Theme Notes

A theme is a central message of a literary work – Literary work=book, movie, song, or play It’s more than one word! – Ehhh no: Pride – YES: Having too much pride can lead to failure. This applies to lots of books, movies, songs and plays – “Having too much pride can lead to failure.”

How to figure out the theme… Does the main character change in the story and if so, how? Does the character come to a realization or understanding? What is this? Does the author/characters make any general observations about life or human nature? What are these? Does the story contain any curious objects, mysterious characters, significant animals, repeated names, song title, or whatever, that hint toward meanings larger then such things ordinarily have? If so, what could be these objects say about life or human nature?

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO Themes are NOT clichés… – “Actions speak louder than words,” – “Love hurts,” or – “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Themes are NOT specific to the book – Most pigs are lazy. Change to… – Hard working men are more successful than lazy ones.

The Three Little Pigs Themes e+Little+Pigs+Cartoon&Form=VQFRVP#view= detail&mid=ADF262CE9985A33C6AA2ADF26 2CE9985A33C6AA2 e+Little+Pigs+Cartoon&Form=VQFRVP#view= detail&mid=ADF262CE9985A33C6AA2ADF26 2CE9985A33C6AA2

The Three Little Pigs Themes Good theme for The Three Little Pigs: A threatening man is no match to the power of a united family. – Just like in the movie…The Incrediables.

You try… Write down a possible theme in your composition book.

What are some possible themes from Night?