Determine the themes of short stories
Key Notes :
A theme is a key message or lesson communicated in a story, poem or play.
Usually, works of literature don’t openly state their themes. To find the theme or lesson of a story, look at the main events, the characters and the characters’ goals. Use these story elements to make inferences, or educated guesses. Why did the characters act the way they did? How did they grow or change?
Then, think about how your inferences apply to the wider world. The story might suggest an observation about people in general. Or, it might give a lesson you can use in your own life. These ideas and morals are themes of the story. When you identify a theme or lesson, you should be able to support it with details from the story.
Learn with an example
📢 Read the following story.
One Bright Idea
I’ve been working on a present for my dad, Danielle told her friend, Lina. She was holding a colorful knitted strip.
‘Cool!’ Lina said. ‘What is it?’
‘A bookmark,’ Danielle said. ‘Can’t you tell?’ Lina thought it looked a little too thick to put in a book.
Danielle was just learning to knit, and her creations were not very practical. Lina recalled the misshapen duck booties Danielle had knit for her baby cousin. Lina hoped the baby never had to wear them.
Now Danielle picked up a big bag of yarn. She beamed at Lina and patted the floor next to her. ‘Come and pick out your colors!’ she said.
Lina sat down. ‘My colors?’
‘I’m going to knit you a jumper for your birthday,’ said Danielle. ‘I bought all this yarn. I was thinking shades of blue. Maybe some yellow?’
‘That is so sweet of you. But that’s too much work,’ said Lina. The thought of Danielle spending so much time on something she would never wear almost broke her heart.
‘It’s no problem. You’re my best friend. And I love knitting,’ said Danielle.
Lina took a deep breath. ‘Danielle, I don’t want a jumper.’ There, she had said it. ‘Those colors are so pretty, though. Maybe you could make me something to decorate my room?’
‘A decoration?’ Danielle echoed. Lina hoped she wasn’t upset.
‘Have you ever seen those pictures online of lampshades wrapped in yarn?’ Lina went on. ‘I’ve always thought they look so cool, but I’m not crafty enough to make one myself.’
‘Oh! I know what you’re talking about!’ Danielle said in excitement. ‘I could do blue yarn at the bottom, then start adding some yellow in the middle . . . ‘
As Danielle began to plan excitedly, Lina breathed a sigh of relief. Now she would be getting a birthday present that reminded her of her best friend—and one that she would be excited to use.
Which of the following best describes the main theme or lesson of the story?
- Always accept a gift, even if you don’t want it.
- A creative solution can ease a difficult conversation.
Think about the events in the story and make an inference:
Lina is glad that she avoided hurting her friend’s feelings without having to accept a gift she doesn’t want.
Apply to the wider world to find a theme:
A creative solution can ease a difficult conversation.
📢 Read the following story.
One Bright Idea
I’ve been working on a present for my dad, Danielle told her friend, Lina. She was holding a colorful knitted strip.
‘Cool!’ Lina said. ‘What is it?’
‘A bookmark,’ Danielle said. ‘Can’t you tell?’ Lina thought it looked a little too thick to put in a book.
Danielle was just learning to knit, and her creations were not very practical. Lina recalled the misshapen duck booties Danielle had knit for her baby cousin. Lina hoped the baby never had to wear them.
Now Danielle picked up a big bag of yarn. She beamed at Lina and patted the floor next to her. ‘Come and pick out your colors!’ she said.
Lina sat down. ‘My colors?’
‘I’m going to knit you a jumper for your birthday,’ said Danielle. ‘I bought all this yarn. I was thinking shades of blue. Maybe some yellow?’
‘That is so sweet of you. But that’s too much work,’ said Lina. The thought of Danielle spending so much time on something she would never wear almost broke her heart.
‘It’s no problem. You’re my best friend. And I love knitting,’ said Danielle.
Lina took a deep breath. ‘Danielle, I don’t want a jumper.’ There, she had said it. ‘Those colors are so pretty, though. Maybe you could make me something to decorate my room?’
‘A decoration?’ Danielle echoed. Lina hoped she wasn’t upset.
‘Have you ever seen those pictures online of lampshades wrapped in yarn?’ Lina went on. ‘I’ve always thought they look so cool, but I’m not crafty enough to make one myself.’
‘Oh! I know what you’re talking about!’ Danielle said in excitement. ‘I could do blue yarn at the bottom, then start adding some yellow in the middle . . . ‘
As Danielle began to plan excitedly, Lina breathed a sigh of relief. Now she would be getting a birthday present that reminded her of her best friend—and one that she would be excited to use.
Which of the following best describes the main theme or lesson of the story?
- A creative solution can ease a difficult conversation.
- Handmade gifts are not always better.
Think about the events in the story and make an inference:
Lina is glad that she avoided hurting her friend’s feelings without having to accept a gift she doesn’t want.
Apply to the wider world to find a theme:
A creative solution can ease a difficult conversation.
📢 Read the following story.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Liane was confident about the sand sculpture contest. She and her sister, Amanda, had been building sandcastles for years. People often stopped to admire the intricate details of their creations.
The two knelt in the damp sand by the foamy surf and tried to hatch a winning idea for the contest.
‘We should make something really unusual for this contest. Like a giant octopus or something,’ said Liane.
‘I thought we were making a sandcastle town, like we always do. Look, I collected all these shells for the walls,’ said Amanda. She pointed at a pile of smooth cowrie shells.
‘Come on, let’s do something different,’ Liane insisted. ‘Think big!’
‘I don’t know,’ Amanda said, dragging a finger in the sand. ‘No, I’m sticking to the original plan.’ She compressed a clump of sand between her palms, shaping it into a castle corner.
‘I’ll just make my own, then,’ Liane said. She marched to another spot a few metres away, plopped herself down and began making her own sculpture.
At the end of the day, Liane gave up on her sculpture of a giant octopus attacking a castle. It looked like a lopsided shack with a blob on it. Liane hadn’t had time to add any details.
Amanda had made a satisfactory castle, small but neatly ornamented with shells. Around it she had shaped the sand to look like rolling farmland. Amanda had spent most of her time on making a little herd of shell cows.
Looking around, Liane realized that neither of them would win the contest. Liane’s sculpture was missing Amanda’s skillful touch, and Amanda’s castle was missing Liane’s big ideas.
Which of the following best describes the main theme or lesson of the story?
- Sometimes it’s better to compromise and work together.
- You won’t win if you don’t plan ahead.
Think about the events in the story and make an inference:
Liane realizes that she and her sister do better when they work together.
Apply to the wider world to find a theme:
Sometimes it’s better to compromise and work together.
let’s practice!
Read the following story.
Starry Night
What do we do now? asked Gavin. It was his first time camping, and he expected a long, boring night. He and Eric had finished dinner, and it was only six thirty.
‘Just hang out,’ said Eric. Eric had been going camping for years. ‘Look at the sky. Sometimes you can see a shooting star,’ he said.
Gavin looked up. The stars were clear and bright. It was like being in a planetarium.
‘See that really bright one over there? That’s the North Star,’ Eric told him. ‘And there’s the Little Bear. Right next to it is the Plough.’
‘Cool idea!’ Gavin said. ‘What other constellations do you know?’
‘Huh. I guess that’s it. A lot of them come from Greek myths, but I don’t remember them,’ said Eric.
‘Well, I’ll make up my own, then,’ said Gavin. ‘See over there? That’s the buffalo.’
‘You’re right!’ agreed Eric. ‘See those three stars over there? That’s the tent.’
‘And that bunch of stars—that’s the mosquito,’ Gavin said, pointing.
Eric squinted. ‘That’s a stretch,’ he said, ‘but why not? Now we just need a myth.’
Gavin thought about it. ‘Two great hunters were tracking a buffalo,’ he began, ‘but they came to a swamp where the Great Mosquito lived.’
Eric and Gavin took turns adding to the story. They were so focused on myth-making that by the time Gavin checked his watch, it was already nine forty-five. Since the air was mild and the sky cloudless, they unrolled their sleeping bags outside their tent. Gavin sighed happily as he closed his eyes, his brain still buzzing with new ideas for constellation stories.