1. locating themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Identifying Themes
locating themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

2. Defining theme A theme is: a generalization about life/society
Specific dates, locations, characters, etc. are unnecessary
a central and unifying concept of a story
It must account for all major details in the literature and not be contradicted by any details in the literature
Defining theme

3. Expressing theme A theme should be expressed as a statement
A subject and predicate is needed
There is no one way to state a theme: variety is the spice of theme
The stated theme should not be larger than what is justified by the terms of the story
Avoid statements that reduce the theme to familiar sayings or clichés (“money is the root of all evil” or “bad news travels fast”)
Expressing theme

4. Main Ideas
all themes begin with a main idea

5. MSND Theme Ideas The struggles of love Dreams Magic (and its misuse)
Marriage
Others?
MSND Theme Ideas
Divide the class into 4 groups (more if they came up with additional ideas): assign each group a theme main idea from above.

6. With your group, think about how your theme main idea pertains to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Come up with a few general, true overall statements about your theme main idea
For each statement, find 3-4 direct quotes that supports it
The theme main ideas were:
The struggles of love
Dreams
Magic (and its misuse)
Marriage
Others…
Support Main Ideas

7. Main Ideas Turn into Theme Statements
On your own, take a look at your group’s theme main idea, the overall statements created, and the quotes found as support: analyze this information and create your own theme statement.
Remember to use the guidelines we talked about.
Your theme statement will likely be different from others in your group. That is a good thing.
Main Ideas Turn into Theme Statements