WRITING A THEME
STATEMENT
Mrs. Henderson
Lake Travis High School
A Strong Theme Statement
• Is written in a COMPLETE sentence.
• Includes title and author
• Is written in the form of an assertion
• Does NOT state the obvious/define a big idea word with
its standard definition.
• Does NOT use personal pronouns “I” or “you”
How Not To State the Obvious
• Instead of supplying a standard definition of the word,
consider the following questions:
• Is the book suggesting that the big idea causes something?
• Is the book suggesting that the big idea is a result of something?
• Is the book making some sort of value judgment or offering some
opinion on this concept?
• Is the book defining this idea unconventionally?
EXAMPLES OF COMMON PROBLEMS
AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
1. One problem is mistaking the big idea for a theme. In
other words, the word itself is not the theme. The question
is, “what is the author saying about this word?”
WRONG:
• In “Shame,” Gregory presents the idea of poverty.
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea of
empathy.
• In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck presents the idea of the
American Dream.
• In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows alienation.
BETTER:
• In “Shame,” Dick Gregory presents the idea that poverty ,
rather than being an emptiness, is a fullness.
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee suggests that
empathy is the key to preventing conflict.
2. Another problem is stating the obvious or being cliché.
See the checklist in this PowerPoint for how to avoid being
obvious or cliché.
WRONG:
• In “Shame,” Gregory presents the idea that shame is
feeling embarrassed in front of others. (stating the
obvious; that’s what shame is)
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that
prejudice is judging others based on their race. (stating
the obvious)
• In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows that people
become lonely when they are alienated. (stating the
obvious—that’s the definition of alienation)
• In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows that loyalty means
being there for someone no matter what. (obvious—that’s
a definition for loyalty)
BETTER:
• In “Shame,” Dick Gregory presents the idea that shame,
once learned, is strongly internalized.
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that
prejudice leads to great injustice.
3. Instead of stating a theme, a belief that the author has
about a general or universal truth, the theme statement
covers a plot point.
BETTER:
• In “Shame,” Gregory contends that shame is a learned
behavior rather than an intrinsic feeling of inferiority.
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee contends that
courage is synonymous with integrity.
Approaches to thinking about Theme
CAUSE OR RESULT
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that
prejudice leads to great injustice.
• The cause/effect relationship here should be obvious;
prejudice causes injustice.
2. UNCONVENTIONAL DEFINITION
• Defining a word with its dictionary definition or a widely
accepted definition would be WRONG.
• Defining a big idea word with an unconventional definition
or an arguable definition would be right.
• For example, Harper Lee offers an unconventional
definition of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird:
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee contends that courage means
having integrity.
• This definition is unconventional because courage means
facing difficulty, danger, or pain. Lee largely discounts the idea
of facing physical danger. Her contention is that sticking to
one’s beliefs is the most significant form of courage.
3. VALUE JUDGEMENT/OPINION
Ask yourself, what does the writer think about this idea? Is it • good/bad?
• true/not true?
• important/unimportant?
• rare/common?
• admirable/despicable?
• right/wrong?
• valuable/not valuable?
There are more questions out there; this list just has a few.
So, start with good/bad. Harper Lee clearly thought that
prejudice was bad, but that’s not a very sophisticated
theme statement. You could say, though,
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee condemns prejudice
as an abomination.
• This theme statement shows a value judgment/opinion
because it tells us that Lee thinks that prejudice is very
bad. How bad? Abominably bad. It’s sophisticated
because it has good vocab and shows the extent to which
she thinks it is bad.