Wed, 7/16 - Theme and Moral

A detail of Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse (1903)

• Prayer & Poetry

• • Today we are taking a look at the literary term known as theme. While closely related to moral, theme is a bit more nuanced, complex. A moral tells an audience (often a very young audience) how to live (e.g. don't tell lies, hard work eventually pays, etc.). A theme, however, is an author's view of some aspect of life. It's not a moral, but you can often extract, or pull, a moral out of it. Here's an example:
  • theme: "Young people who don't listen to their elders' wisdom often suffer disastrous consequences."
  • Notice that this is a basic insight into some aspect of life.
  • moral: young people should listen to their elders' wisdom.
  • Notice that this is an admonition, a command directed toward youth for their own good, to make them better people.
• Additionally, a theme should be stated in a complete sentence. Here is an example of how to move from a subject, to a topic, to a sub-topic, and finally to a theme.
• Subject: advice
• what kind of advice? from whom?
• Topic: advice of elders
• advice of elders applied to whom?
• Sub-topic: advice of elders for the youth
• what about elders' advice and youth? Do young people often listen to it, or do they disregard it? What's the big deal about not listening to it?
• Theme: "Youth who don't listen to their elders' wisdom often suffer disastrous consequences." 
• Notice that the theme above is stated in a complete sentence. It can also be observed in many stories you will read throughout your lifetime. 
• Now below is how you might state the theme as a thesis statement ( your main argument) in an essay asking you to identify a major theme of a particular myth.
• Thesis: The myth of "Icarus and Daedalus" portrays the unfortunate theme that youth who do not listen to their elders' advice often suffer disastrous consequences.

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HW: (due Friday . . . no class on Thursday!)

• (1) Read (and listen to) one of these fables, and write out what the fable teaches you.
• (2) Of the three myths we've read, which one do you think teaches the most important lesson for your life . . . why?
• (3) 
• Write out two separate themes for "Icarus and Daedalus" and "Phaeton (just one theme for each story).
• Finish your one page love story that ends in tragedy.