Just a "Poe" Boy
What theme is present in the following passage?
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
Death
In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are companions struggling to find work in Depression era California. What theme is found in the following passage?
Lennie was delighted. "That’s it - that’s it. Now tell how it is with us." George went on. "With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a [darn] about us... If them other guys gets in jail they can rot... But not us." Lennie broke in. "But not us! An’ why? Because .... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why." He laughed delightedly. "Go on now, George!"
Friendship, companionship.
What themes are present in the summary of the play?
In the play Antigone, Oedipus's daughters, Antigone and Ismene, are grieving for the loss of their two brothers, but Antigone is also defiant. She declares that the burial traditions are the unwritten laws of the gods, and are more important than the decrees of one man. She vows to give Polynices the proper burial rites. Ismene begs Antigone not defy the laws of the city and add to their family's tragedy. Antigone will not yield.
Loyalty, civil disobedience
What themes are present in the following passage?
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
Grief, loss, love, memory, death and the afterlife
In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are homeless, and they constantly move from place to place looking for work and shelter. What theme is present in the following passage when George reminds Lennie of their dream?
a. Grief b. Love c. Death of Dreams d. Peace
"Well," said George, "we’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we’ll just say the hell with goin’ to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof - Nuts!" He took out his pocket knife. "I ain’t got time for no more." He drove his knife through the top of one of the bean cans, sawed out the top and passed the can to Lennie. Then he opened a second can. From his side pocket he brought out two spoons and passed one of them to Lennie.
C. Death of Dreams
What themes are present in the summary of the play?
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet of Denmark learns from his father's ghost that he was murdered by his uncle Claudius, who has since married Hamlet's mother and taken the throne. Hamlet feigns madness as he seeks to avenge his father's death, leading to a series of tragic events, including the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, and ultimately, Hamlet himself.
Revenge, corruption, betrayal
What themes are represented here (and throughout the rest of the work)? Keep in mind that he plans to kill the old man in question.
And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? — now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
Guilt, madness, etc.
In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a futuristic American city. In Montag’s world, firemen start fires rather than putting them out. The people in this society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio on “Seashell Radio” sets attached to their ears.
What themes might be present in a book of this nature?
What themes are present in the summary of the play?
A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. The family eagerly awaits the arrival of the insurance check, which has the potential to make the family’s long deferred dreams into reality. However, the members of the Younger family have conflicting ideas—conflicting dreams—regarding the best use for the money, which causes tension. The play is based off the following quote from a poem by Langston Hughes:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Dreams deferred
What is the theme of the following passage?
THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
Revenge
In Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author details his horrific life experiences in a concentration camp. What theme can be found in the following passage?
a. Peace b. Identity c. Love d. Fear
One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto.
From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.
b. Identity
What themes are present in the summary of the play?
In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a group of Roman senators, fearing Caesar's growing power, conspires to assassinate him. Brutus, a close friend of Caesar, is swayed by their arguments and joins the plot, though he struggles with his conscience. After Caesar is assassinated, his friend Mark Antony delivers a powerful speech that turns the public against the conspirators. A civil war ensues, culminating in the deaths of both Brutus and Cassius.
Corruption, ambition, power, betrayal
Which of the following themes is NOT present in this passage?
a. Love b. Mortality c. Loss d. Contentment
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
d. Contentment
In Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author details his horrific life experiences in a concentration camp. What theme can be found in the following passage?
a. Death b. Life c. Love d. Loss
Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.
Never.
What themes are present in the summary of the play?
A Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches telling him that he will be king one day. Motivated by greed and ambition (and his power-hungry wife), Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, and because he must keep killing in order to maintain his rule, the guilt and paranoia persist. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth spin into a darkening web of lies and deceit and into ultimate madness and death.
Ambition, power, greed, guilt