Studying Your Novel – Themes When studying your novel you will be expected to:
l Identify the main/central themes of the story. For example, the main themes in Chalkline are armed conflict and human rights.
l Identify the sub-/secondary themes of the story. For example, two of the sub-themes in Chalkline are gender roles and education.
l Track these themes from when they are first suggested to the resolution of the story. For example, in Chalkline there is rarely a chapter in the book when the main themes of armed conflict and abuse of human rights are not obvious to the reader or lurking in the back of the reader’s mind.
l Explain how the theme is emphasised through key moments.
l Assess how the lives and actions of the characters are connected to the theme and affected by it.
l Understand the writer’s view on the theme from reading the story.
Identifying Theme PREPARE W9.2
Read the following extracts from Chalkline. For each section, try to identify the theme you think the author is writing about from the list on the right. Choose a maximum of three themes per extract.
Extract Extract One
Jameela longed to go to school, but in her village, girls didn’t attend lessons. Instead they stayed at home and helped their mothers with cooking and cleaning and household tasks. Only the boys went to school, where they learned prayers and writing and reading. Rafiq was clever in school, but once it was over for the day, he threw his books aside to run and play football with his friends in the square.
Possible Themes Sport
l l l l l l l l l l l l
Communication Separation Racism Power
Education Family
Armed conflict/war Gender roles Friendships
Death and loss Human rights
D Top Tip
Themes are rarely stated by an author. They are usually inferred (implied) or suggested.
