2. A theme is a truth about life that you while
reading.
When you are asked to identify and analyze
the theme of a work, you will need to:
1)Make inferences
2)trace causes and
effects in the story
make
generalizations
3)
3. 1) Making Inferences About Stories!
*Use Story Clues
Combine your own experience with the clues in
a story to help you make an inference, or
educated guess, about the story’s theme.
4. To make inferences, ask yourself these questions:
• Has the main
character changed
during the story?
• Does the story’s title
reveal anything
important?
• Which scenes or
events seem most
significant?
The lessons that a
character learns can be
a clue to the theme.
Some titles give more
clues about plot than
about theme.
What ideas about life
do they suggest?
5. Study Characters too!
Take Notes
As you read, take
notes about:
•characters’
comments and
actions
•ideas that
seem
important
What—if anything—does the main character learn?
6. 2) Identifying Cause and Effect in Stories can
Help you find THEME!
Experience tells us that one thing leads to
another.
A cause is an
event that
makes
something
happen.
An effect is what happens as a
result.
7. To help you identify causes and effects,
ask these questions as you read:
• Why did this
happen?
• What happened
because of this
event?
8. Identifying Cause and Effect
As you read, look for words that signal cause and
effect, such as
9. Identifying Cause and Effect
Tracing Cause and Effect
Sometimes one cause in a story will have many
effects.
10. What is a casual chain ?
In other stories, one event triggers
a causal chain.
Each event causes another event, like
dominoes falling in a row.
11. Finding the Theme
Say It Your Way
Once you figure out the theme, you’ll need
to say it in your own words.
• Is this really
how people are?
• How could I put
this view of life
into words?
12. Finding the Theme
Be sure to express the theme as a complete
sentence—not a word or phrase.
Greed
is a subject.
Some things in life are more
important than money.
is a theme.
14. Finding the Theme
Remember:
A theme can
be stated in
different ways.
Some things in life are more
important than money.
A story can
have more
than one
theme.
Be careful what you wish for—
you just might get it.
Greed can blind a person to the
important things in life.
Sometimes we don’t appreciate
what we have until it’s taken
from us.
15. Finding the Theme
Quick Check
Decide whether each item states a
plot, a subject, or a theme.
1. A family travels to Alabama and
faces hardships along the way.
2. Prejudice
3. Facing your fears is the only
way to overcome them.
4. Happiness can be found in the
joys of ordinary life.
[End of Section]
17. Making Generalizations
A generalization is a broad statement that covers
several situations—that tells about something in
general.
For example, if you read a lot of mystery novels,
you could make generalizations about them:
Generalizations about Mystery Novels
1. Mystery novels are book-length works.
2. The main character is usually a detective or other
crime-solver.
3. The writer gives many clues but does not make it
easy for the reader to solve the mystery.
18. Making Generalizations
Be careful of making generalizations without
enough information. Base your generalizations on
multiple experiences—on all the facts you can get.
If you read just two
mystery novels and made
the generalization “All
mystery novels are set in
London,” you would be
incorrect.
19. Making Generalizations
The generalizations you make while reading can
help point you to a work’s theme.
Ask yourself what general ideas
the events of the story suggest.
Why might stating a theme also
be a kind of generalization?
A theme expresses something
that applies to real life in general
—not just to a particular work of
literature.
20. Making Generalizations
Quick Check
1. Arachne boasts that she is a better
weaver than the goddess Athena.
Athena turns Arachne into a spider.
2. Sisyphus tricks Hades, the god of
the Underworld, and Hades forces
him to spend eternity pushing a
huge rock up a steep hill.
3. When Prometheus steals fire from
Zeus, Zeus has him chained to a
rock, where an eagle constantly
eats his liver.
Based on these
events from
Greek
mythology,
what
generalization
can you make
about the Greek
gods and
goddesses?
[End of Section]
21. How Do I Identify and Analyze Theme?
Your Turn
1. List two strategies that can help you find the
theme of a story.
2. Create a chart that identifies cause-and-effect
relationships in the following scenario:
You sleep through your alarm, are late for school,
miss a test in English, stay after school to take the
test, and miss a chance to see a movie with friends.
3. Based on the scenario in number 2 and your
own knowledge and experiences, what
generalization can you make about
oversleeping?
