December 1, 2014:

On Monday we watched the Australian film, Tagged (as part of our ongoing examination of short stories:

Your assignment was to map the plot onto a plot diagram and to create a statement of theme.

Theme:  "The central insight, idea, focus or subject matter of a work (especially fiction), stated directly or indirectly".

In order to write effective statements of theme, you should note that a theme:

• is not necessarily the idea. It is more useful to think of theme as an important idea in a work (most of the texts we study will have more than one theme).
• is not a topic. Topics are too  vague; you must say something about the topic.
• is not a cliche. Statements of theme should be specific to the work we are studying.
• highlights a conflict between two concepts or ideas within the work.
• incorporates big ideas and abstract concepts. A theme should illuminate some aspect of human nature/experience.

Consider this document from the Ontario Privacy Comissioner. How might we relate it to the story? What might have happened had these incidents occurred in Canada?

Allusion: Consider the allusions in the film. To what do they refer? How do they extend our understanding of the theme? Characters? Plot?

Homework: Due Dec 3

Finish the plot diagram and write a statement of theme for "Tagged" (1 sentence). Prepare to discuss the film during our next class (we will talk about themes in a "round table" style discussion.