I asked myself a question and that was: why do I read? Do I read to merely learn? No. I read because sometimes I have to step into books and ideas more grandiose than myself.
I went through several websites and looked into our text book about the definition of a theme. In my own words I would describe theme as being an action put into words. Themes could include things like: believe in yourself, overcome challenges, accepting others' differences, show teamwork, be a legacy, be kind to others--the list is endless. All of these "themes" have one main thing in common, they all start with an action--believe, overcome, accept, show, etc.
One particular theme I would like to reflect on is C.S. Lewis': The Chronicals of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The main theme throughout the Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, it's their destined place as Kings and Queens of Narnia. There are other underlying themes such as legacy and love for one another despite what is going on in reality, but the truth is that some of us try to see the deeper meaning in a theme and some of us like what is right on top of the surface.
I guess what I get from reading the stories I do is that as much as there is a theme to all of those stories we should be our own theme to our own stories. I really appreciate during literary classes when emotion and timing are pointed out in poetry and different passages because that is definitely what life is all about. Sometimes I think of english classes as "life" classes. Sometimes we learn emotions/themes of life from parents and other people in our lives, but I love when I can read or sing something and be able to understand that someone wrote that out of a someone else's "real life" situation or overall theme, or a creative theme developed by themselves.
Themes in literature allow us to question ourselves. What we believe; what we think; why we think the way we do; why we have the opinions we have. When I think back to books that have been turned into movies such as Harry Potter, My Sister's Keeper, and the Secret Life of Bees, I think about how I felt about the theme of the book and try to reflect it back on myself. I've learned many valuable things through books, but some of those themes have been even more valuble because I've thought about them and worked them into my own life.
This has probably been one of the best blog entries I have seen yet! I love that you are working the themes into your own life. I think a lot of times we read a passage mostly because we have to, like you said, and we never really apply the lesson or idea to our own lives. I believe that if everyone would start applying lesson to their lives, the world would be different. There are lessons to be learned from poets, historians, and authors.
ReplyDeleteI agree immensely with you Hannah! Thank you for your kind words about this blog. I'm glad you could see the point I was trying to illustrate.
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This is so true. I think that is why it is so important that we are able to read our emotions and understand why we are feeling the way that we are, and then apply it to our everyday lives. There are so many lessons that we can learn, simply through our own life and experiences.
ReplyDeleteExactly Mikelle. Also, I believe that since we can read the emotions of others it makes us well aware of our own surroundings and the surroundings that may be presented in poetry (much like the poems in today's class). Although poetry is complex, we can break it down and understand the view point and emotion and always link it back to their main theme.
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