Looking for Themes All around us Lesson 1

Transcription

1 Looking for Themes All around us Lesson 1

2 » Deeper insight, meaning» Use the text to infer» Is not plot specific» Present in many other stories» Gives the reader a fresh perspective about life or the human condition» In every genre Fiction Nonfiction Poems Songs Movies TV episodes

3 » DOLL FACE» Come up with 2 themes that are inferred through this film.» Write a theme statement and come up with at least one moral for each theme.

4 » Theme Statement: People try to imitate societal ideals of self/beauty until their true identity is destroyed.» Theme Statement: Media often influences people to alter their identity to match what they model.» Morals: Be yourself/don t try to be something your not Beauty is in the eye of the beholder To thine ownself be true ~William Shakespeare Find and keep your identity Don t let media/peers determine your identity

5 » Almost all songs contain a theme as well.» What makes people like particular songs is usually the theme that of the song.» Discuss with your partner: What s your favorite song and what is a possible theme in it?» It is important to recognize the themes that are working in the songs and books that we read because the themes shape the way we respond to a song or text.

6 » Now we ll read the short story All Summer in a Day while, again, keeping theme in mind.» This story was chosen for many reasons, but one definite perk is that you re all familiar with it from last year. We don t have to worry about comprehension and discussing what happened, so we can focus on theme.» We ll read the story together, and then you ll make notes at the end of the story about potential themes, theme statements, and morals.» If we don t finish reading or you don t finish making notes, it s homework.

7 » All narrative texts have themes, and when literary critics start to look for these themes, they ask questions like: What is this text really about? Or, What is this text trying to teach me about life?» Then, they sometimes write long to grow their ideas.» Last week, we talked through themes in Doll Face and read All Summer in a Day, by Ray Bradbury, and now together we can come up with the same ideas for All Summer So, let s ask ourselves: What is Bradbury s story really about? What is it trying to teach me about life?

8 » To get at the theme of a story, it can help to first think through what some of the problems or issues are within the text, and then to look for how this problem or issue appears across the whole text.» Let s look at our anchor chart (also on p. 5 in your packet).

9 Problems in All Summer in a Day include: Themes that emerge because of those problems are: What is All Summer and a Day trying to teach me about.

10 » So the first step is to name a big problem in the story.» For teaching sake, let s say in All Summer in a Day the big problem is, jealousy, although there are plenty more. Big Problem = Jealousy

11 » How does the story relate to jealousy? Kids live on Venus have never seen the sun. Margot, lived on Earth and does remember the sun. The sun is coming out for the 1 st time in 7 years. The rest of the kids are super jealous of Margot for having seen the sun, so they lock her in a closet so that she misses the sun, which is really mean. Then after the experience the sun, they understand Margot better and feel badly.

12 » So now we need to ask: What is this story teaching me about this problem, about jealousy?» Let s think aloud: Kids act out when they are jealous and then they can t help themselves. So, maybe jealously can make you mean?

13 » You can use writing to explore further ideas.» Look at the final step on the chart: Once you have an idea about what theme might be in a text jealousy can make you mean it helps to do some writing.» Write to explore the ideas by writing long. Free write to get your ideas out and push your thinking. To get started, I am going to name the theme. Then I am going to ask myself questions. How do I say more about this? How does the theme relate to different characters? What other questions could I ask to push myself to writing through theme?

14 » Here s what I came up with:» One theme emerging in the text is that jealousy can make you mean. Because the kids are jealous of Margot, they keep her away from the sun; they are mean to her. So jealousy hurts Margot, the victim. But I think it also hurts the children who are acting jealous, too. They feel bad at the end of the story. They are not proud of themselves. This is significant because it shows that jealousy is harmful to everyone.

15 »Here are the steps that I followed: I named and reflected on the problem of the story. We thought about what the story might be teaching us about the problem. I wrote long about the idea.

16 » Now you are going to try it with a different theme for the same story. What are some themes?» What is leading you to think these are themes?

17 » Set a goal of gathering information and forming five theme statements.» Use the steps that we discussed. Name a central problem or issue that characters in the story face. + What themes emerge because of this problem? Reflect on parts of the story that pertain to this problem. Think to yourself, What is this story teaching me about this problem, this issue? Develop a theme statement. (Repeat until you have five theme statements)

18 List List Write Long

19 » Ways to push your thinking.

20 » You should have written long about at least three of the themes you ve come up with today.» As you write, ask yourself these questions: Do I sound rote and robotic? Have I developed these claims with evidence from my book? Is everything explained fully?» You should have two full pages of writing where you ve generated ideas about theme by the time you return to class tomorrow.

21 » Today, you are going to pick one of the themes that is emerging in your novel to write more about.» Before you get too committed to just one theme, it s a good idea to step back and reflect on which of the themes resonates for you, and to keep searching until you find a theme(s) that does.» Think of the theme(s) you want to write about today and ask yourself whether the theme(s) matters to you. If you aren t connected to your work, your readers won t be either.

22 » For example, think about All Summer in a Day for a moment. If you were considering writing a literary essay on the theme that jealousy can make people selfish or blind to others, you d want to first think whether that has been true in your own life. Have you ever been jealous and had negative consequences? Have you ever noticed someone else s jealousy and the negativity that might have come from it?» Then, ask yourself what do I want to learn about this theme? What do you want to learn from exploring your novel s message?

23 » Here s a conversation that I had with a student last year when he was trying to decided the relevance of the theme of kindness to his own life: Flynn: I was writing about kindness and how hard it is to be kind sometimes. And, well, I guess that can be hard for me too. Like I was kind of a jerk to someone yesterday and now I am thinking that I could have been kinder. Me: So what do you want to find out about kindness from this study you are about to begin? Flynn: I guess I want to know what to do to, like, overcome the parts of you that are not kind. I want to know how not to be mean, and I guess why that is so tough sometimes.» Now that Flynn has determined how the theme of kindness is relevant to his own life, he can focus his thematic analysis on why the characters in his novel have a difficult time being kind or trying not to be mean.» Once you decide on a theme from your novel that matters to you. Ask yourself: Have I ever seen this idea work in my life? Why might this theme matter to my readers?

24 » Today your goal is to compose 2 more pages AT LEAST about the theme with which you feel most connected or about which you re interested in writing an essay. First, examine all of the themes that you and your group have come up with yesterday and even throughout Book Clubs. Next, determine the relevance of those themes to your own life. Then, search for evidence in your novel that shows how one of the themes is prominent in the book but also relevant to your personal experiences and ideas about that theme.» DO NOT WORK WITH ANYBODY. I want you to be able to compare your different conclusions with the rest of the group in the upcoming lessons.

25 » Write two more pages on a theme (or two themes if you can t decide) that matter to you.» Write about + How the theme is present in your novel + What evidence from the novel supports your theme Try to find evidence from the beginning, middle, and end You can quote or just paraphrase + How you can personally connect to this theme.» Remember, you need at least two more pages (that s four pages total of writing long).