The theme of a story is its big message or lesson: something about life that the story shows us. Common themes include courage, friendship, honesty and never giving up.
To find the theme, think about how the main character changes and what they learn. In a story where a girl climbs a dark lighthouse to light the lamp for her father, the theme might be courage in the face of fear.
A summary is different. It retells the most important events briefly, in your own words, without small details. A good summary of a short story is three or four sentences long.
Worked example
A robot keeps making mistakes in the kitchen, practises all night and finally cooks perfect pancakes. What is the theme?
- How does the robot change? From making mistakes to succeeding.
- What did it learn? Practice and learning from mistakes lead to success.
Answer:Mistakes help us learn if we keep trying.
Key words
- theme
- the big message of a story
- summary
- a short retelling of the main points
- main character
- the most important person in a story
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: RL.4.2, RL.4.3