How do you think about a theme? Why do you think understanding themes is important? Where else besides books do you see themes occurring? What is a theme from your reading that has been meaningful to you?
I think themes are important because you can start to see them in everything, even your own life. There are certain periods of time that human beings survive where you look back and see specific themes and ideas that are "played out" by the events you experience. Also, our relationships can give us a window into various themes, simply because relationships are so integral to life and how we think about our world. It's the same with storytelling (and book writing)- authors look for ideas that are true for the world (universe) and then express those ideas through events and relationships. I think themes have been woven throughout history, anytime stories are told, because they are important ideas for the human condition. From watching movies like Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, and The Blind Side (two out of three of which were created from BOOKS) to reading stories like The Lovely Bones, Wintergirls, Speak, and Maus, some common themes appear. A few things that have hit home for me...
Strong, loyal friendships are important to survival.
I especially see this theme in the movie Sherlock Holmes and books like The Lovely Bones- where people who were deeply connected to each other were able to save and sacrifice for those they loved.
Heroes are often flawed, but have some sort of resilience within them.
I think this is an obvious theme of Avatar, as well as the Lord of the Rings, Speak, and Wintergirls. We see the idea of resilience in Jake Sully, Frodo, Melinda, and Lena. All of them have huge struggles that they overcome by demonstrating the resilience of their inner spirits.
Sometimes vengeance is not the most important thing, healing is.
I see this a little bit in Avatar and definitely in The Lovely Bones, and somewhat in Wintergirls as well. The main character, Lena, in Wintergirls, is trying to control her world through her anorexia, and part of that is because of her anger at her mother and desire to take revenge on her for being "perfect." Although her mother is controlling and bossy, Lena's need for vengeance is sometimes frustrating since she is ultimately hurting herself. In Avatar, when the humans try to wreak vengeance on the native people of Pandora, you see that it ultimately destroys their mission, as the Na'qi are more powerful than they imagined.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Themes...
How do you think about a theme? Why do you think understanding themes is important? Where else besides books do you see themes occurring? What is a theme from your reading that has been meaningful to you?
I think themes are important because you can start to see them in everything, even your own life. There are certain periods of time that human beings survive where you look back and see specific themes and ideas that are "played out" by the events you experience. Also, our relationships can give us a window into various themes, simply because relationships are so integral to life and how we think about our world. It's the same with storytelling (and book writing)- authors look for ideas that are true for the world (universe) and then express those ideas through events and relationships. I think themes have been woven throughout history, anytime stories are told, because they are important ideas for the human condition. From watching movies like Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, and The Blind Side (two out of three of which were created from BOOKS) to reading stories like The Lovely Bones, Wintergirls, Speak, and Maus, some common themes appear. A few things that have hit home for me...
Strong, loyal friendships are important to survival.
I especially see this theme in the movie Sherlock Holmes and books like The Lovely Bones- where people who were deeply connected to each other were able to save and sacrifice for those they loved.
Heroes are often flawed, but have some sort of resilience within them.
I think this is an obvious theme of Avatar, as well as the Lord of the Rings, Speak, and Wintergirls. We see the idea of resilience in Jake Sully, Frodo, Melinda, and Lena. All of them have huge struggles that they overcome by demonstrating the resilience of their inner spirits.
Sometimes vengeance is not the most important thing, healing is.
I see this a little bit in Avatar and definitely in The Lovely Bones, and somewhat in Wintergirls as well. The main character, Lena, in Wintergirls, is trying to control her world through her anorexia, and part of that is because of her anger at her mother and desire to take revenge on her for being "perfect." Although her mother is controlling and bossy, Lena's need for vengeance is sometimes frustrating since she is ultimately hurting herself. In Avatar, when the humans try to wreak vengeance on the native people of Pandora, you see that it ultimately destroys their mission, as the Na'qi are more powerful than they imagined.
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3 comments:
I like the theme for Sherlock Homes and that Lovely bones there`s a movie too.. I want to see It
I agree completely.. themes in general should be able to connect to other texts or pieces of literature. but some should be universal.
I like The book "Sherlock Homes" and movie(even though i didn`t watch yet) but the Book is so much interesting.... And then the book "Lovely Bones" + the movie (i think the book is so much better than the movie because it gives so much detail and then you get into it) But, I loved the book and it was pretty good...Good explanation about the Two books and how you relate to that from several movies...
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