Lesson 01.02 Flashcards
What is topic?
One or two words or short phrase, like “friendship” or “working hard”; if used for theme shouldn’t be a specific character, event, or setting from a story, (e.g. “generosity” or “being honest.”)
What is the theme, actually?
Complete sentence that reveals the lesson learned by the protagonist or reader; based off of the topic of the story; shouldn’t include specific names, events, or settings from the story (e.g. true generosity means giving without expecting anything in return.)
What is a universal theme?
Themes that applied to anyone, anywhere, regardless of cultural differences; typically relate to lessons involving (-insert examples of a universal theme-).
What are eight examples of universal themes?
Love, family, tradition, friendship, belonging, survival, character traits, and good vs. evil.
How does character relate to theme?
When considering the protagonist, ask yourself these questions to determine their growth (or lack of) throughout the story (what are the views and attitudes of the character[s]? How do the views and attitudes change from beginning to end? How does the character change from beginning to end?) (e.g. if the character starts scared but is courageous at the end maybe they learned the lesson about topics like bravery.)
How does conflict relate to theme? (3Q and notes.)
Use these questions (what is the main conflict in the story? How is the conflict being resolved, or if not, then why? What does the way the conflict is resolved [or not] tell you about the character?) Recall what the protagonist has to do to resolve the conflict, examining how they resolve it can point you to the theme.
How does repetition relate to theme?
It’s probably intentional, review the text and use these questions (What are the characters repeatedly focused on? Which words are repeated throughout the text? Which ideas or images do I see more than twice?) Sometimes the author wants the lesson to be clear so they bring up the same idea or image several times.
How does setting relate to theme?
Use these questions (What are the most important elements of setting in the story – historical context, mood, place, social environment, time, or weather? How is the topic of the story treated in each of these settings? Does the treatment change from place to place?) (e.g. if the topic of a story is “love,” and it is accepted in one environment not another, what does this tell you about how love is treated?)
What more is there to setting?
It is not just where and when the story takes place, it can also be rules the characters have to follow or the culture.
What are the three steps to writing a theme statement?
1.) Think about topic one, look at your literary element chart; 2.) complete the following sentence without naming characters or being too vague, “the author believes that…”; 3.) cross off “the author believes that…”
What is perspective?
A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.
What is point of view (in literary texts)?
The type of narration used (1st/2nd/3rd person.)
What are four ways the character’s perspective are shown through?
Narrator description of the character’s thoughts, actions, feelings, and motivations. Character interactions with other characters through dialogue or description. The way the character interacts with the setting. The character’s thoughts revealed through dialogue or description.
