"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi
ENG1D6U1L6: Tagged
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.