THEME
The author’s central message or the
central dramatic impact of the work (the
main idea in a work of literature).
One of the fundamental components
of fiction.
1. Every literary work must have a
reason for being written

A writer can write about almost anything
 Exterior
events : things that happen to people
 Interior events : things that happen inside a
character’s head.
 But the above needs to be given form & significance

A summary of a literary work cannot convey the
full meaning of the whole work
 The
whole meaning of a literary work can only be
found in the whole work not from an abstraction.
 Nonfiction provide a wide range of info & ideas (tells)
 Literature provide imagined human experience (show)

We can described what a literary work is about
by examining the subject, theme, situation &
plot.
essay – can be stated in a single sentence (thesis
statement / topic sentence)
 In literary work – look at:
 In
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Subject – category (war, love, revenge).
Theme – central message / dramatic impact of the work
Situation – a set of circumstances with which the work begins
Plot – a summary of coherent and significant action.
 E.g. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
 A story about tradition
 People blindly adhere to their traditions without knowing what
they are all about
 Sets in a typical farming community in which the residents
gather for their annual lottery
 Events unfold in a suspenseful & significant sequence.

In some poems the stress is on the “statement,”
in others, the stress is on “language and form”.
 Since poetry is a hybrid form that uses words
& music, most poems tend to blend
statement, imagery & form.
2. There is enormous variety in
literary themes
Some great themes have appeared
frequently in our literary heritage
 Certain major themes have emerged in
contemporary literature

3. Clarity in literature is arrived at
more through description of
experience than through statements
of ideas
Sometimes the theme is obvious & can be
clearly stated
 Sometimes the theme is difficult to
express

4. There are many degrees and kinds
of significance in literary works.

We have a range of a work with themes
ranging from trivial to very important
 Good
fiction, poetry or drama that leave us
with a feeling that our experience has been
expanded to trivial literary entertainments
such as thrillers, romances and television
dramas that many writers involved find such
work a pleasant and profitable form of
employment.