Week 4

Week 4- Due Jan. 30 (worth 50 points: 25 points for your blog post detailing your theme and evidence; 25 points for the Theme Tracker handed in.)

• Theme of your book

• Theme is the message the reader believes the author is trying to relay in the story.  Readers essentially ask themselves, What is the author trying to say about..?  It is the life-lesson or the moral of the story.

• Theme is NOT the subject of the story.
• There can be multiple themes in one novel. Theme is a reader’s opinion, so as long as there is evidence provided, the reader is correct.
• Theme is the big idea the author wants readers to understand about a subject.  For example, the subject of The Outsiders is friendship, but the theme could be that, “The closeness of friends makes them more like family.”
• There can be multiple themes in one novel. Theme is a reader’s opinion, so as long as there is evidence provided, the reader is correct.
• Theme is not always obvious. Authors intentionally make readers think about what a literary work means.
• Readers can look at the main characters to determine what the theme is.  Do the characters change?  Did they come through a life-changing event?
• Readers can also look to the title for hints about theme. Perhaps the author has thrown in statements throughout the book about the theme.
• Readers need evidence to support their theories about theme.
• Supporting evidence is key to establishing the theme.  Readers must understand that they can say the theme is _______________________, but they will need evidence from the text to support their theory.
• The Theme Tracker will help you focus on the Theme of your book.
• You will need to turn in a complete Theme Tracker to earn all of your 50 points.

My Theme Tracker

Name___________________________________Date__________________________________

Title of Novel________________________________________________________________

Author____________________________________________________________________

What is the theme of your novel?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

Page #	Quote or statement from the novel