1 OCT 2014
BELL ACTIVITY: JOURNAL 15 – 18 COMPLETE LINES: In yesterday’s
short story, “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, do you think the
Barber made the right or the wrong decision when he stated “But I don’t want to
be a murderer. No, sir. You came in to be shaved. And I do my work honorably. I
don’t want to stain my hands with blood. Just with lather, and nothing else. “
Why or why not? Do you think he would have considered murdering someone if
the revolution wasn’t taking place. So how does war affect people? What do you
think you would have done in his place? Why do you think Torres went in to get a
shave when he had been told that the Barber would kill him?
Today’s Agenda:
LITERARY ELEMENTS:
THEME & POINT OF VIEW
LIBRARY VISIT
Universal Topic and
Theme in
Literature
Universal Topic:
The subject or big
idea of a literary
work.
Examples: love, war, family
EXAMPLES:
What is the universal topic of
each group of pictures?
LOVE
ADVENTURE
WAR
FREEDOM
DIVERSITY
Theme
*Theme is the life lesson or message about
human nature that is communicated by a
literary work.
*Theme is the message the author teaches the
reader about the universal topic.
Ex: Love can overcome anything.
*The reader does not have to
agree with the theme to be able to
identify it.
*Themes are not clearly stated,
they are implied. The reader
must infer the theme.
UNIVERSAL TOPIC vs.THEME
UNIVERSAL TOPIC
1. IS THE UNIVERSAL IDEA THE
WRITER HAS CHOSEN TO WRITE
ABOUT.
2. USUALLY EXPRESSED IN ONE
WORD
EXAMPLES:
a)
b)
c)
d)
LOVE
HOPE
FRIENDSHIP
GOOD VS. EVIL (most common
exception to the one word rule).
THEME
1. EXPRESSES AN OPINION ABOUT
THE TOPIC
2. CAN BE EXPRESSED IN A SINGLE
SENTENCE.
EXAMPLES:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Love conquers all.
Never give up, always have hope.
Friendship requires forgiveness.
Good will always triumph over evil.
Universal topic
WAR
Theme:
War changes people
In a war there are no true
winners
War, though costly is
sometimes necessary
War
EXAMPLES
In your groups, decide what the universal topic would be for
each of the following themes.
The simple life allows greater
personal freedom.
Loneliness can be felt even when
surrounded by friends.
Sacrifice is often required for Good
to conquer Evil.
Major vs. Minor
Themes may be major or minor
A major theme is supported by the entire
story not just sections.
A minor theme is an
idea that may appear
only once or twice.
A major theme involves the protagonist.
A major theme is closely related to the
central conflicted & often proven during
the climax.
A major theme deals with the universal
topic
A minor theme does
not always involve
the protagonist.
A minor theme may
not be directly related
to the universal topic
CAN THERE BE MORE THAN ONE
MAJOR THEME?
Most literary works have only ONE MAJOR THEME.
It is often simply referred to as THE THEME.
HOWEVER….
…there may be different opinions about what
THE THEME of the work is.
This is why you must be able to . . .
PROVE IT using
EVIDENCE.
*Themes are interpretations
and will be slightly different
for every reader. This is fine
as long as you can support
your claims with evidence
from the text.