THEMES and LITERARY DEVICES
IN LITERATURE
ENG 4U1
What is a theme in literature?
• The theme of a book is a universal idea or
message that stretches through an entire
story. A theme may show up in a pattern (such
as reoccurring examples of beauty in
simplicity) or a theme may come through as
the result of a buildup (tragedy of war). It is
often a lesson that we learn about life or
people. (from 101 Common Book Themes)
• THEME = TOPIC + STATEMENT ABOUT LIFE
Difference Between Topic and Theme
TOPIC
• Beauty
THEME
• Beauty is reflected in a
person’s actions rather than
their outward appearance
• Ignorance
• The danger of ignorance is
that people always get hurt
in the end
• Free Will
• Choice is always present in
free will
Finding the Theme
• What is the “meaning” of the text?
• What does it “add up” to?
• What is the author trying to show the
audience?
Themes and Supporting Details
“The Lottery”
• There is a danger to blindly following tradition
– The villagers became so engrossed in the lottery
that they stopped questioning whether it is still
appropriate – they continued to “sacrifice” a
person without evaluating whether doing so
would give them the desired outcome they were
searching for
Literary Devices
• How many devices can you recall?
• Of those devices, do you know their
definitions?
• Can you provide examples of these devices?
• Do you know WHY and HOW these devices
help enhance literature?
There’s way too much to put into a
handout now!
• Online: Google “literary terms”
• E-document: Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary
Terms (see class website for link)
• Handout from Grade 11 to “refresh” your
memory
When is a device purposeful and when
is it coincidence?
• When you can prove and explain that the
presence of a device enhances the meaning or
the message of the text, then the device was
used purposefully
• For example, there are no other terms to
replace snake (or serpent), grass or
slithered...when a “snake slithered silently
through the grass”, you “hear” the “hiss” of
the snake – coincidence or purpose?
“The Snake” by DH Lawrence (excerpt)
A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink there. In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob tree
I came down the steps with my pitcher
And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before me.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of
the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
Silently.
“The Snake”
• Here, the author uses a number of sound
effects (consonance, alliteration and
onomatopoeia) so that the audience can hear
the sound of the snake and the dripping of
water
• These sound effects enhance and heighten the
senses so that the audience is more attached
to the author’s use of imagery to describe the
snake
In Your Novel Groups
TASK ONE
• Identify a major theme in
your novel and provide
evidence from the text to
support your theme.
Be prepared to share your
findings with the class!
TASK TWO
• Find evidence of THREE
different literary devices in
use in your novel
• For each device, explain the
effect of the device on the
audience