Alamat ng

Maguindanao
Ang unang Hari ng Bembaran
 layunin

1 2 3
Naibibigay ang Nakapaglalahad ng Nakabubuo ng isang
kahulugan ng sariling kaalaman maikling kwento ng
matalinghagang tungkol sa pinagmulan pinagmulan batay sa
pahayag sa akda ng isang bagay gawain para sa pangkat
Introduction
When we read and analyse texts in English class, often you'll be asked to identify
their themes or central ideas.

Although we might start with one word topics, in upper school, the expectation is
that students should be able to identify, specifically, what the text is saying about the
topic. That is, they should be able to state themes as explicit ideas. In literature, this
can be a moral or message or it might just be a comment on, or an exploration of, a
particular human experience. In an informational text, central ideas might the the
authors argument or comment on a topic or it might be a more general exploration
of an event, person or issue.

Through themes, writers can communicate their thoughts about things they find
interesting or concerning about people, society or the world. Texts can have multiple
themes or ideas, some more dominant than others, so it's important to be able to
identify these as well as consider how they develop throughout the course of the text.
 Summary Vs. Analysis
Before we delve into themes and ideas, it's important to understand the difference between
summarising a text and analysing a text.

Summary Analysis
The "what" of the text. The "how" of the text.

A summary is usually a short description that An analysis is a more detailed and in depth
restates the topic or content of the text. It is used to exploration of the text. It aims to deconstruct a text
give the reader an overview of what the story or by examining its parts and commenting on how they
article is about. It provides a brief account of what is work together to achieve a purpose. The writer
covered in the text (main points only) and is written evaluates, examines and interprets the content,
in a short, clear and concise way, without delving drawing their own conclusions and providing
into specific examples. specific examples to illustrate their points.
Identifying Themes & Ideas
As previously mentioned, the easiest way to start identifying themes and ideas is
to ask: What is the text about? What topics or issues does it explore? We might
begin by writing down singular words or short phrases e.g. war, growing up,
homelessness, bravery or environmentalism.

Then, we need to turn these into statements - that is, we write them as a series of
specific ideas rather than as a single word.

Start with a keyword to help you build a phrase. Your statement should not
identify any examples from the text (i.e. specific characters/people,
settings/places, or plot features/events) but rather focus on the broader idea
about people, society or the world that the text conveys.

To be successful, you should be able to use the phrase "The text conveys the idea
that..." before your theme statement to form a complete sentence.
 Examples
Here are some examples of themes that have been turned into specific ideas.

The journey from innocence to experience often involves changing ideas

Coming of Age
about oneself and one’s place in the world.

An irrational commitment to biological and familial ties can be

Family
destructive on an individual.

Our identify is not fixed but fluid; it can shift and change depending on
Identify
different circumstances.

Racism and prejudice are limitations to progress, both to the individual

Prejudice
and society as a whole.
Adding Complexity
It is rare for a text to centre around one theme or idea; often there are multiple.
Some might be more dominant or obvious than others. These themes and ideas
might interact and/or rely on one another in order to form a complex story or
investigation.

For example, a coming of age narrative novel for an adolescent audience might
explore themes of bravery, family relationships, friendship, coping with change
and maturity. An informational feature article for an audience of parents on
the topic of standardised testing might explore ideas about education, student
stress, academic success and differences in individual abilities and learning
needs.

It's also important to note that different readers can read the same text and
identify different themes or ideas due to their personal context. These ideas
may not always be deliberately intended by an author, but a reader might
interpret them based on their personal reading of the text.
Development of Ideas
Considering the fact that themes and ideas can be quite complex,
it's important to consider how they develop throughout a text.

Beginning Middle End

How does the author introduce How are the themes or ideas How do the themes or ideas
the theme or idea? What developed further through the conclude at the end of the text?
comments are made about the body of the text? Do they stay the Is there a final stance taken or is
theme early on in the text? same or evolve? it left open ended?
Consider the opening paragraphs Consider the use of narrative Consider if there's a moral or
of an article or the opening elements in literature or evidence message to a literary text or if an
chapters of a novel. provided in informational texts. informational text has a balanced
or one sided argument.
Making Inferences
Another important thing to consider is that although some texts can state themes
or ideas explicitly (such as an author of an informational text stating their
argument or a character in a literary text directly stating an idea directly through
dialogue), many texts infer these themes more subtly and it is up to you to draw
inferences based on what is available.

To clarify, an inference is a conclusion reached based off evidence and reasoning.

This requires you to 'read between the lines' to extract a theme or idea based on the
textual elements or information available to you. This might take the form of
conclusions, predictions, critical judgements or interpretations.

As humans, we do this naturally every day but the study of texts in English is an
active and reflective process whereby you not only need to identify the ideas but
consider how you came to reach them. You might compare this to mathematics
where you are not only required to calculate a correct answer but you also must
'show your working out' in order to achieve full marks. English is no different.
Citing Textual Evidence
The final step after identifying your themes or ideas is to cite strong and
thorough textual evidence to support your analysis. This requires you to
identify specific examples or elements of the text that have influenced
your interpretation of these ideas.

Remember, in upper school we avoid paraphrasing examples as this can

be too general.

Instead, we look for explicit evidence such as direct quotations from the
text to illustrate our analysis.

We should also go a step further and comment on the textual

conventions, language features, structural features or stylistic choices
that are shown through each specific quotation.
 Conventions & Language Features
These will differ depending on whether the text you are discussing is literary or informational.

Literary Texts Informational Texts

The textual evidence you provide might include: The textual evidence you provide might include:
examples of narrative conventions such as evidence supplied by the author including facts,
characterisation, setting, point of view, plot statistics, expert opinion, personal anecdotes or
events or symbolism case studies
language features such as descriptive language, language features such as rhetorical question,
figurative language, lexicon and connotation inclusive language, repetition or hyperbole
structural features such as flash back, structural features such as cause and effect,
foreshadowing, prologue or epilogue problem-solution, compare and contrast
 Your Turn
In this course, we will be reading, summarising and analysing a range of literary and
informational texts. Identifying multiple themes or ideas and analysing their development over the
course of a text is a central skill that we will need to achieve success in the course. You will also
need to be able to cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support the text's explicit ideas as
well as your own inferences drawn from the text.

Now, let's put these skills into practice by completing some analysis activities. Good luck!
Elements Used: