Theme

1. Theme • The word theme refers to the heart and soul of a literary work. It provides general insight into life or the human condition. It is not the subject itself, but some aspect of the human condition examined by the literary work. In sum, a theme is a statement, direct or implied, about a literary work. • Come up with themes for the following subjects: • The individual in nature • The individual in society • The individual and technology • Life and death • Initiation and maturation • Sight and blindness • Madness and sanity • Foolishness and wisdom

2. Possible Responses • The individual in nature: Nature reminds us of how vulnerable we are; intellect, therefore, is no match for the raw forces of nature. • The individual in society: Character is measured by how well be can stand up when everyone else is sitting down, so to speak; in other words, character is measured by our ability to defend our convictions even when they are considered unpopular. • The individual and technology: • Man’s quest for knowledge, regardless of intention, can lead to disaster. • The practice of science void of ethics is not only irresponsible but also dangerous. • Life and death: • “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.”—Theodore Roethke • Since we begin to die as soon as we are born and death is inevitable, “take the lively air,/And, lovely, learn by going where to go.”—Theodore Roethke • Initiation and maturation: One’s maturity is in direct proportion to one’s capacity for empathy, not one’s age. • Madness and sanity: • “When the world goes mad, one must accept madness as sanity; since sanity is, in the last analysis, nothing but madness on which the whole world happens to agree.”—George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) • “Much Madness is divinest Sense—/To a discerning Eye—/Much Sense—the starkest Madness—” (Emily Dickinson) • Foolishness and wisdom: Sometimes the wisest thoughts are expressed by those perceived as fools.