This document provides instructions for identifying the theme of a literary work in 3 steps: 1) Summarize the plot, 2) Identify the subject and insight learned, 3) Write a statement expressing the theme. It also defines theme as the central idea or insight conveyed by a work and distinguishes it from purpose or moral. Examples are given to illustrate how themes can be universal despite different characters or settings.

1. Objectives:
1.Determine the steps
in identifying
literary theme
2.Identify the theme
of a literary piece
3. Reflect on a current
issue

2. Literary works are
used
• to entertain
• to teach a moral
lesson,
• to convey meaning,
• to make the reader
aware of some aspects
of the human conditio

3. Through literature, you
may creatively share
your ideas and express
themes that are timeless
and universal.
• .

4. •Twenty-first century learners like
you use literature to express lofty
sentiments and deep feelings
•You will also use it to
communicate reactions to current
issues

5. The Literary Element of Theme
•Theme is:
• the central, underlying, and controlling idea or insight of a work of
literature.
• the idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject—the writer’s view of
the world or a revelation about human nature.
•Theme is NOT:
• expressed in a single word
•the purpose of a work
•the moral
• the conflict

6. Identifying the Theme in Five Steps
• To identify the theme, be sure that you’ve first identified
the story’s plot, the way the story uses characterization, and
the primary conflict in the story.
•Use these steps to determine the theme for a work:
•1. Summarize the plot by writing a one-sentence description
for the exposition, the conflict, the rising action, the climax,
the falling action, and the resolution.
•2. Identify the subject of the work.

7. •3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the
subject.
•How did the protagonist change?
• What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution of
the conflict?
•4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or truth
about the subject.
•5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences that
state what was learned and how it was learned

8. •Example:
A fifteen-year-old boy in an American suburban high school,
who has not made the basketball team, knows the experience of
disappointment, but so does a seventy-year-old grandmother
whose family does not come home for the holidays. Each
character’s story might detail the events of how they move from
disappointment to contentment. These stories have a similar
theme. Even though the details of the story are expressed
differently, either scenario could express the theme of
overcoming disappointment and hurt – yet, each in a unique
way.

9. •Could you connect with either of these characters? Why? Get
into the habit of asking how and why questions as you move
through the details of a literary selection.
•Furthermore, certain themes can be understood by people
regardless of age, gender, geography, or culture. This
commonality makes them universal. Universal themes
developed in a story, poem, or play ultimately expand the
reader’s knowledge of being human by the expression of
experiences through different perspectives.

10. •Common themes can include:
loneliness, oppression, repression,
transformation, good versus evil,
struggle and accomplishment, death,
rebirth, initiation, redemption, and
free will.

11. •With a specific purpose in mind, the author carefully crafts
themes using literary tools. By employing literary tools, the
author embeds the theme or meaning into separate elements
that make up the totality of the literary piece.
• Some of the most common tools of the author’s craft are:
character development, setting, mood, plot, point of view,
figurative language, allegory, symbolism, and irony.
•A poet might additionally use: alliteration, metaphor, simile,
onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and repetition.

12. •Why are themes important?
• Themes are the central focus of literary
works. Themes express the intended lesson,
conclusion, message, or point of view of the
author. Themes connect all the parts of the
story such as characters, plot, problem
(conflict), setting and events. A theme keeps
the writer on point