Aaron’s Gift

1. Aaron’s Gift Theme Paragraph

2. Aaron’s Gift – Theme of Freedom The theme of the story “Aaron’s Gift” by Myron Levoy is freedom. Freedom is one of life’s most valuable gifts. In this story, a young boy named Aaron finds an injured pigeon. He nurses it back to health with hopes of making it his pet. In the story we also learn that Aaron’s grandmother’s freedom was once taken from her when she lived in the Ukraine as a young girl. She and her family escaped this dreadful time, but her pet goat was killed by the Cossacks. When Aaron begins to run with a bad group of young boys, his pet pigeon’s life is threatened. He saves the pigeon from the boys’ cruel actions and figures out that the best thing to do is to let the pigeon go free. When he told his parents and his grandmother, his grandmother thanked him for her gift. At the end of the story he states, “She would have fed it, and she certainly would have talked to it, as she did all the birds, and. . . and then she would have let it go free.” Aaron realized that he made the right decision to let the bird go free. His grandmother could not do that with her pet goat as a child. He realized that his grandmother was so happy and proud of him because he gave the pigeon the gift of freedom.

3. Aaron’s Gift – Theme of Freedom Topic & Theme The theme of the story “Aaron’s Gift” by Myron Levoy is freedom. Freedom is one of life’s most valuable gifts.In this story, a young boy named Aaron finds an injured pigeon. He nurses it back to health with hopes of making it his pet. In the story we also learn that Aaron’s grandmother’s freedom was once taken from her when she lived in the Ukraine as a young girl. She and her family escaped this dreadful time, but her pet goat was killed by the Cossacks. When Aaron begins to run with a bad group of young boys, his pet pigeon’s life is threatened. He saves the pigeon from the boys’ cruel actions and figures out that the best thing to do is to let the pigeon go free. When he told his parents and his grandmother, his grandmother thanked him for her gift. At the end of the story he states, “She would have fed it, and she certainly would have talked to it, as she did all the birds, and. . . and then she would have let it go free.”Aaron realized that he made the right decision to let the bird go free. His grandmother could not do that with her pet goat as a child. He realized that his grandmother was so happy and proud of him because he gave the pigeon the gift of freedom. Plot Quote Quote Explanation

4. Topic and Theme The theme of the story “Aaron’s Gift” by Myron Levoy is freedom. Freedom is one of life’s most valuable gifts. • Begin with a strong topic sentence that includes the title and the author. • Make sure you turn your one word theme (subject) into a theme statement.

5. Plot In this story, a young boy named Aaron finds an injured pigeon. He nurses it back to health with hopes of making it his pet. In the story we also learn that Aaron’s grandmother’s freedom was once taken from her when she lived in the Ukraine as a young girl. She and her family escaped this dreadful time, but her pet goat was killed by the Cossacks. When Aaron begins to run with a bad group of young boys, his pet pigeon’s life is threatened. He saves the pigeon from the boys’ cruel actions and figures out that the best thing to do is to let the pigeon go free. When he told his parents and his grandmother, his grandmother thanked him for her gift. • Tell the plot of the story. • Make sure to include what happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story. • Remember to tell who the main characters are.

6. Quote At the end of the story he states, “She would have fed it, and she certainly would have talked to it, as she did all the birds, and. . . and then she would have let it go free.” • Include quotes from the story. • Use quotations marks and write the quote word for word. • Remember to use a sentence starter to introduce your quotes.

7. Quote Explanation Aaron realized that he made the right decision to let the bird go free. His grandmother could not do that with her pet goat as a child. He realized that his grandmother was so happy and proud of him because he gave the pigeon the gift of freedom. • Explain the relevance/importance of the quote. • Show how the quote supports the theme.