Theme is the central idea, concern, or purpose in a literary work Theme is the central idea, concern, or purpose in a literary work. The theme of a story, play, or poem might be its point about life, an insight the writer wants to pass along to the reader. In most stories, poems, or plays, the theme is expressed indirectly, rather than directly.

Indirect theme: not directly stated, gradually revealed to the reader by other elements of the story.

Ways an author might convey theme indirectly: • The author may use a title suggesting a theme. • A character (or reader) may learn a lesson about life from the events of the plot and the resolution of the central conflict. • Personality traits of a character, including a character’s name, may suggest an author’s ideas about people. • Details of setting may suggest the author’s views of the way of the world. • The author’s chosen point of view may tell the reader how the author wants us to react to the events of the story, thus learning a lesson from a specific point of view.

Direct theme: Theme is stated directly in the text, usually at (or near) the end of the story, by the narrator or a character in the story. Fables (like Aesop’s Fables) are stories with stated themes. Fables are very brief stories told to teach some lesson about life.