Free 11th Grade : Determine Two Or More Themes Or Central Ideas Of Text And Analyze Their Development Over The Course Of The Text, Including How They Interact And Build On One Another To Produce A Complex Account; Provide An Objective Summary Of The Text

Topic: Analyzing themes in a text

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to identify the themes in a given text.
• Students will be able to analyze the development of themes over the course of the text and how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account.
• Students will be able to provide an objective summary of the text.

Materials

• Short piece of text, preferably a passage from a novel or short story
• Handouts with guiding questions for analyzing themes (provided by teacher or created by students)

Warm-Up

• Begin class by asking students to think of a piece of literature that they have recently read and to describe a theme that they noticed in the work. Have a few volunteers share their responses with the class.

Direct Instruction

• Introduce the concept of theme in literature, explaining that a theme is a central idea or concept that runs through a text.
• Provide examples of themes from popular works of literature, such as The Great Gatsby or The Hunger Games.
• Discuss how themes can be interpreted and developed over the course of a text, how they interact with each other, and how they contribute to a complex account of the work as a whole.

Guided Practice

• Provide students with a short text (e.g. a short story or excerpt from a novel) and have them identify and discuss the theme(s) present in the text.
• Have students work in small groups to identify and discuss the theme(s) present in a longer text (e.g. a chapter from a novel or a complete short story).
• As a class, summarize the themes identified by the group and discuss how they contribute to a complex account of the work as a whole.

Procedure:

Independent Practice

• Have students choose a text (could be a book, play, poem, etc.) that they have previously read and complete the Theme Analysis Project.
• Allow students to choose their own theme(s) to analyze, but encourage them to select a theme that is central to the work and that has been effectively developed by the author.
• Encourage students to use specific examples from the text to support their analysis.

Closure

• Have students share their Theme Analysis Projects with the class.
• Discuss as a group what students learned about theme analysis and how they can use this skill in their own writing.

Assessment

• Evaluate students' Theme Analysis Projects based on their ability to identify and analyze the theme(s) of the text, their ability to provide an objective summary of the text, and their overall presentation and organization of their findings.