IB Docs (2) Team
Theme
'What is the text about?' This seems like a simple question to answer. Perhaps you have had to retell the storyline of a film to a friend, summarize an article for a report or synthesize an idea down to a 140 character tweet. But what does it mean to really understand the underlying ideas of a literary text? What does it mean to 'read between the lines?' When commenting on literature we often refer to the greater themes that run through the work. Theme can be defined as the main idea, message or even moral of a story. Because literature is an art, writers do not simply come out and tell us explicitly what they intend by a certain piece. Instead it has to be engaging for the reader. We have to tease out the theme for ourselves.
This page offers several activities on how to explore the themes of a work. You can apply these activities to other texts that you are reading for Part 3 or Part 4.
Priming the discussion
Good literature often comments on life. Because we have all lived for at least some years, we understand and recognize the themes of literary works. One way to start the discussion on theme is to mind map an important word, such as 'identity' or 'family' that we are already familiar with. This will help prime a discussion on pre-existing knowledge before analyzing a passage from a novel or play. Another fun activty to get the ball rolling is to have everyone complete an unfinished sentence. Before you read the passage below from The Catcher in the Rye complete the following sentence on an anonymous piece of paper:
"Identity is defined by my..."
Collect all of the responses and write a few on the board. Some responses may look like those you see here.
Sample responses
appearance, self, behavior, personality, habits, relationships, reputation, integrity, ability to share ideas, friends, family, actions...
Now it is time to compare simple responses like these with something more academic. Refer to a secondary source or theoretical frame work to check for understanding. These can even be taken from a Wikipedia entry.
Theoretical concepts of 'identity'
Here are two theories on identity which can be found on the 'identity (social sciences) page on Wikipedia.
- Erikson's conception: identity as sense, felt within, of experience as continuity, oriented towards a self-chosen, positively anticipated future; located in core of individual and in core of her communal culture; answering the question of who one is and what one stands for.
-
Mead's conception: self-formation in activity through linguistically recognized social positions; crucial to conduct of social activities and relationships; sense of self formed in relation to inhabiting 'roles', such as environmentalist, Super-Mom, freedom fighter, good father, moderate Republican.
How were these definitions different? Taking all that you know about the word 'identity' look at a passage, such as this one from The Catcher in the Rye, and find evidence to support all of these aspects of this theme that you have discussed.
The Catcher in the Rye
JD Salinger
1951
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all. I'm not saying that-but they're also touchy as hell. Besides, I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean that's all I told D.B. about, and he's my brother and all. He's in Hollywood. That isn't too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He's going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those lithe English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He's got a lot of dough, now. He didn't use to. He used to be just a regular writer, when he was home. He wrote this terrific book of short stories, The Secret Goldfish, in case you never heard of him. The best one in it was "The Secret Goldfish." It was about this little kid that wouldn't let anybody look at his goldfish because he'd bought it with his own money. It killed me. Now he's out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me.
Internal and external context
The theme of a literary text may be understood differently by the characters within the text compared to the readers of the text. For example, with regards to The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, the main character may define his identity differently than we would as readers. We call these two layers of understanding the internal and external contexts of a work. In order to explore this notion, you can conduct an activity where you simply draw a circle and place the name of the theme withing the circle. Write down words that would be associated with that theme according to its characters on the inside. Write down words that you associate with that theme on the outside. Here is a sample diagram that could be made on identity and The Catcher in the Rye.
Sample diagram on internal and external context
Internal and external conext worksheet as a MS Word document which you can edit.
Writing about theme
In many forms of assessment you will be asked to write about the themes of the literary and non-literary text that you have read. Students often make the mistake of writing about themes as if they belong on a check list. For example, in one of the sample Paper 2 essays on justice, the student writes: "These two texts have the same justice theme." This does not make sense, nor does it show an understanding of the word 'theme'. Below is an extract from a sample commentary written about ta theme from The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Read both the passage and the sample commentary. As you read the commentary, make a note of all the phrases that use the word 'theme' and 'family'. What kinds of verbs, prepositions and nouns accompany the word 'theme'?
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
1984
At the bottom of the stairs there's a hat-and-umbrella stand, the bentwood kind, long rounded rungs of wood curving gently up into hooks shaped like the opening fronds of a fern. There are several umbrellas in it: black, for the Commander, blue, for the Commander's Wife, and the one assigned to me which is red. I leave the red umbrella where it is, because I know from the window that the day is sunny. I wonder whether or not the Commander's Wife is in the sitting room. She doesn't always sit. Sometimes I can hear her pacing back and forth, a heavy step and then a light one, and the soft tap of her cane on the dusty-rose carpet. I walk along the hallway, past the sitting room door and the door that leads into the dining room, and open the door at the end of the hall and go through into the kitchen. Here the smell is no longer of furniture polish. Rita is in here, standing at the kitchen table, which has a top of chipped white enamel. She's in her usual Martha's dress, which is dull green, like a surgeon's gown of the time before. The dress is much like mine in shape, long and concealing, but with a bib apron over it and without the white wings and the veil. She puts on the veil to go outside, but nobody much cares who sees the face of a Martha. Her sleeves are rolled to the elbow, showing her brown arms. She's making bread, throwing the loaves for the final brief kneading and then the shaping. Rita sees me and nods, whether in greeting or in simple acknowledgment of my presence it's hard to say, and wipes her floury hands on her apron and rummages in the kitchen drawer for the token book. Frowning, she tears out three tokens and hands them to me. Her face might be kindly if she would smile. But the frown isn't personal: it's the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for. She thinks I may be catching, like a disease or any form of bad luck.'
Student analysis of the theme of 'family' in The Handmaid's Tale
This extract explores the theme of family found in The Handmaid's Tale. Atwood shows us that some elements of family life, such as living together under the same roof, knowing each other's habits and roles, are not enough to qualify a group as a family. However, the significance of this presentation in this text is that in this world, this is a family. The protagonist, dressed in red, is an extremely intimate part of the family, as the handmaid will provide the womb for the Commander and his Wife to have a child. Without her, there will be no children. Therefore she occupies a bizarre position of having her body deeply connected to the continuation of this family. This corresponds to our understanding of the family unit, as one that includes offspring. The novel contrasts this version of the family with the protagonist's memories of her own, former family, which we as readers can understand. Atwood's develops this theme further in the novel when the protagonist remembers what her family life was like before she came to live with the commander. She had a man and a child of her own. By commenting on this theme, Atwood offers a rich comparison of how the definition of family can change according to the beliefs of a society. 'Family' becomes a utilitarian means to survival of the human race.
How is the word 'theme' used in the commentary?
This extract explores the theme of family in...
The author develops this theme further
By commenting on this theme...
Over to you!
Try following all of the steps we have taken to understand the themes of these two works with a new literary text. Take for example, Harrison Bergeron, a very short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. which explores some very heavy themes, such as, talent, inability, mind control, totalitarianism, beauty or identity. Brainstorm on one theme. Define how it is understood according to both internal and external contexts. Try writing an brief analysis on the themes of the text.
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