BCCC ASC Rev. 3/2019
Identifying Themes and Literary Analysis
Literary works are used to entertain, to teach a moral lesson, to convey meaning, or more
importantly, to make the reader aware of some aspect of the human condition. Through
their work, writers creatively share their ideas and express themes that are timeless and
universal.
For example: A fifteen year old boy in an American suburban high school, who has not made the basketball
team, knows the experience of disappointment, but so does a seventy year old grandmother whose family
does not come home for the holidays. Each character’s story might detail the events of how they move from
disappointment to contentment. These stories have a similar theme. Even though the details of the story
are expressed differently, either scenario could express the theme of overcoming disappointment and hurt
– yet, each in a unique way. Could you connect with either of these characters? Why? Get into the habit of
asking how and why questions as you move through the details of a literary selection.
Furthermore, certain themes can be understood by people regardless of age, gender, geography, or culture.
This commonality makes them universal. Universal themes developed in a story, poem, or play ultimately
expand the reader’s knowledge of being human by the expression of experiences through different
perspectives.
Common themes can include:
Loneliness, oppression, repression, transformation,
good versus evil, struggle and accomplishment,
death, rebirth, initiation, redemption, and free will.
With a specific purpose in mind, the author carefully crafts themes using literary tools. By employing literary
tools the author embeds the theme or meaning into separate elements that make up the totality of the
literary piece.
Some of the more common tools of the author’s craft are: character development, setting, mood,
plot, point of view, figurative language, allegory, symbolism, and irony.
A poet might additionally use: alliteration, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, personification,
rhyme, and repetition.
The careful examination of these tools is a part of literary analysis. By observing how the tools are being
used individually, and by critically thinking about how they relate to one another to construct the expression
of theme, the reader pushes beneath the surface details to discover the literature’s deeper meaning.
Too many students make the mistake of never moving past the surface details.
Focusing only on the surface details results in summary, not literary analysis.
Just as a scientist examines a specimen to prove a hypothesis, the literary analyst has a thesis to prove.
Like a scientist who methodically examines separate aspects of a specimen such as its appearance,
movements, and responses to environmental factors, the student is expected to make careful observations
of the individual parts of a literary piece. This examination takes time and concentrated effort.
To uncover themes and meanings, begin the analysis by making verifiable observations, like a scientist,
through careful reading. Observations that are verifiable are those that can be pointed out and agreed upon
by others. These observations are the raw data of literary analysis; they are objective facts. Objective facts
are the third person accounts that indicate who is doing what in the story or poem. They establish the
when; they confirm the where. They recognize interesting key words and repetitions. They record character
dialogue, and they note specific devices used by the poet. Keep in mind that the author made a decision
about each of these objective elements. Your role as a reader/analyst is to determine why these creative
decisions were specifically made.
