1. Share your “unreliable narrator” stories with other people in your table group
When you are all finished, vote on the one you would like to share!

2. Topic vs. Theme and “The Tell-Tale Heart”

3. As you read/listen…please complete the questions

4. Topic: the main focus of the text
This is general one word long
There can be more than one
Examples:
Love
Jealousy
Violence (as seen in “The Black Cat”)
Injustice
Death

5. Theme: the main message a writer sends to the reader
This message should be a universal
Doesn’t include character names or anything totally specific to the text
This message is about life or human nature
This message is communicated in a sentence rather than a word
Examples:
Love is the greatest creator of common ground and mutual understanding
Those who allow their lives to be ruled by jealousy sacrifice their own happiness.
Those who commit acts of violence cannot escape the negative consequences of those actions.

6. Creating a Theme Statement: connects a specific text to a chosen theme.
Should include:
The author’s name
The name of the text
A cause and effect relationship
The theme
References to elements that prove that theme
Example:
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat”, the narrator’s journey from personal dread to the gallows makes it clear that those who commit acts of violence cannot escape the negative consequences of those actions.

7. Using what you know about topic, theme, and theme statements…
Use “The Tell-Tale Heart” to identify:
A topic
A theme
A theme statement
This may be done independently or with one partner