Determining the Theme

Introduction:

The theme of a story goes beyond the plot, or series of events that happen. The theme is the central message, or main idea, of the story that the author wants to share with readers. A short story generally has one theme, while a novel could have multiple themes. Think about what life lesson or lessons the main character in a story learns. The central idea is the theme of the story.

Look at the illustration and consider it within the framework of the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare"

There are common themes that authors use, such as friendship, growing up, acceptance, honesty, and persistence. The theme of a fable is its moral, or conclusion about the best way to behave.

What is the theme of "The Tortoise and the Hare?" Fill in the graphic organizer:

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Read the poems and reading passage below. Then answer the quiz questions.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROS Links to an external site.T

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Summer Shower

BY EMILY DICKINSON

A drop fell on the apple tree,
Another on the roof;
A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
And made the gables laugh.

A few went out to help the brook,
That went to help the sea.
Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
What necklaces could be!

The dust replaced in hoisted roads,
The birds jocoser sung;
The sunshine threw his hat away,
The orchards spangles hung.

The breezes brought dejected lutes,
And bathed them in the glee;
The East put out a single flag,
And signed the fete away.

The Garden Club Reading Passage Download The Garden Club Reading Passage

Determining Theme quiz