Principles in Stating the

Theme

Theme must be expressible in the form

of a complete sentence with a subject

and a predicate.

motherhood

loyalty

paralysis

“Reconstruction Work” by Bruce

Holland Rogers

Plasticity of truth

Reconstruction of truth

Versions of truth

With wealth and power, truth can be

rendered plastic and malleable.

Through wealth and power, versions of

truth can be recreated and made up, but

only until these two continue to exist.

Theme must be

stated as a

generalization

about life.

do not use specific

names of

characters or

places

“Celeste’s Heart” by Aida Bortnik

Celeste’s refusal to heed the order of her

teacher made her realize the power in her to

change the order of things around her.

• Simple acts of resistance may lead one to

realize the power in his/her humanity, and

once this is realized, it will lead to loftier

thirst for change.

“In a Grove” by Rynusuke

Akutagawa

Masago, Takehiko, and Tajomaru all

provide varying accounts of the story

hence giving different versions of truth

dependent on how each views it.

Absolute truth is impossible to arrive at

because of individuals’ varying perceptions

and interpretations of it.

Be careful in making generalization

larger than is justified by the terms of

the story.

every

all

always

never

“Civil Peace” by Chinua Achebe

People always recover from their life’s

tragedies.

Belief in God and family keep everyone

sane in the midst of challenges posed by

life.

In the middle of unrest and difficult

situations, some individuals thrive and

succeed because of their enduring belief

in life and great optimism brought about by

their faith in God’s plan and the relentless

desire to provide for people who depend

on them.

Theme is the

central and unifying

concept of the

story.

• it must account for all the

major details of the story.

• it must not be contradicted

by any detail of the story

• it must exist inside, not

outside of the story.

“How to Date a Brown Girl (Black

Girl, White Girl, or Halfie),” Junot

Diaz

Life for an individual belonging to a racially marginalized

group can be very difficult.

Life is challenging for black youths.

Most of the changes being touted by equal rights

movement advocates do not trickle down into the lives of

these colored individuals.

How an individual is treated by the society where he lives in, in return, often has ramifications on how he/she deals with people around him.

A person belonging to a marginalized group (race, social class, age) may sometimes resort to hiding his identity (in most cases failing in the attempt) if only to feel accepted by other people or to be part of a group he wants to join.

There is no one way of stating the

theme of the story.

“The Guest,” Albert Camus

• Failure to make a choice amid the absurd universe leads one to feel emptiness and desolation.

• Although there is no good choice, the act of making a choice and standing by that choice is the most important thing a human being can do; failing to do this leads to moral isolation and grief.

• Because human knowledge is always subjectively situated--that is, it always happens from a particular individual's point-of-view--it's always going to be limited.

“The Chemist’s Wife” by Anton

Chekov

Individuals are made unhappy and are

paralyzed by their inability to act on

circumstance.

One’s indecisiveness and feeling of

powerlessness over his/her reality can lead to

his/her feeling of emptiness and loneliness.

We should avoid any statement that

reduces the theme to some familiar

saying that we have heard all our lives.

Regret comes when it’s already too late. (Nasa huli ang

pagsisisi.)

Too much of something is bad.

Honesty is the best policy.

People often cry over spilled milk.

summary

A theme should be:

• in one complete sentence

• a generalization about life

• not specific to the facts in the story

• careful not to generalize larger than is justified

• a central concept that accounts for all the details

in the story

• no one way of expressing it