English Language Arts and Reading.8.7.A

The student is expected to

analyze how themes are developed through the interaction of characters and events;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.

Students should understand that a theme is the author’s attempt to provide insight or establish meaning for common human experiences and feelings. The interaction of characters or the way events unfold in a story are significant in revealing these truths. A protagonist’s interactions with people and reactions to external situations provide a way for the author to explore the character’s emotional responses (internal and external) or for the reader to relate to the protagonist and recognize the author’s intended message. For example, students can ask themselves “What lesson does the character learn? The answer to the question may be the theme.
the explicit or implied central or universal idea of a literary work that often speaks to the human experience/condition

Research

Olson, C. B., Land, R., Anselmi,T., & AuBuchon, C. (2010). Teaching secondary English learners to understand, analyze, and write interpretive essays about theme. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(4), 245–256. doi:10.1598/JA AL.54.4.2

Summary: This study reveals the results of a collaborative project with the California Writing Project and a large, urban, low‐SES school district where 93% of the students speak English as a second language and 69% are designated Limited English Proficient. The article describes a longitudinal study related to the impact of ongoing professional development centered on strategies used to teach student to comprehend, analyze, and write interpretive essays about themes. Fifty-five teachers and 2000 students participated in study. The students showed significant improvement in comprehending and analyzing themes.