Theme Essay
Definition
The
theme is the major idea the author is trying to “get across.” The theme of a literary work is its
underlying central idea, or the generalization it communicates about life. At
times, the author’s theme may not confirm of agree with your own beliefs, but
even then, if it is skillfully written, the work will still have a theme that
illuminates some aspects of true human experience. A Theme Essay explores these ideas and helps
the reader gain a greater understanding of the book as a whole.
Remember
that there may be various themes in any one piece of literature. The following are mechanisms by which a theme
may be revealed: direct statements of
the author, direct statements by the characters, dramatic statements by
characters, imagery, characters representing ideas, and the entire work
representing ideas.
The body of the essay will center
around “your objective, which is (1) to define the idea, and (2) show its
importance in the work.”
Questions for
Theme Analysis
What
important idea or theme does this literary work convey? Think about the topics
of some of your journal entries. What questions do the journal prompts raise
about human nature?
What
do characters do that helps illustrate this idea?
What
do characters say that helps to illustrate this idea?
What
events take place in the work that help to illustrate this idea?
Are
there any recurrent images or clusters of images? Do these images support the
idea or theme that you find in the work?
What
does the narrator say that helps to illustrate this idea?
Writing your Essay
First, pick one theme to write your analysis. Next, you need to form your thesis statement.
After deciding on a thesis, you need to form a rough outline using the provided
example. You will need to provide a number of examples from the book to
illustrate the theme, which will be the components of your three body
paragraphs. You will need three quotes per body paragraph, so nine quotes all
together. Don’t rely on the quotes to explain themselves. You need to lead into
the quote, and also comment on the quote after you quote it. You need to
effectively show how the quote helps to prove your point.
Essay Guidelines
Due dates: Pre-Write due 2/20; Rough Draft due 3/6; Final Draft due 3/20.
Essay
length: 600 – 800 words (between 3 and 5
pages)
Rough drafts can
be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.
Final draft
format:
Typed (if this is
not possible, please let me know)
1 inch margins
Name and date on
the upper right hand corner
Number the pages on
the lower right hand corner
Title centered
above the text of the essay
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