Learning Goal: Understand theme as conveyed through characters, actions, and images.
Please read pages 220-221 of our blue Holt Elements of Literature textbook for more information about theme. According to our textbook:
The plot of a story is only what happens in it.
The theme is what the story reveals about life.
What happens in a story may help readers infer the theme, but the theme goes beyond the specific story to state a truth about real life. A life lesson.
To discover the theme of a story, the reader will have to ‘read between the lines.’ Authors don’t usually come right out and state the theme word for word. Authors want us to infer the theme based on what the character discovers or how they change.
The lesson a character learns can be stated as a theme. Always state the theme as a complete sentence.
Remember that plot is what happens in a story and theme is what the story reveals about life.
1. What is one major theme of the novel?
2. Support your answer by referring to a significant part of the plot.
