Determining Themes and Central Ideas Fiction and Nonfiction

Determining Themes in Fiction A theme is a message about or an insight into life. Themes are developed through characters—their decisions, experiences, and insights.

2 Types of Themes Stated themes are expressed directly in the text by the writer. Implied themes are revealed gradually through elements such as plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbol, and irony.

Implied Themes Implied themes are more frequent. READERS must determine the theme through examination of characters.

Story Example 1 A man went to a fancy party where he, along with several other guests, was to be honored. Dressed in ordinary clothes, the man was overlooked—no host greeted him, no guests chatted with him, no servants served him. The man went home, put on his best clothes, and returned to the party. Now the host introduced himself and commanded the servers to bring food to the man. When the man offered the food to his dress coat, the host was puzzled. The man explained that his clothes should have the food, since the host was actually honoring them.

Generalization from Pattern: Example Story Details The man goes to a party where he was to be honored wearing ordinary clothes so he decides to go home and change Story Patterns Everybody ignores the man until he returned to the party dressed in his best clothes Generalization from Pattern: People who judge a person by what they are wearing need to be careful because it may not reflect who you think they are Implied Theme Don’t judge a person by their outside appearance

Your turn - Story example 2 Alex did not like Ryan and thought that since he was poor he should not be at his school. Alex approached Bob and Jake and told them to bully Ryan until he was so upset that he begged his parents to leave the school. Jake said that he would not do this for Alex but Bob wanted Alex to continue to be his friend, so he decided to bully Ryan instead. After a couple of days, Bob started to feel bad that he was bullying Ryan and making him upset.

Generalization from Pattern: Example Story Details Story Patterns Generalization from Pattern: Implied Theme

Generalization from Pattern: Example Story Details Alex did not like Ryan and wanted his friends, Bob and Jake to bully him. Story Patterns Jake did not want to bully Ryan but Bob went with the plan. Generalization from Pattern: Jake did not take part in the bullying and Bob felt bad later after taking part in the bullying. Implied Theme Be true to your self Don’t be a follower, be a leader

Determining Central Ideas in Nonfiction Nonfiction works develop central ideas through the use of supporting details. A central idea is a key point the author wants to make. All the details in the text develop and support the central idea by: Proving it Explaining it Illustrating it Giving further details

Determining Central Ideas In most cases, the author directly states the central idea near the beginning of the text. In other cases, the central idea is implied by the points the author makes to have the reader infer the central idea by determining what point all of the details support.

Example 1 Just think what our town would be like if we had a skate park for kids. Kids would have a place to go to use their skate boards and even bicycles. There would not be any kids skateboarding on the sidewalks and possible going into people’s yards and ruining their lawn or flowers. If there was a skate park in town, it would be safer than having kids out in the streets on their skateboards or bicycles.

Central Idea Trying to persuade the town to build a skate park Purposes of non-fiction writing: to inform, to persuade, to entertain

Differences in purpose for Rock climbing is dangerous. Angle To inform To persuade To entertain Include facts about accidents. Add arguments about the need for safety. Include comical details about a rock climbing experience.

You will write an article in response to the Lodi News article to explain where the artifacts should be. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________