Theme & Central Ideas
What is a theme?
A message or lesson
What is character development?
How a character changes
What is author’s purpose?
Reason for writing
What is text structure?
How information is organized
What does it mean to cite evidence?
Use text details
How is theme different from topic?
Topic is subject; theme is message
What influences a character’s decisions?
Motivation and conflict
If an author writes an article to convince readers to recycle more, what is the author’s purpose?
To persuade
What text structure explains how two things are alike and different?
Compare and contrast
What makes evidence credible?
It’s accurate and relevant
How does an author develop a theme?
Through characters and events
How does dialogue reveal character?
Shows thoughts and feelings
How does point of view affect meaning?
Shapes what readers know
How do graphics help readers?
Clarify information
How does evidence support analysis?
Proves ideas
What theme is shown when a character stands up for what is right even when it is difficult?
Doing the right thing takes courage
How does a character usually change after facing a major conflict?
They learn a lesson or grow as a person
Identify bias in a text.
One-sided language
Why use subheadings?
To organize ideas
An author claims that students should get more recess and includes results from a school study showing better focus after recess. What makes this evidence strong?
It directly supports the claim with facts from a study
Which two events could support the theme “Hard work leads to success”?
The character practices even when it’s hard
The character eventually achieves a goal
A character starts the story selfish but ends by helping others. What kind of change is this?
Character development (internal change)
A text only shows one side of an issue and uses emotional language. What does this tell you about the author?
The author is biased
An article explains a problem and then gives ways to fix it. What text structure is the author using?
Problem and solution
Explain how evidence and reasoning work together.
Evidence supports logical conclusions