Understanding Theme - By xtremewriting
Transcript
00:07 | understanding theme is one of the most difficult challenges of | |
00:11 | studying literature . Because there are some common misconceptions about | |
00:15 | what theme is . Let's first look at what it's | |
00:19 | not . Some people confuse theme with the subject or | |
00:24 | topic of the story , while the theme will likely | |
00:28 | be about the subject of the story . What the | |
00:31 | story is about is not the theme itself . Some | |
00:39 | people also confuse theme with a motif , which in | |
00:41 | turn is also often thought to be the subject of | |
00:44 | the story . This is not the case , however | |
00:47 | . Motifs will typically be related in some way to | |
00:50 | the subject of the story , as well as to | |
00:52 | the theme someone might say the theme of literary works | |
00:57 | such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Requiem | |
00:59 | for a Dream , Train Spotting or The Basketball Diaries | |
01:03 | is drugs . But the recurrence of drug references and | |
01:07 | imagery makes drugs a motif in these works , not | |
01:11 | a theme , even if drugs happen to be the | |
01:13 | primary subject matter . While the theme could very well | |
01:17 | have to do with drugs , the drugs themselves exist | |
01:21 | as a motif . Simply motif refers to the recurrence | |
01:27 | of images , patterns or ideas throughout a literary work | |
01:31 | that relate to the theme . Therefore , while motifs | |
01:34 | are usually closely related to the theme of a literary | |
01:37 | work , Ah motif is not a theme . I | |
01:41 | will return to the concept of motifs later when I | |
01:43 | explain how to go about finding the theme of a | |
01:46 | literary work . Theme is also often confused with the | |
01:51 | moral of a story . Many stories do in fact | |
01:54 | culminate with a moral love conquers all do unto others | |
01:58 | as you would have them do unto you . In | |
02:01 | the popular fable The Tortoise and the Hare , we | |
02:03 | learned through the story that slow and steady wins the | |
02:06 | race and in a wolf in sheep's clothing , we | |
02:09 | learn that appearances can be deceiving . As illustrated by | |
02:13 | these examples , morals are often cliche and make a | |
02:18 | black and white distinction between good and bad , right | |
02:21 | and wrong . They're also often explicitly stated in the | |
02:25 | stories conclusion . Artistic or literary works express much more | |
02:30 | complex ideas about their central subjects . That is , | |
02:35 | they express a theme rather than a simple moral lesson | |
02:40 | . Themes usually exist within the gray area of perceptions | |
02:44 | and beliefs about human experience or behavior , and express | |
02:48 | highly complex ideas that can that can't be reduced to | |
02:52 | simple solutions . If theme is not the subject , | |
03:01 | a motif or immoral , then what is it ? | |
03:06 | Simply stated , Theme is the central idea or unifying | |
03:09 | concern of a literary work or , in other words | |
03:15 | , the point the author is trying to make . | |
03:19 | From this definition , you can see how people sometimes | |
03:21 | confuse theme with motifs and morals . Since the motif | |
03:24 | is often expressed as a topic , drugs , love | |
03:27 | , violence , etcetera and morals can convey a unifying | |
03:32 | concern of a story . Authors don't necessarily have to | |
03:36 | be consciously aware of a theme when they produce a | |
03:39 | story , but one is always present . Unlike fables | |
03:42 | and fairytales , works like George Orwell's 1984 or Hunter | |
03:47 | Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Toni Morrison's | |
03:49 | Beloved or one of Shakespeare's plays are intended to a | |
03:53 | affect their readers opinions regarding the issues they write about | |
03:57 | . In contrast , popular works like Stephenie Meyer's Twilight | |
04:02 | or the entire genre of romance novels , for that | |
04:04 | matter , which are created primarily to entertain their audience | |
04:08 | , are more likely tohave an intentional moral like love | |
04:11 | conquers all . But intentional or not , author's beliefs | |
04:15 | about the world are still reflected in their writing . | |
04:19 | The idea or opinion the piece of literature conveys about | |
04:22 | whatever subject or issue is central to the narrative would | |
04:25 | still be the story's theme . To sum it up | |
04:32 | , theme is the unifying idea that ties all other | |
04:35 | aspects of the literary work together . It is a | |
04:39 | complex perception regarding human experience or behavior , and it | |
04:45 | is almost always implied . That is , it is | |
04:49 | not stated directly . We , the consumers of literature | |
04:54 | , must work to discover it . Determining theme is | |
04:57 | like solving a mystery . We must analyze all the | |
05:00 | clues the author leaves us in order to figure out | |
05:04 | what it all means . These clues come in the | |
05:07 | form of the literary devices the author uses to build | |
05:10 | the story , such as plot setting , characterization and | |
05:14 | many others . Let's look at the idea of theme | |
05:20 | from another perspective . If you are familiar with the | |
05:23 | concept of a thesis statement and other forms of writing | |
05:27 | , it may be helpful to think of theme in | |
05:29 | these terms . Ah , thesis presents some complex argument | |
05:33 | or opinion about a subject usually expressed in a single | |
05:37 | sentence . Themes are very similar in nature to thesis | |
05:41 | statements , except that theme is typically more implicit and | |
05:45 | thesis generally more explicit . for other people , it | |
05:51 | may be helpful to conceptualize theme as a math equation | |
05:55 | . The primary subject of the literary work , plus | |
05:58 | the authors attitude or belief the author expresses about that | |
06:02 | subject is the theme . At this point , you | |
06:08 | might be thinking that's all well and good . I | |
06:10 | think I understand what a theme is . But how | |
06:13 | would I go about trying to find the theme of | |
06:15 | a literary work , much less express it to someone | |
06:18 | else ? This three step guide should help step one | |
06:24 | , identify the central idea or subject . This may | |
06:29 | be difficult at first , so make a list of | |
06:31 | all the possibilities . Start with the most prominent motifs | |
06:36 | . The title is also a good place to look | |
06:38 | for clues . You'll always be starting from the best | |
06:41 | guess . But examining the title and prominent motifs allows | |
06:45 | you to make an educated guess instead of a random | |
06:48 | one . It's okay to start with several guesses . | |
06:51 | This can also eliminate some work later . If your | |
06:54 | first attempt at stating the theme is wrong , Step | |
07:00 | two Articulate the point or message the literary work presents | |
07:05 | about the subject move beyond the subject itself to the | |
07:10 | beliefs or opinions . The literary work seems to present | |
07:13 | about that subject . Articulate as many beliefs as you | |
07:17 | think of as legitimate possibilities for each of the major | |
07:20 | ideas presented in the work that you identified and Step | |
07:23 | one , then work each subject and belief into an | |
07:27 | idea expressed in a complete sentence . Step three . | |
07:36 | Determine which statements air supported by all elements of the | |
07:40 | literary work that is , test your statement of the | |
07:43 | theme against the novel as a whole as well as | |
07:46 | its individual parts . This step requires in depth analysis | |
07:50 | of all components of the literary work , for example | |
07:54 | , plot setting motifs , symbolism , character development , | |
07:58 | illusions , etcetera . We must look not on Lee | |
08:02 | at superficial meanings of the literary works , various components | |
08:06 | , but also at metaphoric and symbolic meanings . If | |
08:10 | our analysis of these individual components does not support our | |
08:14 | statement of the theme , we must reconsider our expression | |
08:17 | of theme in light of whatever new direction our analysis | |
08:20 | indicates . If necessary , repeat steps one through three | |
08:25 | until your analysis of the work supports your assessment of | |
08:28 | its theme |
Summarizer
DESCRIPTION:
You will gain an understanding of what theme is, how it differs from other literary devices with which it is often confused, and how to identify the theme of a literary work.
OVERVIEW:
Understanding Theme is a free educational video by xtremewriting.It helps students in grades 4.
This page not only allows students and teachers view Understanding Theme but also find engaging Sample Questions, Apps, Pins, Worksheets, Books related to the following topics.
GRADES:
4