English 9 Class Notes
Objective(s): English 9 students 1) read independently for a sustained period of time and journaled critically, and 2) analyzed literary concepts in a novella.
First and third freshmen, after reading and journaling today, we began to discuss motif and theme, and I offered the following alternative idea of what the latter is and is not:
A theme is not an individual word or a phrase, and it is not a moral or a lesson. Rather, a theme is the motivating idea or ideas that drive a story, a text’s primary insight into the natures of humanity and existence. A theme is expressed as an independent clause in highly connotative language, and never includes explicit reference to the text under investigation, that is, it’s absent of specific characters, plot elements, et cetera.
Whoa. Heavy. Maybe too heavy for freshmen? Nope. An earnest analysis and intelligent discussion of theme in all types of text (novels, poems, songs, movies, paintings―you name it) allows us to explore our lives beyond our immediate, individual loci in the universe. It encourages us to consider deeper things than why New York sent Punk packing instead of Buddha, or if Heidi and Spencer can work things out. It helps us see, if we’re willing to put forth the effort, that Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel, for example, is more than a few coats of paint on the ceiling and walls, or that Stonehenge is more than a pile of rocks.
Wild, no? It seems hard, but don’t give up. Stick with me and we’ll be get all the pieces of your blown minds back together before the end of the year.
Dig?