Are you struggling to find and analyse themes in your texts? Well, you came to the right place to learn how!
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As you approach your senior high school years, you will need to be confident in identifying and analysing themes in texts. This will help you build your understanding of the texts, and write complex and in-depth analyses for high marks! In this article, we will show you how to easily find and analyse themes in texts using a step-by-step process.
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A theme is a central idea in a text.
Often, themes are related to the composer’s view of the world or their intended main message.
There can be many themes in a single text. It is your job to identify as many themes are you can while you are analysing the text.
You might also come across major and minor themes in a text.
When writing essays, you want to analyse major themes. However, don’t be afraid to briefly discuss minor themes if that further aids your argument!
It is crucial that you analyse themes in your essays because it demonstrates your deep understanding of the text and the text’s importance or relevance to the real world. This is because themes reflect the text’s main messages and the composer’s worldview and perspectives.
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Now that we know what themes are, let’s learn how to find themes in texts. This may seem like a tricky process at first. However, once you get the hang of it, finding themes in texts will become second nature to you!
But, before we dig into the steps to find themes in a text, you need to read your text first! During your first reading, aim to understand the text holistically, including:
Once you’ve done this, you can start identifying the themes using the following steps:
Understanding the plot is a crucial step to help you find themes in a text.
For example, if the plot is about two people falling in love, then it’s safe to say that love is a theme! On the other hand, if the plot involves one character betraying another, then betrayal may be a theme in that text.
So, to find themes in the plot, you should answer the following:
Characters are also great indicators of the themes in a text. Composers tend to use characters as a vehicle of meaning and ideas. Sometimes, they become symbols for particular themes or ideas.
For instance, Katniss Everdeen becomes a symbol of hope and revolution in The Hunger Games. She took her younger sister’s place in the Hunger Games, won the games, became the face of the revolution against the Capitol, and gave hope of a better life for the poverty-stricken districts. The novels also explicitly refer to Katniss as the “embodiment of the revolution”. As such, it’s obvious that The Hunger Games trilogy’s themes are revolution, hope and freedom.
Another example where the characters reveal the themes of the text is Othello. Iago is jealous of Cassio’s promotion. Othello is jealous of Cassio because he believes his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him. As such, we can determine that jealousy is a theme in Othello through the character’s negative traits.
As you can see, characters are able to reveal the themes in a text. So, here are some things you should keep your eye out to find the themes in a text:
Recurring images, symbols, or motifs is another way you can find themes in a text. They embody ideas and represent themes.
For example, in Cormac McCarthy’s novel, The Road, the road is a recurring (and important) motif. The man and the boy endlessly walk down the road, looking for salvation. The whole story is set on this road. As such, the road is a key to figuring out the theme of the text. It symbolises human’s journey in life and their drive to continue living.
Another example is the recurring image of blood in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth hallucinates a dagger with blood on its tip. Lady Macbeth attempts to wash imaginary blood off her hands. From this, we can gather that blood represents guilt… So, guilt must be a theme in Macbeth.
When you are finding themes in a text, you should keep an eye out for any recurring images or symbols. These repeating images can clue you in on the themes.
However, remember, you also need to break down the meaning of these motifs to find the theme. Use your analytical skills and judgement to determine this!
Sometimes, composers will explicitly mention important ideas in a text. This can be done through a conversation between characters, a character’s soliloquy, or a direct discussion of the idea.
For instance, in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Shylock has a soliloquy where he complains about the double standard treatment between Jews and Christians.
“I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility?”
As such, it’s clear that the theme of racism and prejudice is being explored in the Merchant of Venice because it has been explicitly discussed by Shylock.
So, as you are reading your texts, pay attention to key moments where the composer explicitly explores ideas.
The next step is to figure out the themes of the text is to identify the main message of the text. The composer will share their thoughts and feelings about particular issues in the world and this will inadvertently be related to the themes of the text.
For instance, William Golding’s message in Lord of the Flies warns people that humans are savage by nature and must live within societal constraints to prevent savagery, violence and chaos. As such, we can determine that the main themes in Lord of the Flies are savagery, and chaos vs order.
So, to find the themes in a text, you should ask yourself:
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Analysing themes may sound intimidating or feel overwhelming, but it’s not as hard as it seems! These steps will help you break down the process!
It is much easier to analyse a text if you narrow down the areas you want to analyse. You don’t want to feel too intimidated before you start analysing.
To begin, go through your text once more to find key moments where your theme may appear strongly. These can be key events, turning points, particular character dialogue, a specific inner monologue etc.
For instance, in Lord of the Flies, one key moment that really highlights the theme of savagery is when the boys begin to chant “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” as they kill the pig and hang its head on a spear. Another key moment is when they kill Simon with their bare hands.
Another example is the dagger scene in Macbeth. As we previously discussed, the imagery of blood represents the theme of guilt. So, here, the dagger scene is a significant scene in exploring the theme of guilt because the motif is used here to reveal Macbeth’s feelings of guilt.
You will find that there are numerous key scenes and moments that explore a theme. It is up to you to find the scenes and determine which works best for your arguments.
To help you find these key moments, ask yourself these questions:
After you identified your key moments, you will need to break them down further to find evidence.
Here are examples of evidence::
Remember, you should aim to find techniques that are specific to the textual form. This will ensure that your analysis is relevant and strong.
For instance, you don’t want to simply analyse metaphors and quotes from a film. You want to discuss film techniques like editing cuts, costumes, and angles. This will demonstrate that you have a strong understanding of how the form creates meaning.
By now, you should be familiar with a wide range of techniques. However, you can always expand your bank of techniques! Check out our Techniques Toolkits to learn more about different techniques and their effects:
Expanding your knowledge of techniques will make analysing themes seem easier! You will be able to quickly identify different evidence within a key scene because they’re already in your head.
It’s also important to remember that different pieces of evidence have different values! Which one do you think is a stronger piece of evidence: repetition or a metaphor?
It’s the metaphor!
This is because metaphors are higher-order techniques.
Higher order techniques are more effective at representing ideas and creating meaning because they are complex.
Low order techniques like alliteration and repetition are more surface-level techniques. They don’t normally create meaning in a complex manner.
However, lower order techniques can still be analysed if it serves a more meaningful purpose.
For example, the repetition of “daddy” in Sylvia Plath’s Daddy becomes a motif throughout the poem. It mimicks a nursery rhyme to symbolise how Plath feels towards her father.
In this case, this ‘set of techniques’ is valuable because it represents meaning in a complex way.
Remember, you can also analyse the characters, the overall story arc, and even the settings! Remember to refer back to the first half of this article to help you find more evidence.
Clearly, it is critical that you are using your analytical skills to determine which techniques or set of techniques are higher valued than others.
Once you’ve identified the techniques, take some time to relate the examples to the theme. Think about how they create meaning, and why.
Don’t forget to take notes of your findings! Populate these techniques and their effects in your tables or notes.
Some techniques can explore multiple themes. Be explicit when adding this to your notes, t will be immensely handy later on.
Your notes should consist of techniques and evidence for different themes, as well as a brief description of its effect or relationship to the theme. You can write this in dot points.
Here is an example of how you can tabulate your notes:
| Theme (eg. Jealousy) | ||||
| Key moment/character | Technique | Example (i.e quote) | Effect/Relate to theme | |
| What you should do | Organise your notes by key moments or characters | List the technique(s) you want to analyse in the key moment/character | Provide a quote or example | Explain how the technique(s) create meaning and relate it to the theme. You can also jot down any additional notes here. |
| Example from ‘Othello’ | Iago warns Othello about jealousy while he plans to make Othello jealous of his wife and Cassio
Act 3, Scene 3 |
Motif, metaphor, symbolism and personification | “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss“ |
Jealousy is personified into a green-eyed monster who feeds on meat. This means that jealousy is so powerful, it can destroy people.
Note: can also relate to “Appearance vs Reality” theme |
Are you still struggling to find and analyse themes? Well, don’t fear! Matrix+ Online Course will guide you through the steps to analyse texts with our subject-matter experts and provide you with one-on-one feedback through our Q&A Boards. Learn more about Matrix+ Online English classes now.
Written by Matrix English Team
The Matrix English Team are tutors and teachers with a passion for English and a dedication to seeing Matrix Students achieving their academic goals.
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