How to Determine Theme

A story's main theme might be difficult to figure out because:

• Authors rarely want to reader to figure it out

• It has little to do with plot, characters, and other story elements

• It is rarely stated explicitly

• Only complicated, adult stories have themes

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What does theme add to a story?

• A sense of location

• An important message

• motivation for the characters

• dialogue for the characters

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Knowing what a motif is in fiction, what must a "leitmotif" be in music?

• a long pause

• a quiet interlude

• a repeated tune

• a song's ending

Why do the themes in fables tend to be simpler and easier to determine?

• They are intended for children

• they were written a long time ago

• most have appeared as movies

• most weren't written in English

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Which best describes the relationship between "themes" and "morals?"

• morals are communicated through action; themes are communicated through dialogue

• themes are designed to teach morals

• a moral is one kind of theme

• a theme is made up of repeated morals

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Which characterization best reinforces the theme of the importance of being prepared?

• The hero spends a great deal of time training to defeat a villain

• The here lives in a society where every part of your life is planned out in advance.

• the hero fights a villain who can control minds

• the hero keeps dreaming about the problems he faces

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What is the best definition of theme?

• the events that occur in a story

• the narrator's opinion of events

• an underlying idea

• an author's purpose in writing the story

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Three flies notice an overturned honey pot. Two of the flies decide to land in the honey and start eating it. But the oldest fly stays back. The two flies tease the older fly, but then get stuck in the honey. What is the moral of this story?

• Some prizes aren't worth it

• Overeating leads to illness

• Insects value food over safety

• always send in a tester

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Which of these aspects would be least useful in characterizing a villain as greedy?

• they always grad the last slice of pizza

• they refuse to help others

• the look down on charity

• they are very wealthy

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Which of the following is least likely to be a theme in a novel about young people going to war?

• Loss of innocence is the first casualty of violence

• Stealth bombers aren't worth their high cost

• Friendship is essential to surviving terrible conflict

• Violence is rarely the right answer.

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