Random theme questions
What was the theme of the Pixar short Purl?
Answers may wary
Mrs. Smith was doing a unit on healthy living with her students. All week she taught her students about eating the correct foods like fruits and vegetables. Over the weekend, some of Mrs. Smith's students were at the mall and saw her eating pizza, a milkshake, and candy. Mrs. Smith's student Molly was going to order a salad, but now decided to order junk food too.
What is the BEST theme?
A) Actions speak louder than words
B) Never eat pizza at the mall
C) Always eat your vegetables
A) Actions speak louder than words
Mark was born rich. When he was six, his father paid the starting five of the Bulls and Celtics to play a private game of Nerf-ball in Mark's bedroom. When Mark turned thirteen, his father hired the Rolling Stones to play with him every Saturday at the family's private concert hall, though his family was never there. By the time he was twenty-one, Mark was surrounded by a bunch of possessions that he didn't appreciate. Despite his vast wealth, Mark was never satisfied.
What is the potential theme?
Money can't buy happiness.
Which of the following lines is an example of a metaphor?
1) Fire away, fire away
2) You shoot me down but I won’t fall
3) I am titanium
3) I am Titanium
Roberta could not get over how ELEGANT the cruise ship was. The walls were paneled in beautiful wood, there were fresh flowers on every table, and the floors were made of gleaming stone
What does the would ELEGANT mean?
Stylish, high class, graceful, nice to look at, beautiful
What is a synonym for theme?
Message, lesson
Julia wanted to become a doctor for as long as she could remember. In college when her friends were out at the mall or going out with friends, Julia spent all of her time studying. At graduation, Julia graduated with high honors and was offered a job shortly after.
What is the BEST theme?
A) Studying is super important.
B) It is important to go to college.
C) Hard work and dedication pays off.
C) Hard work and dedication pays off.
Mr. Morton wasn't too strict about deadlines, and Sammy took advantage of that. He did all of his homework in his other classes but never bothered to complete Mr. Morton's reading assignments on time. Tammy, on the other hand, completed each assignment Mr. Morton assigned the night that he assigned it, even staying up late. When the end of the quarter came, Tammy and Sammy had both planned on going to the Enchanted Castle amusement park, but Mr. Morton called Sammy's mother, and she grounded Sammy until he turned in all of his work. The whole while, Tammy had a great time eating pizza at Enchanted Castle, watching movies late at night, and enjoying her weekend free of stress and pressure.
What is the theme?
Hard work pays off
Which line is an example of a simile?
1) Shine bright like a diamond
2) Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy
3)You're a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy
1) Shine bright LIKE a diamond
Unlike her grandmother, who was very generous to her, Sarah’s parents were MISERS who never bought her anything.
What does the would MISER mean?
Cheap person, hoarder of money
True or False: A story can have multiple themes.
True
Growing up, Sally was always in the shadow of her older sister Mary. Sally spent a lot of time in the family's garden feeling sorry for herself. Then one day Mary needed help on a science project about plants. Due to all of her time in the garden, Sally knew a lot about plants and was able help Mary with the project. Sally was shocked that she was better at something than her sister.
What is the BEST theme?
A) Stay focused on your on strengths in life.
B) Family can be unfair and biased at times.
C) You can learn a lot from taking care of plants.
A) Stay focused on your on strengths in life.
Barry liked playing board games, but he hated losing. He hated losing so much that he would do whatever it took to win, even bending or breaking the rules. Barry did win most of the games that he played, but the people whom he played with were his friends and family, and it didn't take too long until they caught on to Barry's tricks. They said that the game wasn't any fun when he cheated, but he didn't listen. He continued with his treacherous style of gameplay, until nobody would play with him anymore.
What is the theme?
Cheaters never win (for long)
Identify the type of figurative language used in this song.
I'm gonna swing from the chandelier
From the chandelier
I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist
Like it doesn't exist
I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night
Feel my tears as they dry
Simile-
I'm gonna live LIKE tomorrow doesn't exist
I'm gonna fly LIKE a bird through the night
Liam was a good basketball player who YEARNED for the chance to play professionally. He practiced every day and called coaches at all the professional teams asking for a try-out.
What does the would YEARNED mean?
wanted or desired
True or False: A theme is always explicitly stated by the author in the text.
False; rarely, if ever, will an author state the theme
A monkey put his hand into the jar of cookies. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the cookie jar. Unwilling to lose the cookies, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears and cried bitterly.
What is a potential theme?
Answers will vary
Blaine opened up the present and began pouting. He screamed in a high-pitched voice, "This is Captain Thunder! I wanted Captain Lightning!" His mother looked at him with dismay and handed him another present, which he greedily opened. "Why did you get me a red hat? You know I like blue more," Blaine whined as he threw the hat across the room. His mother straightened her expression and squinted at him. His mother could bear his ingratitude no longer. The next time that Blaine returned from his father's house, he was shocked to find that all of these toys and gifts, along with many other of his things, had been generously donated to needy children.
What is the theme?
Be thankful for what you have in life.
She saw the seagull soar smoothly across the sky.
What is this an example of?
Alliteration
The little boy was ENTHRALLED by the model train set. Even when the rest of his family moved on, he remained staring intently at the tiny tracks.
What does the word ENTHRALLED mean?
captivated, interested, fascinated, engrossed
What is the difference between the motif/main idea of a story and the theme of a story?
Motif is one/two words while Theme is a statement
The main idea is mostly what the story is about (a short summary). The theme is the life lesson or message that the author wants us to remember.
One winter, a panda found a snake stiff and frozen. The panda felt sorry for the snake and so he picked the snake up and held it to his chest to try to warm it. The snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and because of its instincts, bit the panda with all its might.
What is a potential theme?
Answers will vary
Alan had very few responsibilities, but one of them was to clean his room, but Alan didn't like doing it. One day Alan thought of a way to save some time. Rather than putting everything neatly back in its place, he decided to just throw all the stuff on the floor into his closet. The next time his room got messy, he piled everything up in the closet and the pile grew. It grew and grew.
Then one day Alan needed his mitt to play baseball at the park with his friends. Alan thought to himself, I guess it's in the closet. When he opened up the closet door, he was faced with a huge mess, some of which poured out as he opened the door. Alan began digging through the pile in a frantic attempt to find his mitt. Soon his room was the messiest that it had ever been, and he still hadn't found his mitt. Alan sighed in despair. By the time he found his mitt, the boys had long concluded their game and Alan had hours of cleaning ahead of him before he'd be allowed to leave.
What is the theme?
Cutting corners comes at a cost; do things right the first time.
Spring break will never come.
What type of figurative language is this an example of?
Hyperbole
The children in the orphanage might have starved had it not been for the BENEVOLENCE of the nuns, who sacrificed their own small salaries to provide food for the children.
What does the word BENEVOLENCE mean?
Kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness