THEME REVIEW
What is a theme? The theme of a story is usually an idea about life, life situations, and human
behavior. It is not directly stated; it is inferred (figured out by looking closely at the story). To
figure out the themes, you can sometimes ask yourself the following questions:
 What is this story really about?
 What does this story say about people or human nature?
 What stage of life or aspect of living is this story about?
 What ideas can I get about themes by thinking about the title?
 What do you think the author is trying to say to people by writing this story?
 What lesson(s) have the main characters learned so far?
 What emotions do you feel as a reader? What thoughts are you thinking about the
people and events in the story? Why do you think the author wants you to feel this way?
 What kinds of universal human experiences are seen in the story? (An experience that is
universal means that lots of people can relate to it or have had similar experiences.)
THEME REVIEW
What is a theme? The theme of a story is usually an idea about life, life situations, and human
behavior. It is not directly stated; it is inferred (figured out by looking closely at the story). To
figure out the themes, you can sometimes ask yourself the following questions:
 What is this story really about?
 What does this story say about people or human nature?
 What stage of life or aspect of living is this story about?
 What ideas can I get about themes by thinking about the title?
 What do you think the author is trying to say to people by writing this story?
 What lesson(s) have the main characters learned so far?
 What emotions do you feel as a reader? What thoughts are you thinking about the
people and events in the story? Why do you think the author wants you to feel this way?
 What kinds of universal human experiences are seen in the story? (An experience that is
universal means that lots of people can relate to it or have had similar experiences.)
English 1: The Literary Analysis Essay
Practice Writing/Theme Statements
The theme of a story is a general idea about life or people summed up in just one or two words. A
theme statement is a full sentence that clearly states how this theme or idea applies to all people.
Notice that it is an observation of human behavior. It does NOT mention any particular piece of
writing.
Examples:
THEME (General Idea)
THEME STATEMENT (Sentence about human behavior)
Jealousy
Children can be cruel when they are jealous.
Death/Loss
People deal with loss in many different ways.
Love
People can do crazy things when they are in love.
Diversity
Some people want everyone to act the same way.
A literary analysis essay starts with a general theme, then applies it to a specific story. The
first paragraph is called the introductory paragraph, and it begins with two sentences about the
same theme. The first sentence is like the theme statements above. The second explains the first a
little further.
For example:
THEME
THEME STATEMENTS
Diversity
(1) Some people want everyone to act the same way. (2) They become
uncomfortable and even angry when someone does something differently than
what they think is right.
Directions: Now, you try it. Choose a one-word theme to put in the left column. Then, write two
sentences like the sample above. The first should be a statement about human behavior; the
second should explain your idea a little further. You can use one of the examples above to get you
started, but make at least one other set of sentences is completely original.
THEME
THEME STATEMENTS
English 1: Literary Analysis Essay
Introductory Paragraphs
The first paragraph of your essay is called the introductory paragraph or introduction. It shows
what your essay will be about. You will have three sentences in this paragraph. It starts with
general ideas, then gets more specific about how these ideas are shown in the piece of literature
you are analyzing.
Sentence #1
Starts with a theme statement. It should say something general about human behavior that is a
theme in the story, but it should not mention the story yet at all.
Sentence #2
This sentence says more about sentence #1. It explains the idea a little further, still without
mentioning the specific story.
Sentence #3
This is your thesis statement. It starts with the title and author of the story you are writing about,
then gives an opinion of how your theme is shown in the story.
For example:
The Importance of Forgiveness
(title of my essay)
It’s important for people to forgive others, even if they have been treated cruelly. Wanting
revenge is a natural reaction, but it takes a stronger person to forgive. In “All Summer in a Day,”
by Ray Bradbury, Margot is treated terribly by William, but she does the right thing in the end by
forgiving him.
Directions: Now, you try it. On your own piece of paper, write two introductory paragraphs for
two of the stories we have read and discussed.
The stories include:
“Who Am I This Time?”, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
“The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell
“The Lady or the Tiger?”, by Frank R. Stockton
“The Sniper,” by Liam O’Flaherty
“The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allan Poe
“All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury
“Strawberries,” by Leslie Nyman
“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson
“Broken Vows,” by Joan Connor
Choose a story and a theme that story represents. Write two theme statements, and write a thesis
statement including the author and title of the book – just like the example above.
English 3
_______________________________
Theme: The theme of a story is usually an idea about life, life situations, and human behavior. It is
not directly stated; it is inferred (figured out by looking closely at the story).
To find the theme of a story, you can sometimes ask yourself, “What is this story really about?” or
“What does this story say about people or human nature?” A short story is usually a “snapshot” of
real life, so to find out the theme, find out how the story relates to universal human experiences.
Here are questions to ask yourself about any story to figure out its themes. Answer the
questions below while focusing on The Giver. Then, compare your responses with a
classmate’s.
List all the ideas suggested by the title:
What do you think the author is trying to say to people by writing this story?
What lesson(s) have the main characters learned?
What emotions do you feel as a reader? What thoughts are you thinking about the people and
events in the story? Why do you think the author wants you to feel this way?
Now, write statements of possible themes on the back of this sheet.