict.

3. Study the climax of the story, for it is here you will discover the relationship between the two columns of words.

4. Now go back to your lists and find two or three words from each column that you think best describes the characters. Using those words and what you’ve learned from the climax, write a sentence, without referring to any particular character, which expresses the theme of the story

Step One

In the story The Picture of Dorian

Gray by Oscar Wilde the conflict is

between Dorian and his image

Step Two

Dorian

YoungInnocentBeautiful

His Image

Unemotional

Disdainful

Unmoved

Step Three

At the climax of the novel, Dorian sees the picture as an

ungodly representation of the man he has become

and attempts to destroy the painting, thus sealing his own

doom.

Step Four

So, the theme could be stated:

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Life is a youthful, beautiful innocence which we destroy. In seeking vanity, we

lose the spark of life.

Technique #4: Structural and technique

• The principles of structure are common to all forms of artistic expression (music, painting, sculpture, architecture, literature). The writer may use them consciously or unconsciously.

• One purpose of using these devices is to present and emphasize the theme clearly to the reader/viewer. These techniques focus the attention of the reader where the artist most wants it.

The Four Principles of Structure

Repetition

Contrast Parallelism

Progression The principles work together with literary elements to give a text form and meaning.

Six Literary Elements

•Plot•Character•Setting

•Tone

•Point of View

•Language

Repetition

The same element is repeated over and over with minor variations to hide the repetition.

Repetition in Character and Plot

Similar characters and/or scenes appear throughout the story.

Huckleberry Finn The Scarlet Letter The Wizard of Oz The Three Little Pigs

Repetition in Language

A figure or allusion is repeated at least three times in a text. It is in this area that repetition is most often used. Rosy Fingered Dawn – The Iliad Glasses – The Great Gatsby The Letter A – The Scarlet Letter The Sea – The Awakening

Contrast

One element is placed in direct opposition to another for emphasis. The farther apart the two things are, the more recognition there is.

Contrast in Character

Body/Soul A Streetcar Named Desire

Young/Old To Kill a Mockingbird Virtue/Vice Othello Male/Female A Doll’s House

Contrast in Point of View

The Poisonwood BibleThe Joy Luck ClubThe Sound and the Fury

Contrast in Setting

Nature/Society The Scarlet Letter

Wealth/Poverty The Great Gatsby Reality/Fantasy Alice in Wonderland Past/Present/Future A Christmas Carol

Setting: Often two settings are placed in contrast to underscore the theme.

Parallelism

Parallel relationships exist within certain elements that can run in identical or opposite directions.

Parallelism in Plot

Hamlet King Lear The Prince and the Pauper

Within plot: Often a subplot in the story echoes events as they develop in the main plot.

Progression in Plot and Character

PlotLord of the FliesHeart of DarknessThe

MetamorphosisThe Odyssey

Character

Macbeth

Silence

The Shining

Wit

What makes CIA Technique #4 so powerful?

When you are able to see the interconnections of

repetition, contrast, parallelism, and progression

running through a work of literature you are better able to see theme in all its glory.

Highlights of Technique #4

By examining how the patterns interact, we can better make a thematic statement about the nature of man.

It is acceptable to even use the terms repetition, contrast, parallelism, and progression to further emphasize your theme’s strength.

Of all these methods, this one best displays the depths of the literary work and, most importantly, the deeper insights of the student.

What is Theme?

A theme expresses a writer’s perspective on some aspect of the human experience.

This theme can usually be expressed effectively in one or two sentences and it is NEVER value-neutral.

It is meant to be true of life and people “outside” the story.

Typically, it is different from the moral of the story, in that it does not tell us what life should be but rather what life is.

Why are themes important?

BecauseTheyTransmitValues!