1 OCT 2014

BELL ACTIVITY: JOURNAL 15 – 18 COMPLETE LINES: In yesterday’s short story, “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, do you think the Barber made the right or the wrong decision when he stated “But I don’t want to be a murderer. No, sir. You came in to be shaved. And I do my work honorably. I don’t want to stain my hands with blood. Just with lather, and nothing else. “ Why or why not? Do you think he would have considered murdering someone if the revolution wasn’t taking place. So how does war affect people? What do you think you would have done in his place? Why do you think Torres went in to get a shave when he had been told that the Barber would kill him?

Today’s Agenda:LITERARY ELEMENTS:

THEME & POINT OF VIEW

LIBRARY VISIT

Universal Topic and Theme in Literature

Universal Topic:

The subject or big idea of a literary

work. Examples: love, war, family

EXAMPLES:

What is the universal topic of each group of pictures?

LOVE

ADVENTURE

WAR

FREEDOM

DIVERSITY

Theme*Theme is the life lesson or message about

human nature that is communicated by a literary work.

*Theme is the message the author teaches the reader about the universal topic.

Ex: Love can overcome anything.

*The reader does not have to agree with the theme to be able to

identify it.

*Themes are not clearly stated, they are implied. The reader

must infer the theme.

UNIVERSAL TOPIC vs.THEME

THEME

1. EXPRESSES AN OPINION ABOUT THE TOPIC

2. CAN BE EXPRESSED IN A SINGLE SENTENCE.

EXAMPLES:

a) Love conquers all.b) Never give up, always have hope.c) Friendship requires forgiveness.d) Good will always triumph over evil.

UNIVERSAL TOPIC

1. IS THE UNIVERSAL IDEA THE WRITER HAS CHOSEN TO WRITE ABOUT.

2. USUALLY EXPRESSED IN ONE WORD

EXAMPLES:

a) LOVEb) HOPEc) FRIENDSHIPd) GOOD VS. EVIL (most common

exception to the one word rule).

Universal topic WAR

Theme: War changes people

In a war there are no true winners

War, though costly is sometimes necessaryWar

In your groups, decide what the universal topic would be for each of the following themes.

The simple life allows greater personal freedom.

Loneliness can be felt even when surrounded by friends.

EXAMPLES

Sacrifice is often required for Good to conquer Evil.

Major vs. Minor

A minor theme is an idea that may appear only once or twice.

A minor theme does not always involve the protagonist.

A minor theme may not be directly related to the universal topic

A major theme is supported by the entire story not just sections.

A major theme involves the protagonist.

A major theme is closely related to the central conflicted & often proven during the climax.

A major theme deals with the universal topic

Themes may be major or minor

…there may be different opinions about what THE THEME of the work is.

This is why you must be able to . . .

HOWEVER….

CAN THERE BE MORE THAN ONE MAJOR THEME?

Most literary works have only ONE MAJOR THEME. It is often simply referred to as THE THEME.

PROVE IT using

EVIDENCE.

*Themes are interpretations and will be slightly different for every reader. This is fine as long as you can support your claims with evidence

from the text.