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Discovering Literary Themes

A literary theme is deeper than the storyline or subject and represents the overall message of the story. Identifying a theme may require multiple readings. To find the theme, one should consider what the story is really about by examining the title, events, characters' actions and how they affect the central topic, and look for common themes like the struggle against nature or coming of age. A complex story may also have a secondary theme, and the theme is the main idea that sticks with the reader after finishing.

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59 views2 pages

Discovering Literary Themes

A literary theme is deeper than the storyline or subject and represents the overall message of the story. Identifying a theme may require multiple readings. To find the theme, one should consider what the story is really about by examining the title, events, characters' actions and how they affect the central topic, and look for common themes like the struggle against nature or coming of age. A complex story may also have a secondary theme, and the theme is the main idea that sticks with the reader after finishing.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Literary Theme

A literary theme is often not apparent early in every story.


The theme is not the same as the storyline or the subject.
The theme is the meaning on a deeper, more abstract
level. The overall message of the story is often the idea
that sticks with the reader long after the book is over.
Identifying the theme may take more than one reading of
the story.
Instructions
1. Step 1
Begin the search for the literary theme by thinking
about what the story is really about. Read the title.
Get an initial sense of the topic and message.
2. Step 2
Look for a unifying idea within the story as you read
it. Identify events that define the topic and events that
contribute to this topic.
3. Step 3
Seek out central ideas such as the struggle against
nature, the bonds of family, a child coming of age or
other common themes in literature.
4. Step 4

Identify the actions of the characters and how they


affect or define the central topic. Look for dialogue
and actions that contribute to the most basic idea of
the book.
5. Step 5
Determine a secondary theme, which is often present
in a complex story. Look to the subject matter,
storyline and characters to find the secondary theme
as well.
6. Step 6
Think about the impression the book has on you.
Identify the main idea, and compare that to the
literary themes you identified from the story. Reflect
upon what point the author tries to make, and how
effective the story was at making that point.

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