Thematic Material
Alia was dismayed to find herself in the drawing studio. She had been sick with the flu during the week when everyone else got to pick their classes. She had hoped for Astronomy or Marine Biology, but they were full by the time she got to choose. She loved everything about science, from the way it used facts and formulas to how it revealed the basic nature of things. But art was so . . .un-scientific.
The first class project was self-portraits. Some students were drawing self-portraits using mirrors. Others were working from photographs. Alia glanced at the incomplete sketches, feeling like a cat in a dog show.
The teacher came up to Alia's easel and sat next to her.
"Every portrait begins with a circle," he said. "Then you create a series of lines."
To demonstrate, he drew a group of small, quick portraits. He began each one with a circle, some straight lines, and a triangle to determine where the eyes, nose, and chin should go. Alia had never thought about it, but the features of everyone's face were in the same spots.
Hesitantly, Alia began her own self-portrait. She drew the basic form of a head, the way she had been shown. From there, she used lines to plot the features of her face. The process took patience and precision. She had to take note of each detail. One wrong measurement could throw off the whole portrait.
Alia was surprised by the structure and discipline involved in drawing a portrait. Measuring, studying details, revealing the basic nature of something—it reminded her of what she loved about science.
Don't assume you won't like something until you try it.
The moral of the story.
What is theme?
The lights on tall communication towers warn pilots to avoid the towers when flying at night. Unfortunately, the steady red lights often used on towers have the opposite effect on birds: the bright beams attract and confuse them. Instead of avoiding the lights, the birds fly directly toward them, crashing into the towers or becoming entangled in power lines. Millions of birds have died this way. However, there is a solution. Unlike steady lights, flashing or blinking lights don't attract birds. In response to demands from conservation groups, the Federal Aviation Administration in 2016 began requiring communication towers in the U.S. to use blinking lights instead of steady ones.
To save birds, communication towers have begun to use blinking lights.
A person, place, or thing.
What is a noun?
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
Subject: fox; Verb: Jumped
Neal was so excited. His high school was having a bake-off, and the owners of a local cupcake shop were going to judge. Neal had always had a knack for cooking and baking, and he was pretty sure he could win this contest. He'd perfected his classic vanilla cupcake recipe.
On the way to biology class, he asked his friend Liza what she was baking for the contest.
"I'm going to make my grandmother's red velvet cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting and cinnamon," Liza replied.
Neal groaned. Liza's cupcakes sounded so much more creative. Suddenly, his simple vanilla cupcakes seemed lame.
Determined to impress the judges, Neal changed his cupcake recipe. He added a marshmallow filling to each cupcake. To liven up his buttercream frosting, he added purple food dye, lavender oil, and licorice extract. The cupcakes still looked boring, so he garnished them with gold dust, rice paper birds, and edible flower petals.
In spite of all these adventurous touches, his cupcakes turned out lopsided and goopy, and the frosting tasted strongly like licorice. But he was sure the cupcake judges would look highly on how fancy his cupcakes were.
Neal could hardly wait for the contest results to be posted after school. But when he saw the list on the wall, his mouth fell open. He didn't win any prizes, not even as a runner-up. And first place had gone to one of his classmates, Drew Feldman. The description by Drew's cupcakes read, "Classic Vanilla."
It's better to do a good job on something simple rather than attempt too many things at once.
The key words that themes are based on.
What is topic?
In the 1880s, the War of the Currents began. Thomas Edison developed direct current, or DC, a type of electricity that flows in one direction. By 1887, DC was in use around the United States. It had some drawbacks, though. Converting it to lower or higher voltages was difficult; that is, the current's force couldn't be changed easily. Transmitted at the low voltage needed for use in homes and businesses, it lost power after traveling only a mile. Meanwhile, Nikola Tesla was working with alternating current, or AC. AC reverses direction many times per second and can be changed to different voltages. At high voltage, it can be transmitted efficiently, traveling hundreds of miles with little energy loss. Because of its advantages, AC triumphed by the end of the nineteenth century.
AC had many advantages to DC and won the War of the Currents.
Describes a person, place, or thing; tells "What kind?" "How many?"
What is an adjective?
Timmy forgot to bring his backpack to school on Monday.
Subject: Timmy
Verb: Forgot
Taylor made a quick decision shortly before the game against Readville. After putting on her uniform and lacing up her worn sneakers, it hit her how badly she wanted new basketball shoes.
"The game starts in less than an hour," Taylor's dad said, looking at his watch.
"But look at these old things!" Taylor said, lifting a foot. "I'll just run in and out of the mall. I'll be so fast!"
In the car, Taylor fidgeted at each red light, a month's worth of babysitting money in her pocket. She knew that, soon, each jump shot she took would hit nothing but net. Every leap would be higher in her brand-new shoes.
Her father waited in the car as Taylor sprinted into the mall. A beautiful, shiny pair of red basketball shoes were displayed at the front of the shoe store. She nearly ran right into them.
"Uh, size six, please!"
The clerk returned with the box and asked Taylor if she wanted to try them on. Taylor glanced at the time.
"No need!"
With those fancy sneakers under her arm, she ran back to the idling car in the parking lot. She was pumped.
Just in time, Taylor was on the bench with her teammates as their coach drew up the game plan. She opened the box and tried sliding her feet into the shoes she'd rushed to purchase, and her heart sank. Her toes were cramped. But the buzzer sounded, and Taylor ran awkwardly onto the court for the whistle.
Taylor's face showed pain as she jogged up and down the court. She played poorly. When the coach substituted her for another player, she pulled out her old shoes from beneath the bench.
Don't hurry important choices.
Readers must make these in order to identify the theme, because it is not directly stated in the text.
What are inferences?
Carrots contain high amounts of vitamin A and are good for general eye health. However, carrots will not improve night vision. That myth goes back to British propaganda during World War II. In 1940, the German Luftwaffe, or air force, began bombing Britain at night. In response, the British government ordered people to turn off their lights; the government wanted to make it difficult for German pilots to hit their targets. A new technology, radar, allowed the British air force to track and shoot down the German planes without light. To keep the technology secret, the government told the media that their pilots could see the German planes because they consumed so many carrots. Consequently, people began to believe that eating carrots would help them see better in the dark.
Because of a British media campaign, people thought eating carrots would improve their night vision.
A word that can be an action, linking, or helping.
What is a verb?
The Earth is round, silly!
Subject: Earth
Verb: is
Callie opened a letter she got in the mail. It was an invitation from the parents of her friend Michael. They were throwing him a surprise birthday party in a banquet hall at the Helmsley, the most expensive hotel in town. Callie wanted to get Michael the perfect gift. At first, her plan was to make him homemade magnets using cut-outs from the superhero comics they both loved. But that wouldn't work anymore. Obviously, a fancy party called for a fancy present.
One day in class, she saw him checking the time, which gave her an idea. A watch! There were lots of expensive watches. It would be the ideal gift.
Callie went to a jewelry store to pick one out. She swallowed hard when she paid for it. The watch cost nearly all the money she'd saved from her part-time job. Even the glossy paper she wrapped it in cost more than regular paper. However, she was relieved that she had gotten an appropriate gift.
The night of the party, Callie invited some of the other guests to hang out at her house beforehand. It was fun to see everyone in formal attire. But something unexpected happened when people started comparing birthday gifts.
Richard had gotten Michael a squirt gun, the kind they had played with as kids. Molly had made Michael a big card. And Jasmine had baked a batch of Michael's favorite cookies.
Suddenly, Callie imagined Michael as he opened the presents. She could picture his warm smile as he unwrapped the squirt gun, the card, the cookies. Then she pictured the confused look on his face when he saw the expensive watch. Callie recalled the price she had paid, and she blushed.
Luckily, she still had the receipt. She put the wrapped box in her room before leaving with her friends. Her gift would be late, but at least it would be special.
The most meaningful gifts don't have to cost a lot.
This sentence refers to what the text is mainly about.
What is the central/main idea?
When "Planet X" was discovered in 1930, astronomers began debating what to call it. An eleven-year-old girl named Venetia Burney suggested the name "Pluto" to her grandfather, who passed the idea along to a friend who was a professor of astronomy. The professor, in turn, immediately forwarded the suggestion to scientists at the Lowell Observatory, where the planet had been discovered. The astronomers appreciated the fact that Pluto was the ancient Romans' name for the god of the underworld, making it a fitting moniker for such a cold and distant celestial body. In addition, its first two letters matched the initials of Percival Lowell, the astronomer who first proposed the existence of Planet X. The matter was eventually put to a vote, with Pluto the hands-down winner.
After an eleven-year old girl suggested the name "Pluto," astronomers chose it as the name of a newly discovered planet.
This type of word can describe a verb; usually found ending in "-ly"...
What is an adverb?
I am two steps away from meeting my goal.
Subject: I
Verbs: am, meeting
Luis's whole family gathered every June to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. Before everyone sat down to eat, each person had to recite a personal story they had about Grandpa. Some family members told the same story year after year. Luis, for example, had his usual story about the time Grandpa taught him how to take care of a vegetable garden.
The stories were a tradition, and now that most of the grandchildren were old enough to participate, the tradition could go on for quite a while. Last year, it took three hours. Luis battled the need to yawn as he listened to all the familiar old tales.
This year, Uncle Frank and Aunt Teresa had dinner ready early and called everyone to eat.
"What about the stories?" Luis asked.
"There's just not enough time this year, with so many people," Uncle Frank said.
As he sat down at the long dining room table, Luis was relieved. Yet he also felt a pang of disappointment. In the absence of the tradition, Grandpa's birthday felt like any other holiday the family shared.
Luis eyed the platter of chiles rellenos. "You know, I wouldn't know how to pick a pepper right if it wasn't for Grandpa," he mused.
"I wouldn't know how to drive a car," said Aunt Teresa.
"I wouldn't have known how to turn a paperclip into a safety pin," added Uncle Felix. "That sure saved the day at Edna's wedding!" Everyone laughed and smiled at each other at the reminder of that well-known family story.
It was a pleasant birthday. Conversations flowed like water, and the food was superb. But something told Luis that next year, the tradition of telling stories would return.
Traditions can bring people together in unique ways.
Topics are not examples of __________ and _________.
Themes and central ideas.
Poachers in Africa are killing large numbers of rhinos for their horns. Rhinoceros horns, valued for use in traditional medicines in Vietnam and China, can fetch as much as thirty-six thousand dollars a pound. Officials have tried to protect the rhinos: they have created fenced areas for the animals, patrolled their habitats, and even tried removing their horns. Despite these efforts, the number of rhinos in Africa has been dwindling. One creative solution to the poaching problem is to remove the rhinos from Africa altogether. Ray Dearlove, the founder of the Australian Rhino Project, came up with a plan to relocate eighty rhinos to a safari park outside Adelaide, Australia, where a breeding herd can be established.
Because other attempts to protect African Rhino herds have been unsuccessful, the Australian Rhino Project is relocating the rhinos to Australia.
This part of speech shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the sentence.
What is a preposition?
Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Subject: you
Verb: remember