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English Online. Every child literate - a shared responsibility.
Ministry of Education.

Learning task 4 - Choosing a themes focus

Learning intention(s)

Students will be able to:

  • describe the themes from the poem you are focusing on for your visual exposition.
  • state the theme in a phrase or sentence.

a) Themes are central ideas or messages from a text. ‘Central’ means, that to be considered a theme, an idea should be particularly important in the text. Themes are often examines in ways that consider or phrase them outside of the text. Readers can relate them to other things they’ve seen and thought about and sometimes compare them to their own lives.

Consider the important ideas in the poem or e-book you are basing your own visual exposition on. Brainstorm possible words to describe these themes and discuss this with another student.

b) Often, themes are described in single words. While this is a good way of communicating them quickly or starting an investigation, single words often lack the focus and specificity of using a whole phrase to describe a theme. Phrases or sentences can be used to make statements or assertions that relate to the text and help to focus your ideas when thinking about a theme.

Consider the poem or e-book you are looking at:

  • Does it make an assertion or statement of some kind?
  • Does it aim to teach a lesson?
  • Does it suggest something important about life to its readers? E.g. A reading of Karlo Mila’s “Paul Holmes” poem: “Racism is often considered on a large scale while its effects are varied and are always felt by individuals.”

Convert your theme into a phrase. You should form this as a statement. This will be the thematic focus for your visual exposition.

c) Re-read the poem or e-book you are using for your source text using the same technique you used for the “deconstructing a written text” template. Consider your theme phrase as you do this.

The Deer Hunter Assessment Booklet (Word 67KB)

Refine your thematic focus statement if you come across anything you hadn’t thought about before. Repeat this process until you are satisfied with your thematic focus statement. You should check this with your teacher as you go.

Published on: 20 Aug 2011




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