Recurring Themes
Name: ________________
1. ________
2. _______
3. _______
4. _______
5. _______
6. _______
7. _______
8. _______
9. _______
10. _______
Stephanie was on her way home from school when she came across the shiny gold lamp in the street. After
making sure that it didn't belong to anybody in the neighborhood, she picked it up. She squinted at the unfamiliar
lettering on the outside of the lamp: "Rub Me." So she did. As she rubbed the lamp with her shirttail, a man in a
turban materialized from the lamp hole in a puff of blue smoke.
"Greetings," said the man. "I am Al-Abuzar, the famous genie of the lamp. For freeing me from my prison, you
get one wish."
"I thought it was three," said Stephanie.
"One wish," said the genie.
"Okay," Stephanie said. "I wish for a million wishes!"
"Get serious," the genie said as he rolled his eyes. "That never works."
"Then in that case, I don't know what to wish for," Stephanie said. She thought of many things. She wanted a
new bike. She wanted to get good grades on every single paper she turned in. She wanted her favorite food: pizza.
In fact, she thought it would be great if everything she ate tasted like pizza.
"Okay," she said. "I want everything I eat to taste like pizza!"
"Your wish is my command," the genie said. "Good-bye, master."
The genie disappeared into the lamp. Stephanie tucked the lamp into her backpack and walked into the corner
diner. She ordered a hamburger and fries. They tasted just like a pizza. It wasn't bad, it was just a little disturbing.
For dessert, Stephanie had pizza ice cream. After eating the strange dessert, Stephanie began to think that her
wish was a mistake.
When she got home, her mother greeted her at the door. "Guess what sweetie! We're having pizza!"
Stephanie groaned. This was not what she wanted to hear!
1. What is the theme of this story?
A. Hamburgers can taste like pizza.
B. It is important to leave old relics in the street where they belong.
C. Some things sound a lot better than they are.
D. Do not trust genies.
The Dropout
by c. safos
Every day, when Darnell came home from school, he worked on his science project. He quit playing pick-up
basketball games with his friends. He quit the Macoon Art Club at school. He didn't have time for his afternoon
television shows, and he barely spoke to his sister, except at dinner.
Darnell was consumed with the school's annual science fair. He had won two years in a row, and now, this year,
the grand prize was $1,000. Darnell was focused on making sure he would win for a third year. He thought about
having a huge party and inviting all his friends. He would hire a D.J. He would cater food. He would have dancing.
He had it in mind that he would win first prize again, and he and his friends and family could celebrate.
As the fall changed into winter, Darnell was getting closer and closer to completion. He had drawn up blueprints
for a robot that talks. It was his best invention yet. He could just imagine the trophy and all his friends and family
cheering for him as he was presented with the check.
As fall changed to winter, though, many people in Darnell's life began to miss him. Then, many became sad
because he had ignored them while he worked at his science project. Slowly, his friends stopped calling to the
house to see if he wanted to go see a movie or play a game of basketball. His sister stopped going to Darnell to
show him her newest piece she had made in the Macoon Art Club. The sad thing was that Darnell didn't even
notice any of this.
The day of the science fair arrived. As the judges made their selections for the best of the competition, Darnell
couldn't contain himself. They awarded third place to Martin Freeman for his invention. Second place went to
Sophie Romo for her turbine engine. Finally, the judges awarded first place--Darnell won! As he became excited,
he realized none of his friends were there to cheer for him. Not even his sister was there to congratulate him. He
looked around the room to see Martin Freeman surrounded by his friends cheering him on. Sophie Romo had her
family there taking pictures.
Then, Darnell remembered the fall. He thought about the phone calls he missed. He thought about the times he
ignored his sister and her accomplishments. Suddenly, his check for $1,000 didn't seem like quite enough.
Suddenly, he found himself wanting to cash it in to have the fall back again.
2. What is the theme of this story?
A. Hard work will always drive away family.
B. People with friends and family are not successful.
C. School awards can be hard to achieve.
D. Reward is not as enjoyable without someone to share it with.
3.
If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his
ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground
with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly. He will
remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
The ordinary bat that flies around at night is a remarkable and nimble creature in the air. But it cannot take
off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly.
If a bumblebee is dropped into an open tumbler it will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never
sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the
bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
What is a theme that runs through this passage?
A. Everyone has a weakness.
C. All creatures are strong.
B. Bumblebees are not very smart.
D. The bat can fly well at night.
Radio, Radio
In the middle of every field,
obscured from the side by grass
or cornhusks, is a clearing where
she works burying swans alive
into the black earth. She only
buries their bodies, their wings.
She packs the dirt tight around
their noodle necks & they shake
like long eyelashes in a hurricane.
She makes me feed them by hand
twice a day for one full year: grain,
bits of chopped fish. Then she
takes me to the tin toolshed.
Again she shows me the world
inside her silver transistor radio.
She hands me the scythe.
4. What is the best way to describe the theme in the poem above?
5.
A. Death
C. Family
B. Expectation
D. Hope
Once a farmer and a potter jointly hired a camel and each filled one side of the saddle with his goods. As he
went along the road, the camel took a mouthful every now and then from the farmer's bag of vegetables. This
provoked a laugh from the potter, who thought he had the best of the bargain. But the time came for the camel
to sit, and he naturally sat on the heavier side, bearing down on the pots. This caused the pots to break in the
bag, and then the farmer had all the laughs to himself.
What is the theme of this passage?
A. A fool and his money are soon parted.
B. Greediness doesn't pay off in the end.
C. It is important to prepare for the future.
D. He who laughs last, laughs best.
The Old Man and the Mountain
By Stephen D. Rogers
Once upon a time, there was a large mountain called Tai-Ying which sat between Old Man Yu and the nearest
village. Every day, Old Man Yu had to walk many extra miles in order to circle around Tai-Ying, and finally he decided
to simply move the mountain out of his way.
Old Man Yu called together his children and grandchildren. "I am going to move Tai-Ying."
The family cheered.
The youngest stood and asked where the mountain could be moved.
Old Man Yu thought for a second. "I will dump it in the sea."
Again the family cheered, and promised to help make his dream a reality.
Now, as everyone knows, it is no small matter to move a mountain, and this mountain was no exception. After a
year, only a tiny portion of Tai-Ying had been carted to the sea.
A shopkeeper in the village laughed at Old Man Yu. "Your dream is foolish. You are old, and Tai-Ying is
monstrous."
Old Man Yu shook his head and smiled. "You are right, but your vision is short. I have children who have children
who will bear more children. As time goes on, I get stronger and the mountain grows weaker. Tai-Ying will be moved."
And so it was.
6. Which word best describes Old Man Yu?
A. Ugly
C. Dedicated
B. Senile
D. Skeptical
Once upon a time a peacock and a tortoise became great friends. The peacock lived on a tree on the banks of the
stream in which the tortoise had his home. The peacock had a drink of water and displayed his feathers for his friend
every day. One unfortunate day, a bird-catcher caught the peacock and was about to take him away to the market.
The unhappy bird begged of his captor to allow him to say goodbye to his friend, as it would be the last time he would
see him. The bird-catcher allowed it and took him to the tortoise, who was greatly moved to see his friend a captive.
The tortoise asked the bird-catcher to let the peacock go. But he laughed at the request, saying that was his way
of earning money. The tortoise then said, "If I make you a handsome present, will you let my friend go?" "Certainly,"
answered the bird-catcher, "That is all I want." The tortoise dove into the water and in a few seconds came up with a
handsome pearl. To the great astonishment of the bird-catcher, the tortoise handed it to him. This was beyond his
expectations, and he let the peacock go immediately.
A short time after, the man came back and told the tortoise that he thought he had not paid enough for the release
of his friend. He threatened that, unless a match to that pearl was obtained for him, he would again catch the
peacock. The tortoise, who had already advised his friend to flee to a distant jungle, was greatly enraged at this man.
"Well," said the tortoise, "if you insist on having another pearl like it, give it to me and I will fish you out an exact
match for it." The foolish bird-catcher speedily gave the pearl to the wily tortoise who swam out with it saying, "I am
no fool to take one and give two!" The tortoise then disappeared, leaving the bird-catcher to be sorry forever after.
7. What is the theme of this story?
A. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
C. Every cloud has a silver lining.
B. He who laughs last, laughs best.
D. Greediness doesn't pay off in the end.
Mi Abuelo
Where my grandfather is, is in the ground
Where you can hear the future
Like the movie Indian with his ear at the tracks.
A pipe leads down to him so that sometimes
He whispers what will happen to a man
In town, or how he will meet the best
Dressed woman tomorrow and how the best
Man at her wedding will chew the ground
Next to her. Mi abuelo is the man
Who speaks through all the mouths in my house.
An echo of me hitting the pipe sometimes
To stop him from saying my hair is a
Sieve is the only other sound. It is a phrase
That among all others is the best,
He says, and my hair is a sieve is sometimes
Repeated for hours out of the ground
When I let him, which is not often.
An abuelo should be much more than a man
Like you! He stops then, and speaks: I am a man
Who has served the ants with the attitude
Of a waiter, who has made each smile as only
An ant who is fat can, and they liked me best,
But there is nothing left. Yet I know he ground
Green coffee beans as a child, and sometimes
He will talk about his wife, and sometimes
About when he was deaf and a man
Cured him by mail and he heard groundhogs
Talking, or about how he walked with a cane
He chewed on when he got hungry.
At best, Mi abuelo is a liar.
I see an old picture of him at nani's with an
Off-white, yellow center mustache, and sometimes
That's all I know for sure. He talks best
About these hills, slowest waves, and where this man
Is going, and I'm convinced his hair is a sieve,
That his fever is cooled now underground.
Mi abuelo is an ordinary man.
I look down the pipe, sometimes, and see a
Ripple-topped stream, in its best suit, in the ground.
8. What is the best way to describe the theme in the poem above?
A. Family
C. Hope
B. Rebirth
D. Expectation
The Buffalo and the Field Mouse
A Native American Tale
Once upon a time, the Field-Mouse was out gathering wild beans for the winter. His neighbor, the Buffalo, came
to graze. The little Mouse did not like this. He knew Buffalo would eat all the grass. No grass would make it hard for
Mouse to hide. Mouse decided to challenge the Buffalo.
"Ho, Friend Buffalo, I challenge you to a fight!" he exclaimed.
The Buffalo ignored the challenge, thinking it only a joke. The Mouse angrily repeated the challenge. Buffalo
went on quietly grazing and replied carelessly, "You had better keep still, little one, or I shall come over there and
step on you, and there will be nothing left!"
"I dare you!" said the Mouse to Buffalo.
Buffalo rushed upon him. He trampled the grass and tore up the earth. Then, he looked for the Mouse, but he
could not see him.
Just then, he felt a scratching inside his ear. He shook his head and twitched his ears. The gnawing went deeper
and deeper. He pawed with his hoofs and tore up the sod with his horns. Screaming madly, Buffalo ran straight
forward and then in circles. At last he stopped and stood trembling. Then, the Mouse jumped out of his ear, and
said, "Will you now call me master?"
"No!" said Buffalo. The little fellow was nowhere to be seen. Then, the Buffalo felt him in the other ear. Once
more he became wild with pain. At last, he fell to the ground and lay quite still. The Mouse came out of his ear, and
stood proudly over the Buffalo.
"Hurray!" said he, "I have bested the greatest of all beasts."
Standing over Buffalo, he called loudly for a knife with which to dress his game.
Red Fox, very hungry, was hunting mice for breakfast. All at once he thought he heard a distant call: "Bring a
knife! Bring a knife!"
Red Fox started in the direction of the sound. By and by he came upon the huge body of the Buffalo. The little
Mouse still stood over Buffalo.
"I want you to dress this Buffalo for me and I will give you some of the meat," commanded the Mouse.
"Thank you, my friend, I shall be glad to," he replied, politely.
The Fox dressed the Buffalo, while the Mouse sat on Buffalo's ear, looking on and giving his orders. "You must
cut the meat into small pieces," he said to the Fox. When the Fox had finished his work, the Mouse paid him with a
small piece of liver. He swallowed it quickly and smacked his lips.
"Please, may I have another piece?" he asked quite humbly.
"Why, I gave you a very large piece!" exclaimed the Mouse.
"Please may I take home a piece of the meat?" he begged. "I have six little ones at home, and there is nothing
for them to eat."
"You can take Buffalo's feet."
"Thank you!" said the Fox. "But, Mouse, I have a wife. Can't you spare me a little more?"
"I have already overpaid you. However, you can take the head, too!" said Mouse.
The Fox then jumped upon the Mouse, who gave one faint squeak and disappeared.
9. Which of the following is the theme of the story?
A. The smallest friends can be the biggest friends.
B. You should not underestimate the power of the dark side.
C. If you are proud and selfish, you will lose all in the end.
D. One should not try to claim victory if they did not put in the effort.
Oranges
The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.
December. Frost cracking
Beneath my steps, my breath
Before me, then gone,
As I walked toward
Her house, the one whose
Porch light burned yellow
Night and day, in any weather.
A dog barked at me, until
She came out pulling
At her gloves, face bright
With rouge. I smiled,
Touched her shoulder, and led
Her down the street, across
A used car lot and a line
Of newly planted trees,
Until we were breathing
Before a drugstore. We
Entered, the tiny bell
Bringing a saleslady
Down a narrow aisle of goods.
I turned to the candies
Tiered like bleachers,
And asked what she wanted Light in her eyes, a smile
Starting at the corners
Of her mouth. I fingered
A nickel in my pocket,
And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn't say anything.
I took the nickel from
My pocket, then an orange,
And set them quietly on
The counter. When I looked up,
The lady's eyes met mine,
And held them, knowing
Very well what it was all
About.
Outside,
A few cars hissing past,
Fog hanging like old
Coats between the trees.
I took my girl's hand
In mine for two blocks,
Then released it to let
Her unwrap the chocolate.
I peeled my orange
That was so bright against
The gray of December
That, from some distance,
Someone might have thought
I was making a fire in my hands
10. What is the best way to describe the theme in the poem above?
A. Loneliness
C. Sacrifice
B. Death
D. Family