Education, Secondary education and schools
How to determine the theme of the text? Algorithm for performing exercises. Examples
In Russian tests, there are often tasks like "Read the text." Define its topic. " It would seem that there is no place for simplicity, but for some reason it is on such elementary questions that many graduates get stuck while passing the USE and even university students.
Definition
In order to understand how to determine the topic of the text, you first need to find out what it is. Definitions from the textbooks, as a rule, are formulated too abstrusely, and in fact everything is extremely simple.
The theme is what or about whom is said in the text. It can be anything - from the principle of the internal combustion engine to the life of Alexander Pushkin. |
Let's try to practice. Think about how you can briefly formulate the themes of famous works? Here are a few examples:
- L. N. Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina" - the love story of a married noblewoman and young officer Vronsky.
- G. Troepolsky, "White Bim Black Ear" - life through the eyes of a dog that has lost a loving master.
- MA Bulgakov, "The Heart of a Dog" - the experience of Professor Preobrazhensky on the transplantation of the dog's heart and its consequences.
- A. Green, "Scarlet Sails" - the life of the girl Assol, who lives in anticipation of the prince, who, according to the prediction, should sail to her on a ship with scarlet sails.
- A. Dumas, "The Three Musketeers" - the adventures of the three musketeers and D'Artagnan, who arrived in Paris to join the elite royal guard.
As you can see, if you at least approximately know what is going on in a book or an article, there will be no problems with how to determine the theme of the text. In addition, often the answer is directly in the title (for example, "War and Peace", "Three Comrades", "Romeo and Juliet", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer").
Theme, idea, problem: what's the difference?
But now we have got close to the most difficult moment. How to determine the theme of the text, even the child intuitively understands, then where does the confusion come from? The fact is that in literature there also exist the concepts "basic thought" and "text problem", very similar in meaning. In everyday life, we often use them as synonyms.
How to stop confusing these concepts? We forget the long and intricate wording of textbooks and try to understand the meaning of these terms.
| The main idea (idea) of the text is what the author wants to tell the reader about. To convey his thoughts and feelings, lead to certain conclusions, he uses the characters of characters, various descriptions and artistic techniques. The idea is what motivates the writer to take up the pen, the deep motive of any work. That is how he felt and understood the topic. |
| The problem of the text is a complex issue that does not have a unique solution. The author defends his opinion about what is right and what is not (it is expressed by the main idea), and as if suggests to ponder the reader. It is this deep contradiction that underlies all conflicts and clashes in the work. |
In fact, remember what the difference between a theme, a basic idea and a text problem is quite easy. For convenience, we have designed the main points in the form of a table.
| Subject | Idea (Main thought) | Problem | |
| The Essence | What is described in the text (events, people, phenomena, etc.) | The author's goals and personal opinion are what he tries to bring to the reader | The global question, which the author discusses |
| What questions are answered | What is the story about? | What do I feel at this moment? | What kind of large-scale problems does the text make you think about? |
| Who is the main character? | What should a good person do in this case? | Why were the characters in this situation? | |
| Where and when do events occur? | What conclusions need to be drawn from this situation? | What should you pay attention to modern society? | |
| Features | "Reporting" about the events of the work, a description of the place, the characters, their thoughts and feelings | Personal opinion of the writer, his attitude to the characters and events | There are at least two sides to the coin, and every opinion deserves the right to exist |
| Does not contain subjective estimates | Can contain assessments good / bad, correct / incorrect | Not tied to the plot and heroes, affects global conflicts - religious, political, social | |
| Enumerates the facts - who, what and why did | Demonstrates the position of the author about the problem of the text - what is the reason, how does this affect society, and so on. | Expressed in the form of a question | |
| Examples | Tour of St. Petersburg | Petersburg is a city where pages of ancient novels come to life, and each street has its own history | Why you need to learn to notice the beautiful around you? |
| Rescuing the homeless puppy | Caring for the smaller brothers, a man shows his best qualities - the ability to empathize, kindness and responsibility | Who is to blame for the fact that there are so many homeless animals on the streets? | |
| Importance of proper nutrition | For human health, it is important that the diet included the products of all groups - meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and cereals | Is it possible to lead a healthy lifestyle in the modern world? |
"Eternal" themes
People always write about what is happening around them, so each historical period has its own characteristic themes. So, now very few people will undertake to describe the events of the October Revolution or the hardships of serfdom.
However, when talking about how to determine the main theme of the text, it should be noted that there are so-called "eternal" themes - those in which at all times readers will recognize their experiences and problems:
- Love, the birth of tender feelings and the bitterness of parting;
- Fathers and children (clash of values and views of different generations);
- Opposition of good and evil;
- Friendship and betrayal;
- Growing up and becoming a person - as life circumstances change the nature and views.
These themes can be traced in one way or another in almost all the artistic texts. Therefore, when performing the analysis, think about what kind of common human values and problems the author is concerned with.
How to determine the theme of the text in 5 minutes
1. Re-read the title . It can contain hints that will help to understand what will be discussed in the text. This is especially true of small stories and articles, in which the author immediately turns to the point. Remember, however, that headings can be associative, metaphorical, or paradoxical.
2. Study the text. Mentally select for yourself the basic semantic blocks and determine how they are related (in time, logically, etc.). For convenience, you can sketch a small plan.
3. Write out key sentences . In each paragraph, select a phrase that contains a maximum of useful information necessary for understanding the material.
4. Cut it down . Now your task is to "throw" out of these proposals all unnecessary. Artistic tricks, additional details, complex turns, actions. As a result, only the main keywords and phrases should remain.
5. Distribute word combinations by their importance . To determine the main theme of the text, you need to write them in a column in descending order of importance. That is, first of all we write those words and phrases, without which it is impossible to understand what is said in the text.
6. Formulate the topic . For a basis we take key words which we have collected at the previous stage. Unlike the idea, the topic should be extremely concise. Do not stretch it to a full sentence - ideally try to invest in 5-6 words (for example, "How to learn to forgive" or "Healing power of classical music").
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