Understanding Themes

What's a theme

• a series of events in a story

• a personality trait

• a big idea explored by a text

• none of the above

Guess the theme

• New life

• Jealousy

• Peace

Guess the theme

• Travel

• Time

• Love

Guess the theme

• Friendship

• Happiness

• War

Guess the theme

• Parenting

• Animals

• War

Think back to the Cinderella example.

Which message do you think is communicated about the theme?

• Jealousy can make people ugly and bitter. Ultimately, it can lead to their downfall.

• Jealousy is a powerful and useful emotion. If you use jealousy correctly, you’ll be able to get what you want.

• It’s understandable that older people are jealous of those who are younger. We should always respect our elders, no matter how they behave.

Recall the Shrek example. Which of the following explores the message surrounding theme most accurately.

• True love has to consider beauty. It’s impossible to love someone who isn’t a little pleasing to look at .

• Genuine love depends on neither appearance nor wealth. It’s based on mutual respect and affection.

• Wealth is more important than romance. Without a lot of money, you can’t survive.

Remember the verse from Sidney Chaplin’s war poem. What message does he want to deliver?

• War is rewarding. If you fight for a cause, you’ll experience glory and feel rewarded.

• Being a soldier isn’t always easy but it’s worth doing because of the admiration people give you.

• War is a demeaning and punishing experience -the opposite of how it’s sometimes shown.

Finally, what message do you think Dahl wanted communicate through the theme of parenting?

• It is a good idea to bring up children to be demanding and to challenge adults.

• Spoiling children is unadvisable. You can make a child negative by bringing them up to expect to have whatever they demand.

• Children naturally love animals. Parents should allow them to have as many as they like to help them grow into balanced people.