September 24, 2013

Theme

What do you know about it already?

a common response is “The moral of the story.”
what is a moral? “A lesson you learn from a story.”
learning is figuring out what YOU would do in a given situation
learning is getting new information that YOU can use for some purpose that YOU have
learning is building a new framework for your thinking and decision-making

What does theme have to do with YOU?

a moral is not a theme
maybe it’s the main idea
what is an idea? a thought or suggestion
the author might have this thought or idea AND then the reader has his/her own

The theme is the interpretation of meaning that the reader gets from a story.

There is a NEGOTIATION OF MEANING in finding a theme.

A story will have something like a soul in it. A bunch of ideas or thoughts or a way of looking at the world - and a good reader can figure that out

However, the reader ALSO HAS ALL OF THOSE THINGS. And the reader APPLIES his/her own way of looking at the world at that story.

That means that there is no “only answer”.

Some answers are more correct than others.

The only way to know is by proving your view. Or answer. Or opinion. Or essay. Or paragraph. Etc.

It’s all about the negotiation of meaning. Finding the way to show that you’re right.

A theme is like an attitude that applies to the world, people, a subject.

It’s a universal concept, in many cases.

A theme is never said in one word - it’s more complex than that.

What do you think could be the theme of Come to Daddy by Aphex Twin?

Come up with some thematic possibilities and some proofs.
it’s got something to do with growing up and becoming like their parents
the children have the same face as their “father”
this symbolizes growing up to become what you are raised with (or whom you are raised by)
the children are behaving in a way that seems to suggest that they are proud of the “father” character, even though it’s terrifying - thematic element - we don’t recognize when we’re being brought up with something negative - children can be imprinted with negative behaviours or learning and not know it
people with certain beliefs or ideas may be frightening to others and may be dangerous in defense of their beliefs - (harder to prove)
Come to Daddy - daddy - a god-like character? there literally was a rebirth or a birth of some kind - the disturbing daddy character - religious element?
thematic elements about death and aging and the breaking down of our bodies and weakness and the strength of youth
the entire of this is HOOKED BY THE TV
understanding the TV opens the entire theme idea - the TV IS DADDY
the children are being programmed, they were “made in his image”
the TV is their god
the TV represents the media - games, TV, shows, movies, etc
kids are controlled by the media, and the media is SCARY and DARK and is a literal monster
one aspect of thinking can link ALL the elements into a clear meaning

The title might help with theme - Karma Police
Symbolism helps with theme - symbolic meanings are often loading into theme

The Blues Merchant - theme

Come up with some thematic material - observations, symbolic elements, ideas, possibilities, etc

Rough work on theme (brainstorming)