Theme
What does it all mean?
(from Norton) The insight about a topic communicated in a work of literature.
(from Little, Brown) The conception of human experience suggested by the work as a whole.
• Most literary works have multiple themes.
• State it as a sentence – a theme needs a verb! Words like “death,” “alienation,” “longing,” and “love” aren’t true themes – they’re motifs
• Keep it general – a theme isn’t about a specific character (or even you as a reader), yet stay out of clichés if you can
“If you sometimes confuse plot with theme, keep the two elements separate by thinking of theme as what the story is about, and plot as the situation that brings it into focus. You might think of theme as the message of the story--the lesson to be learned, the question that is asked, or what it is the author is trying to tell us about life and the human condition. Plot is the action by which this truth will be demonstrated."
~Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
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