THEME MESSAGE

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THEME
MESSAGE
DR. HUSNIAH SAHAMID
Theme
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General ideas or insight that a story reveals
Sometimes not so obvious
Not to be confused with a PLOT:
(what is the story about )
Theme and message
• Theme linked to message
• Theme :
• message - the writer uses the story to convey
& communicate to the reader about life in
general
• So - understanding the theme will also lead to
the message
• Theme need not have:
- a moral or a message
• Reader may draw moral inferences
- may not necessarily be writer’s message
Usually short story :
• one unifying theme (sometimes two)
• Tip: Why is the author writing the story?
• Answers the question:
"What's the point?”
• The question of why separates the physical act
of construction
• from the philosophical reason for doing it.
• Theme = the pattern of thought in the
writer’s work.
Theme & Strategy by Ronald B. Tobias
• the central concern around which a story is
structured
• Writer’s view /thoughts about life;
• Particular topic/issue
• how people behave
• not intended to teach or preach.
• not directly presented directly
• extract it from the text: from
characters
action,
setting.
Identifying theme
Consider the following points:
1. Look back at the title, from what you have read, what
does it indicate?
2. Does the main character in any way change in the
story?
Does this main character arrive at nay eventual
realization/understanding.
Are you (reader) left with any realization
/understanding that you did not have before?
Kennedy & Goia
• 3. Does the writer make nay general
observations about life or human nature. Do
the characters make any?
• (Caution; characters sometimes state
opinions which the reader is not necessarily
supposed to agree)
• 4. Does the story contain any esp. curious
objects, mysterious flat charcters, significant
animals, repeated names, song titles,
awhatever that hint towards meanings larger
than such things ordinarily have?
• In literary stories such symbols may point to
central themes
• 5. When you have identified the theme –
have you worded the theme into ageneral
statement? (not described the plot!)
• 6. Is the statement true for the story as a
whole? (not just a part of the story)
Kennedy & Goaia (1995) Literature.
Story of an hour
• Look at the title of the story
• What are the repeated patterns & motifs?
• What is the theme in Story of an hour?
Theme:
• female self-discovery and identity
• female identity and independence
• Social oppression of women
Open window
Look at the title, does this
give a clue to the theme?
 What is real and apparent
 Deception
Hector Hugo Munro (Saki)
Lamb to the Slaughter
• What is the theme of
the story?
Theme: Lamb to the Slaughter
Theme of betrayal
• Man betray wife (infidelity: lies, deceit)
• Wife betray husband (murder)
• What is another possible theme?
Theme: Lamb to Slaughter
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betrayal,
Deception
Failed relationship
Appearance & Reality
Willa Sibert Cather
- Dec. 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947
- taught English –high school
• Said story based on experience with
two boys in her classes.
• connections to own background
• grew up in a small town in Nebraska
• hungered for a broader life experience.
Paul’s Case
• written by Willa Cather
• around 1905
• While living in Pittsburgh
Theme – Paul’s case
• What is the theme of Paul’s case?
• Why do you think so?
• Discuss
Theme
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Theme of alienation
Conformity an individuality
recurring theme in Willa Cather’s works
quest for spirituality
Consider:
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Paul flees to New York, with money
Checks into Waldorf Hotel
buys fine clothing and indulges in luxuries
But still - on the outside looking in,
an isolated observer.
Symbols
• Light and Dark
• Water, Rain- symbolize the barrier that kept
Paul separate from the fantasy world and
reality
• Red carnation - anger and rebellion
- defiance of authority
Other literary devices
• Expected top also know:
• imagery
imagery
• Evoke image through descriptions using
senses
• Visual imagery - sight
• Auditory imagery - sound.
• Onomatopoeia: a word that makes a sound.
• Olfactory imagery - smell..
• Gustatory imagery - taste.
• Tactile imagery - touch.
Simile
• use words "like" or "as"
• compare two different ideas
metaphor
• similar to a simile
• compares without use of
• "like" or "as".
metaphor
• analogy between two objects /ideas
- effects through association/comparison with
the object/idea
- her hair was Persian silk glistening in the sun
extended metaphor (all the world’s a stage)
implied metaphor ( shes’ a rose)
Simile (as, like)
mixed metaphor (bullseye or we fall like a
house of cards)
implicit metaphor (shut your trap)
Other ?
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Foreshadowing
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Pun
Juxtaposition
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