This document distinguishes between central idea and theme. It defines central idea as the main point of a text, which can often be stated in one sentence. Theme, on the other hand, refers to the life lesson or message conveyed by a story and requires inferences to determine. The document encourages readers to think beyond details to identify recurring themes that reveal what characters learned or how they changed throughout a text.

1. Central Idea vs.
Theme

2. What is central idea?
• CENTRAL IDEA refers to what the text is
mainly about.
• Central idea is NOT the topic of the text.
• Central idea can most often be stated in
one sentence.

3. Application
Read Let them Eat Dog by J. Safran
1. What is the topic of this article?
2. What is the central idea of this article?
https://ecocomposition.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/let-them-eat-dog-wsj-com.pdf

4. Application
Watch Let them Eat Dog (the video)
1. What is the topic of this article?
2. What is the central idea of this article?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3zVRGfsQG8

5. What is theme?
• Theme is the life lesson,the author’s message,
or moral of a story.
• Readers have to make inferences (meaning?) to
determine themes in literature because themes
are NOT directly stated.
• In order to determine the theme of a story,
readers have to think beyond the small details.
Instead, readers must figure out the big world
lesson of the theme.

6. What is theme?
• Theme IS NOT the same as central idea.
• Theme IS NOT the same as topic.
• One story can have multiple themes.
• Themes are often recognizable and
repeated throughout the text, story or
book.

7. To determine theme, ask
yourself…
1. What did the character(s) learn?
2. How did the character(s) grow or
change?
3. Why did the character(s) act this way?

8. Application
From Let them eat Dog ( the video)
I know the theme is ________________________
because___________________________________
__________________________________________
Feel free to share multiple themes.