1. Theme/Symbols Notes

2. Theme A theme is a central message of a literary work. Themes are the general ideas or insights that a story reveals – Ehhh no: Pride – HONORS: Pride can be the downfall of the greatest people. Universal message or moral of a literary work – “Pride can be the downfall of the greatest people.”

3. To Kill a Mockingbird Themes Themes: – Good and evil co-exist in every society. – Community values outweigh personal morals.

4. 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?

5. 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.” NO!! Themes are NOT specific to the book – Atticus is a great father figure Change to… – Admirable father figures are role models for their children

6. Symbols An object that represents something other than itself Helps the reader better understand the deeper or “hidden” meaning Bring out deeper emotions and ideas

7. What emotions and ideas are represented by this? What emotions and ideas are represented by this? When is it used? WHY?

8. What emotions/ideas are represented by this? Why?

9. Symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird Uhmmmmm a Mockingbird – Mockingbird=Innocence – You can touch a mockingbird, it’s a thing. You can’t touch innocence-it’s abstract.

10. To Kill a Mockingbird In your composition book, write down 2 of each… – Themes – Symbols

11. “The Lottery” What is a lottery? Think about… – Themes – Symbols The above will be the examples for our chart