Reading Comprehension

Theme
Theme
• main idea in nonfiction passages
(newspaper articles, documents, and other kinds of writing that contain
facts and/or opinions)
• theme in fiction (novels or short stories — imaginary writing)
• theme
 a lesson or message of the story
 a question that the author is asking through the story
 a statement about life
e.g. The theme might be that fighting in a war changes a person’s life
forever.
• theme → directly stated
• theme → infer from the characters’ thoughts and actions and from the
things that happen in the story.
Reading a novel about a poor woman’s journey from Korea to the
United States in the 1940s. It may describe the details of the
character’s childhood on a farm in Korea, the boat trip that she took as
a young adult to San Francisco, the elderly man who swindled her out
of her life savings because she didn’t speak English, the difficulties she
had finding a job, and the satisfaction she ultimately felt as she worked
hard to make a living. These are the facts of the plot, but the theme of
the novel is something very different.
Some possible themes:
 The theme could be a message or lesson.
For instance: You can reach your goals more easily if you block out
your problems and focus only on your goal.
 The theme could be a question.
For instance: Do you lose part of yourself when you leave your
culture? Is it better to stay where you are and face the difficulties
there, or do you become more of your real self when you leave
your culture and make your own way in the world?
 The theme could be a specific idea about life or people.
For instance: Desperation brings out the very worst in people and
the very best.
 The theme could also be a simpler, more general concept.
For instance, perhaps the novel is an exploration of the theme of
youth and aging.

 Note that more than one theme may be valid for a work of fiction,
and other readers may come to a different conclusion than you do.