Day Three Library Research—
Theme
Day 3—Themes
• Identify at least three (3) themes in
your literary work.
– 1. What “big idea” is the story about?
– 2. What important lessons about life do
readers learn?
– 3. What do characters do or say that relates
to that topic?
Day Three—
Other Questions to Find Themes
• What image of humankind emerges from the work?
• Does the author believe people to be good or evil?
• Does the author portray a particular society or
social scheme as life-enhancing or life-destroying?
• Are the characters in conflict with their society?
• What are the moral conflicts in the story?
• Are there moral values in conflict with one another?
Theme--Definition
– An underlying message the writer wants the reader to
understand
– A perception about life or human nature
– Is not stated directly, but inferred
– More than one
– Theme is a statement (a complete sentence, not a word
or a phrase)
– EX: Macbeth explores the corrupting effect of unbridled
ambition, the corrosiveness of guilt, the lure and power
of inscrutable supernatural forces, and the tragedy of
psychological disintegration.
Where is the BEST place to find theme?
• _____________ for Students (Novels, Drama,
Poetry, or Short Stories) under “Themes.”
• http://www.galesites.com/menu/index.php?loc=mi
ss50350
• Under “ebooks,” click “Literature.”
• Find Drama, Poetry, Novels or Short Stories for
Students.
• Type in the name of your work (on the left-hand
side).
• Look under “Themes” in Novels for Students,
etc.
Where can I find a second source?
• EBSCO:
http://www.fortbendisd.com/departments/technology/library/digital-resources/ebsco
– Go to “Literary Reference Center.”
– Type in the name of your research title.
– Look for your research title with Masterplots II,
Masterplots, Critical Survey of ___ Fiction, or Magill’s
Critical Survey (in bold) underneath it.
– Click on “HTML Full Text,” (NOT the name of your title).
– Look for “Themes and Meanings” in Masterplots II.
– Look for “Critical Evaluation” in Masterplots.
– Look for “Analysis” in Critical Survey of ___ Fiction.
– Look for “The Work” in Magill’s Critical Survey.
Other Helpful Resources
• GALE: http://www.galesites.com/menu/index.php?loc=miss50350
• In Literature Resource Center, type the name of
your research title.
• In the yellow “Search” bar on the left, click the
name of your research title again.
• Click the “Topic & Work Overviews” tab at the top.
• Look for overviews in Nineteenth-Century
Literature Criticism (under “Major Themes”) or
Literature and Its Times (under “The Novel in
Focus”).
Other Helpful Resources…for a
Limited Few
• In Gale, under the ebooks section for literature,
Literary Themes for Students has the following
selections:
– Literary Themes for Students: Race and Prejudice
• Heart of Darkness
• A Passage to India
• A Room of One’s Own
– Literary Themes for Students : War and Peace
• “Easter 1916”
• “The Sniper”
Accessing Databases from Home
• EBSCO—ridgepoint (login);
panthers (password)
• Gale—lonestar (password)