1. A novella The Death of Ivan Ilych

2.  Use textual support to defend the theme of the novel.  Analyze quotes, author’s tone, and other evidence to determine theme. Learning Target

3. What is theme? “If you were to boil your book down to a few words, what would be its message?”

4. Theme  The truth about life that is revealed in a story or poem.  The theme is meaningful for anyone whether they are 4 or 94. Everyone, no matter what stage of life they are in, should be able to learn from it.  Theme is usually not directly stated.  Theme is usually figured out by making inferences.

5. Theme is a universal lesson about life.

6. Finding theme  Remember theme is a lesson that everyone can learn from and experience. We could all find ways to relate our lives to the theme.  Pay close attention for passages that could be trying to teach you a lesson.  Keep track of the main character. How are they changing in the story? What are they learning about life?  What conflicts do they face? How are they changing? Are they learning something from those conflicts/experiences?  Last, consider the title of the work. The author might offer hints and clues in the title.

7. Themes in a story  Most stories have several themes.  You can learn many things about life just by reading a book.  When you are reading, you have to pay attention and determine the MAIN theme.  As you read, you will want to keep track of passages that point to a theme. The main theme will keep recurring throughout the novel.  Your job will be to figure out what the main one is and defend it.

8. Possible Themes  Live a meaningful life and not a superficial one.  Follow your heart.  Death is inevitable.  Self-interest is not self-fulfilling.  Live for what truly makes you happy.  We need empathy for humanity to survive.

9. As you read…  Start looking for passages that pertain to the themes on the previous page.  Think about the conflict and how it is changing the character.  Think about the author’s tone. How does the author feel about their topic, the character(s), or events?  Collect passages that support the themes.