1. Theme

2. What is Theme?The main idea or underlyingmeaning of a literary work.A theme may be stated orimplied.Theme differs from the subject ortopic of a literary work in that itinvolves a statement or opinionabout the topic. 3. Major and Minor ThemesThemes may be major or minor.A major theme is an idea theauthor returns to time and again.It becomes one of the mostimportant ideas in the story.Minor themes are ideas thatmay appear from time to time. 4. Subject of a Work vs. Its ThemeThe subject is the topic on whichan author has chosen to write.The theme, however, makessome statement about orexpresses some opinion on thattopic.For example, the subject of astory might be war while thetheme might be the idea that waris useless. 5. Ways to Express a Theme1. Themes areexpressed andemphasized by theway the author makesus feel.. By sharingfeelings of the maincharacter you alsoshare the ideas that gothrough his mind. 6. Ways to Express a Theme2. Themes are presented inthoughts andconversations. Authors putwords in their charactersmouths only for goodreasons. One of these is todevelop a storys themes.Look for thoughts that arerepeated throughout thestory. 7. Ways to Express a Theme3. Themes are suggestedthrough the characters. Themain character usuallyillustrates the most importanttheme of the story. A good wayto get at this theme is to askyourself the question, whatdoes the main characterlearn in the course of thestory? 8. Ways to Express a Theme4. The actions or events inthe story are used to suggesttheme. People naturallyexpress ideas and feelingsthrough their actions. Onething authors think about iswhat an action will "say". Inother words, how will theaction express an idea ortheme? 9. Examples of ThemesRevengeLoveFamilyFriendshipAcceptance 10. Examples of ThemesRevengeLoveFamilyFriendshipAcceptance