Characteristics of a Theme or Central Idea Statement
Purposes of the Theme or Central Idea Statement
The theme or central idea statement can help you interpret and write about literature/text in two
main ways: (1) it forces you to decide on a clear, simple interpretation before you begin writing,
and (2) it provides your reader with a summary of your interpretation.
Characteristics of a Good Theme Statement
A successful theme or central idea statement must be general enough to capture the overall
meaning of the work but specific enough so that it conveys your unique interpretation. If your
theme or central idea statement follows the following guidelines, and if you don't misread or
misinterpret the text, you will be stating an interpretation in a powerful way.
1. In a sense, every text makes a statement or has a point. When you create a theme or
central idea statement, you're substituting your single sentence for the entire text. That
means that you have to simplify the meaning somewhat to get it into a single sentence,
but nevertheless, your statement itself should make a point. Also, the statement should be
a complete sentence. "Love and death" (for example) is not a theme statement. It's just an
announcement of the topic of the work. What in particular is the author saying about love
and death? A sentence like "The theme of the text is love and death" is grammatically
speaking a complete sentence, but if you remove the beginning of the sentence ("The
theme of the poem is"), then you don't have a complete sentence, just a wordy
announcement of the topic.
2. The theme or central idea statement should describe the general meaning of the work, not
the specific events, actions, or characters. The statement "Luke defeats Darth Vader" is
not a theme or central idea statement but a plot summary. In a story, instead of describing
what the characters do, discuss what they represent ("Good defeats evil"). Often these
statements take the form of a moral or a judgment ("We cannot defeat an external evil
until we acknowledge our own dark side"). Of course this theme results from what the
characters do (or from the literal meaning of words in a text), and in supporting your
general interpretation, you should cite some of these specific details. In a piece of
nonfiction, authors express their central ideas through word choice, structure, and other
elements of rhetoric.
3. The theme or central idea statement should reflect the values of the entire work, not just
one or two lines, paragraphs, or sections. In particular, look at the end of the story or the
concluding lines of a poem or any concluding ideas to carefully consider if the text
matches what you think its general meaning is.
Common Mistakes in Writing a Theme or Central Idea Statement
o Theme is not a moral. A moral tells us how to behave or what to do; it is meant to
be instructive. A theme observes, weighs, and considers the actions of a character;
theme avoids judging what a character should or should not do. Therefore, words
like “ought” and “should” are not appropriate in a thematic statement.
o Themes are not short clichés or bumper sticker ideas. Themes reflect the
complexity of life echoes in the work of literature.
o Themes do not refer to specific names or the events of the plot. Theme does not
summarize a work although it does reflect what happens in the work. Theme
drops character names and uses more general terms like “parents,” “leaders,”
“society,” or “adolescents” in a general observation about the human experience.
o Themes avoid absolute terms like “anyone,” “all,” “none,” “everything,” and
“everyone” because they indicate sloppy thinking; they are categorical, no
exceptions. Terms like “we,” “often,” and “sometimes” suggest a more realistic
view of the variety of human experiences.
Theme Vocabulary
*Abstract ideas to use to form thematic statements.
Alienation
Ambition
Appearance vs. reality
Custom / tradition
Betrayal
Bureaucracy
Children
Courage / cowardice
Women / feminism
Cruelty / violence
Defeat / failure
Despair/discontent/disillusionment
Chance / fate / luck
Domination / suppression
Dreams / fantasies
Duty
Education / school
Escape
Exile
Faith / loss of faith
Falsity / pretense
Family / parenthood
Free will / will power
Games/contests/sports/tricks
Greed
Guilt
Heaven / paradise / utopia
Home
Heart vs. reason
Initiation
Illusion / innocence
Instinct
Journey/psychological journey
Law / justice
Loneliness / alones
Loyalty
Materialism
Memory / the past
Mob psychology
Music / dance
Mysterious stranger
Persistence / perseverance
Patriotism
Poverty
Prejudice
Prophecy
Repentance
Resistance / rebellion
Revenge / retribution
Ritual / ceremony
Scapegoat / victim
Search for identity
Social status
Supernatural
Time/ eternity
War
Sample Thematic Statements
“The Most Dangerous Game”
Men, when they are courageous and lucky, even in a hostile environment, can overcome the odds
against their survival.
Our reason, courage, and strength can reach their full potential when challenged by a hostile
environment.
The Adventures in Huckleberry Finn
Much of our learning happens outside the classroom. Sometime our private discoveries show us
the falsity of society that the classroom or society teaches as truth.
The Catcher in the Rye
In the presence of what we see as phony or corrupt, we often first choose to escape because we
are afraid of becoming phony too. Fleeing provides some hope of preserving our innocence but
denies our responsibility to alter, rebel against, or sometimes grow to accept what we see as
threatening.
Grading Rubric: Themes Statement for “The Bet”
Below Proficiency – Doesn’t Meet Expectations (Level 1 Response)
Anton Chekhov’s story “The Bet” is about a banker who bets a lawyer two
million rubles he cannot stay imprisoned for fifteen years. The lawyer spends
his time in prison reading a lot of books about different things. Five minutes
before the fifteen years are up he walks out of the prison and loses the bet and
the money.
Approaching Proficiency – Meets Minimal Expectations (Level 2.5 Response)
Anton Chekov’s story “The Bet” is about a lawyer who gives up two million
rubles because he thinks money can’t buy happiness. In prison he reads a
lots of books and decides it’s better to be smart than rich.
Mastery Response – Exceeds Expectations (Level 4 Response)
The central theme of Anton Chekhov’s story “The Bet” is that spiritual
values are more important than material things. Although most people think they
will be happy if they have a lot of money, Chekhov argues that money cannot
buy wisdom, so spending one’s life in the pursuit of money is misguided. The
protagonist in “The Bet” gives up two million rubles, because after fifteen years
in prison studying is what is valuable in life, he comes to the conclusion that
most people wrongly “workship things, not ideas” and “take falsehood for truth
and ugliness for beauty.”