Determining Themes of Stories, Dramas, or Poems Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: RL.5.2

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

The basic message an author is trying to get across to readers is called the theme. The theme usually centers on a major event or problem that the main characters experience. When you are the audience and you are focused on grasping the author's message, it is important to read through the work and highlight the problem and solution of the story. Try to get a deep understanding of who the characters are to truly get an idea of where they are going with it. These worksheets will help understand the themes that are displayed in a story, drama, or poem.

Determining Themes Worksheets:

Identifying Theme - We throw a few Aesop themes at you to start off. Looking at fables-short stories that contain a lesson-is a good way to start thinking about theme. Read the following fables and see if you can identify which of the themes above belong to each story.

Theme or Summary? - We give you a very short story and ask you to tell us the theme or identify if it just a full summary.

From Key Word to Theme - If you could sum up these stories in one word, what would the word be? You will identify that word in the passage that you are given.

Rachel's Story - Rachel's study group really begins to think through different scenarios.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf - See if you like our spin on a classic. It is a bit different, but fun.

Name that Theme - Match the stories with their themes by putting the letter of the theme in the blank beside the story it belongs to.

The Prettiest Girl - Jane was the new girl in school. Jane was very pretty. All the boys tried to open doors for her, and carry her books, and offered to throw away her trash at lunchtime.

The Bicycle - More than anything, Robert wanted a bicycle. Everyone on his block had shiny, brand-new bicycles and they went whizzing up and down the block on them every day after school.

Write a Story Based on a Theme - To help think about how theme develops in a story, answer the questions below. Then use your answers to write a brief story illustrating the theme.

Tony and John - John was new in school. John felt shy, since he didn't know anyone. Troy takes a chance and befriends John.

Nature's Cycle - Theme can be developed in different ways. Read the poem below. Identify the theme, and then briefly describe how the poet gets the theme across in the poem.

What's My Theme? - Read the poem. Then create a title for the poem that reveals its theme and write it on the line.

The Big Test - Mark, Jack, and Bill get ready for the big test. See where it goes from there.

Caveman Themes - For each statement below, identify whether what it says about theme is true or false. Write the correct answer on the line.

The Hard Way - George was a groundhog. He lived under a garden shed behind a big, old house in the country.

How to Determine the Themes of Stories, Dramas, or Poems?


All the literary work in any language, irrespective of length or nature, is centered around one basic and underlying idea that acts as a source of cohesion in the whole work from start till the end. This central and underlying idea that forms the backbone of every literary work is knows as its theme. The themes of some literary work are directly stated while themes in other work are covert and need to be determined carefully.


Every poem, novel, drama, or story always has at least one, or sometimes more than one, theme at its back. These themes are felt and understood by everyone universally and have an emotional impact on the audience too. Here are a few aspects to keep in mind while attempting to chalk out the themes of any literary work:


Theme Is Different from Summary, Moral, and Plot


One of the biggest mistake people make while attempting to determine the theme of any literary work is not having a clear idea about theme. Most students try to summarize the story, or analyze the plot's techniques or moral lesson being taught by the piece of literature in an aim to find the theme which is a wrong way. Theme of a literary work can be understood by simply reading the whole work and then trying to find the basic binding element at its back.


Analyze the Main Characters


The simplest way to find the theme can be to look at the character sketch of the protagonists and antagonists in the literary work and try to understand what main idea the author wants to convey through them.


Try to Understand the Author's Point of View


In case of poems and essays, where there are usually no characters and no action, trying to work out the author's point of view and beliefs can provide strong clues towards the theme of that particular literary work.


How to Identify the Central Idea of a Text?


The central idea of a text is that main concept or theme that is being introduced by it. Sometimes, the central idea of a text is introduced directly, but most of the times, the central idea of a text is hidden. In such texts, readers have to read between the lines to identify the central idea themselves. In a text that covers a lot of interrelated ideas, identifying the central idea can get difficult.


A central idea that is not stated by the author directly and is identified by the readers is called an implied central idea. Here are a few ways to find the main idea of a text easily:


Read Carefully


A careful reading of any text is enough to help readers locate its main idea. However, there are also some exceptions to this and sometimes, other tricks need to be applied to a text to locate its main idea. However, a careful and relaxed reading of the text can bring significant ease in the process of identifying the central idea of a text. The first and last paragraphs of any text are very important and these must be read with extra care.


Summarize the Text


If the central idea cannot be identified by reading the text, then summarizing the whole text will help in this regard. Try to make the summary as short as you can and keep on summarizing unless you get a summary of the complete text in just one or two sentences. If you have carefully summarized only the important points, then these two sentences of the summary are likely to be the central idea of the text.


Locate Repetitions


Authors are likely to repeat their main idea many times throughout the text. Trace out all the repetitive ideas and summarize them in the form of one strong statement that is likely to be the implied central idea of the text.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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