Creative Writing: Theme Approximate Time Needed:   45 minutes Lesson Summary:   Students will articulate the theme (in one sentence) for a story (involving assignments previously completed using the Creative Writing: Characterization, Setting, Tone, and Plot lesson plans) by combining research on a particular career with elements of theme studied in literature classes. Lesson Objective:   Students will develop web searching skills; articulate and utilize the elements of theme by understanding the roles of both reader and writer; and exercise creative writing skills by conceiving a theme appropriate to the characterization, setting, tone, and plot of their story. Materials and Resources: Completed assignments for Characterization, Setting, Tone, and Plot lessons. Helpful Hints:   Teacher should have completed lessons for Characterization, Setting, Tone, and Plot before proceeding to this lesson on Theme. Teacher might want to compile--ahead of time--a template for a short list of themes for works already discussed in class so that students can work with a rubric for the assignment to be evaluated. Activities Review the definition of theme. Theme: the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express in a literary work. All elements of the literary work--plot, setting, characterization, and tone--contribute to the development of its theme. A simple theme can often be stated in a sentence--from Adventures in English Literature, Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich. Compile, with the aid of the class, a list of themes for literary works already studied this year. Attempt to articulate these themes in one sentence. This should give the students an idea of the types of themes that authors commonly deal with, as well as encourage them to be concise in stating their themes. Once the class has established a list, and drawing on information gathered in doing the lessons on Characterization, Setting, Tone, and Plot, students then compose a sentence that articulates the theme of their story. The teacher should encourage students to try to state their theme in one sentence. Students might combine their imagination and class discussion on literature with information culled from a particular ECOS career profile. For example, Joan is interested in the life of a government agent. This, combined with a students’ imagination (or even information learned in history class), might generate ideas for the tone. She discovers, using ECOS, that working for the State Department might require someone to travel abroad and to handle sensitive documents or engage in espionage. Drawing on her own creative impulses, and perhaps on her memory of her class’s discussion of a story read in class, Joan then creates a one-sentence articulation of the theme for her story. Either continuing in class or as homework, students compose a descriptive paragraph that evokes the primary theme of the story. Evaluation:   Students may be evaluated on their theme sentence, based on the theme sentence examples established in class. Unit Goal:   Using this lesson and lessons for characterization, setting, plot, and tone, teacher can ask students to combine these major aspects of narrative to create their own short stories.