English 3U “Look Ma, I’m doing Themes”
Name:____________________________
If you listened carefully in the last few days you should now be able to tell the difference between three terms: a
subject (or topic or issue -- these are pretty much interchangeable, although the term “issue” is somewhat more
specific), plot detail (events in the story) and a theme, a generalization about life which can be supported by those
plot details, images, etc.
Instructions:
Read the following very carefully. Some are authentic theme statements (even if they aren’t brilliant and even if they
don’t begin with “The theme is . . .” ), some are comments about subject or plot, and many are set up as if they are
theme statements even though they are really only statements about subjects or plot details.
Decide what these are really about. In the answer column beside the statement, check off subject, plot, or theme.
Statement
Subject
Plot
Theme
1.
The theme is power.
1.
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2.
The theme is love.
2.
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3.
The theme is the quest for self-knowledge in a confusing world.
3.
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4.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
4.
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5.
The theme is that she tried to recapture the past and failed.
5.
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6.
A crisis can bring out the best in some people and the worst in others.
6.
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7.
You can’t recapture the past.
7.
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8.
The theme of the movie is that even though he betrayed his brother, the
8.
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brother forgave him.
9.
9.
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10. The theme is revenge and its dangers.
The theme is good versus evil.
10.
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11. The theme is appearance versus reality
11.
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12. Love is eternal and changeless.
12.
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13. Love is fragile; lack of communication can destroy it.
13.
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14. The theme is that greed, pursued without concern for the
14.
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15.
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consequences, is destructive to the pursuer and to others.
15. The themes are the consequences of loneliness, poverty, and lack of
self-esteem.
16. Lack of self-knowledge can lead to disaster.
16.
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17. The failure to forgive harms everyone involved.
17.
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18. The themes are fidelity and infidelity.
18.
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19. The theme is that he seduced and abandoned her.
19.
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20. The theme is that people cannot always be trusted to be faithful
20.
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21. The theme is tragic: she rejected her own lover because of her mother’s
21.
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22.
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23. People are capable of great heroism when put to the test.
23.
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24. The theme is the foolish snobbery of the upper classes.
24.
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25. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
25.
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experience.
22. The theme is that one should not generalize from someone else’s
narrow experiences.