Theme Statement Review Remember a theme statement is a sentence that argues a point about how you see the theme topic throughout the story. You have to

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Theme Statement Review

• Remember a theme statement is a sentence that argues a point about how you see the theme topic throughout the story.

• You have to think about what the story you read reveals about that theme topic.

• Ask yourself the following question:– What does this story reveal about ___(topic)___?

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Evaluate Theme Statements

• Good examples of theme statements:

– In The Last of the Mohicans, love and sacrifice lead to a character’s uprising.

• What is the theme topic?• What does this writer say the movie reveals about

that topic?

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– In The Last of the Mohicans, heroism leads to success for the Mohicans.


that topic?

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– In The Last of the Mohicans, following intuition over reason upholds the survival of the characters.


that topic?

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Common Mistakes

• Common mistakes noticed when writing theme statements:– The writer does not discuss what the story reveals about

your topic.– The writer restates or defines the theme topic in a

complete sentence.– The theme statement is a specific statement and not a

general one.– The writer does not have an argument about the theme

topic.– The topic is not apparent throughout the entire work, and

therefore makes the theme statement too limited.

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• Theme statements that missed the mark:

– In The Last of the Mohicans, there is a battle between good and evil in the movie.

• What wrong with this attempted theme statement?– Can you identify the topic?– Can you identify an argument?– Is it a general statement or too specific?

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– In The Last of the Mohicans, many of the characters do heroic things.


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– In The Last of the Mohicans, man encounters hardships of the natural world.


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– In The Last of the Mohicans, is about love because Hawkeye falls in love with Cora and causes them to get into tough situations.


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– In The Last of the Mohicans, Hawkeye’s Mohican name symbolizes that he is an excellent marksmen.


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Creating a Theme Statement for “The Masque of the Red Death”

• Think about the four theme topics you discussed yesterday: mortality (death), versions of reality (appearance v. reality), fear, or foolishness and folly.

• Choose one and write your theme topic.• Think about your brainstorming discussion assignment from

yesterday. – What do you think the story reveals about ____(your topic)____?

• Write a theme statement that follows this format:– In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe shows that (fill in your

revelation from above making it a complete sentence)

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Brainstorming for Extended Theme Paragraph• What are the additional skills we focused on during this

Dark Romanticism? (Think about the targets on your bellringers.)– Diction– Mood/Tone– Characteristics of Dark Romanticism

• Find examples from the story (text) that you think supports each of these skills AND your theme statement. Complete the chart below:

Skills Passage and Page Number Explanation

Diction (Write diction vocabulary)

2 3

Mood/Tone(Write tone word)

4 5

Dark Romanticism(Write one Characteristic)

6 7

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Writing About ThemeWrite an extended paragraph that proves your theme statement from “The Masque of the Red

Death1. TS: Identify Theme Statement. Include the title of the work and author.Diction Chunk :2. SS: First example from text that supports theme. WRITE YOUR QUOTE FROM THE STORY

INTO A SENTENCE.3. EX: DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE QUOTE! Explain why that example supports that theme. This

should be more than one sentence long.Mood/Tone Chunk:4. SS: Second example from text that supports theme. WRITE YOUR QUOTE FROM THE STORY

INTO A SENTENCE.5. EX: DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE QUOTE! ! Explain why that example supports that theme. This

should be more than one sentence long.Dark Romanticism Chunk:6. SS: Third example from text that supports theme. WRITE YOUR QUOTE FROM THE STORY

INTO A SENTENCE.7. EX: DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE QUOTE! Explain why that example supports that theme. This

should be more than one sentence long.

8. CS: Explain the overall significance of the theme to the story. What do you think Washington Irving is saying about your theme topic?

Documents

Theme Statement Review Remember a theme statement is a sentence that argues a point about how you see the theme topic throughout the story. You have to