Here's how to pronounce theme: theem Identifying ThemesĮvery work of literature-whether it's an essay, a novel, a poem, or something else-has at least one theme. Oftentimes you can identify a work's themes by looking for a repeating symbol, motif, or phrase that appears again and again throughout a story, since it often signals a recurring concept or idea. Themes are almost never stated explicitly.For example, the thematic concept of a romance novel might be love, and, depending on what happens in the story, its thematic statement might be that "Love is blind," or that "You can't buy love. A work's thematic concept is the broader topic it touches upon (love, forgiveness, pain, etc.) while its thematic statement is what the work says about that topic. Themes are sometimes divided into thematic concepts and thematic statements.The same work can have multiple themes, and many different works explore the same or similar themes. For instance, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath(about a family of tenant farmers who are displaced from their land in Oklahoma) is a book whose themes might be said to include the inhumanity of capitalism, as well as the vitality and necessity of family and friendship. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only apply to the specific characters and events of a book or play, but also express broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their own lives. Using your own words by paraphrasing will better demonstrate your understanding and will allow you to emphasize the ways in which the ideas contribute to your paper's main argument.What is theme? Here’s a quick and simple definition:Ī theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. While direct quotations can be useful for illustrating a rhetorical choice of your author, in most other cases paraphrasing the material is more appropriate. Have I included too many direct quotations?ĭirect quotations are best avoided whenever possible.Otherwise, your paper becomes a book report on that one source and lacks richness of theoretical perspective. You may find one particularly useful study, but try to balance your references to that study with research from other authors. Most research papers should include a variety of sources from the last 3-5 years. Have I relied too heavily on one source?.See our synthesis demonstration for help learning how to use the literature in this way. When reading the literature, keep that argument in mind, noting ideas or research that speaks specifically to the issues in your particular study. Have I used the cited material to support my specific thesis?Īll material that you cite should contribute to your main argument (also called a thesis or purpose statement). ![]() ![]() Additionally, the reader may not understand your reasons for including that material. Without these aspects, you leave your reader without a sense of the paragraph's main purpose. The opening sentence of each paragraph should be your topic sentence, and the final sentence in the paragraph should conclude your point and lead into the next.
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