What We Did Today:
Today, students finished and turned in yesterday's "Think" questions. Then, we watched a Study Sync video over theme, and began the questions below. We will continue our discussion Tuesday. Monday, we will be in the library for orientation. Tuesday, we have a brief reading quiz over "The Necklace." See syllabus in an earlier post to find directions to sign up for remind if you want texts about all of the things upcoming in class!
Activity Questions:
Read this passage from “The Necklace” to determine the answers to the follow-up questions.
The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious. Her frock was ready, however. Her husband said to her one evening:
"What is the matter? Come, you have seemed very queer these last three days."
And she answered:
"It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken. I would almost rather not go at all."
"You might wear natural flowers," said her husband. "They're very stylish at this time of year. For ten francs you can get two or three magnificent roses."
She was not convinced.
"No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich."
Part A
Which of the following restates a theme found in this passage of the story?
Part B
Which sentence or phrase from the passage supports your answer?
Text from Handout to Read:
THEME
Identification and Application:
Model:
Identifying the theme or themes in a short story is essential to understanding a work of fiction. Readers can often infer themes by examining a character’s thoughts, actions, and dialogue. In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, notice how the author depicts Mathilde and her husband in the fourth paragraph of the story:
When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth in use three days, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that," she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry that peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvelous plates and of the whispered gallantries to which you listen with a sphinxlike smile while you are eating the pink meat of a trout or the wings of a quail.
When M. Loisel says, “Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that,” it is clear he is content with what is in front of him. In contrast, Mathilde imagines the physical appearance of a wealthy life, right down to the “shining silverware” and the people (“ancient personages”) and animals (“strange birds”) in the pattern of the tapestry on the wall. These details illustrate her admiration of appearances and a longing for a different, richer life.
Mathilde also concentrates on the social elements of this imagined luxurious banquet. She pictures herself with a “sphinxlike smile” (a smile that does not indicate her true mood) while men flatter her with their “whispered gallantries.” Mathilde enjoys the image of herself as an admired guest, which illustrates her pride. The passage sets up two strong contrasts: between her husband’s simple happiness and her own discontent, and between her actual life and her imagined life.
He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was weeping. Two great tears ran slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth.
"What's the matter? What's the matter?" he answered.
By a violent effort she conquered her grief and replied in a calm voice, while she wiped her wet cheeks:
"Nothing. Only I have no gown, and, therefore, I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I am."
He was in despair.
In this passage, M. Loisel has just surprised his wife with an invitation to an important ball. But even though she finally has what she wanted, Mathilde is “weeping” and full of grief because she doesn’t have a gown to wear. She insults her husband by suggesting that his colleagues’ wives are “better equipped” than she is. Her grief is so severe that she can only overcome it with a “violent effort.” Her pride in her appearance prevents her from appreciating her husband’s gift and from allowing herself to go to the ball. In contrast, when his wife is upset, M. Loisel “was in despair.” He wants her to be happy and does not quite seem to understand why his gift doesn’t please her.
By comparing and contrasting character thoughts, actions, and dialogue in these passages, readers can begin to identify some major ideas in “The Necklace”: longing for an imaginary luxury, resentment about one’s place in life, and excessive pride. These ideas interact and build on one another to create a complex, overarching theme for the story: “Longing too much for imaginary wealth can make people excessively proud, and resentful about the good things they actually have.” Mathilde has a happy, loving husband, enough food, and a home, but she can only see what she doesn’t have.
Today, students finished and turned in yesterday's "Think" questions. Then, we watched a Study Sync video over theme, and began the questions below. We will continue our discussion Tuesday. Monday, we will be in the library for orientation. Tuesday, we have a brief reading quiz over "The Necklace." See syllabus in an earlier post to find directions to sign up for remind if you want texts about all of the things upcoming in class!
Activity Questions:
Read this passage from “The Necklace” to determine the answers to the follow-up questions.
The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious. Her frock was ready, however. Her husband said to her one evening:
"What is the matter? Come, you have seemed very queer these last three days."
And she answered:
"It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken. I would almost rather not go at all."
"You might wear natural flowers," said her husband. "They're very stylish at this time of year. For ten francs you can get two or three magnificent roses."
She was not convinced.
"No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich."
Part A
Which of the following restates a theme found in this passage of the story?
- Wealth makes people unhappy.
- It’s important to stick to your convictions, no matter what.
- Pride can make a person very unhappy.
- Beauty can be bought like anything else.
Part B
Which sentence or phrase from the passage supports your answer?
- “‘No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich.’”
- “The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious.”
- “She was not convinced.”
- “‘They're very stylish at this time of year. For ten francs you can get two or three magnificent roses.’”
Text from Handout to Read:
THEME
Identification and Application:
- Themes are not usually stated directly, except in fables.
- Themes recur across an entire work or a significant subsection of it.
- The theme of a work is separate from, but related to, the topic. It is important not to confuse the two. A topic is what the text talks about, while a theme is a message about that topic. For example: if the topic is “wealth,” a theme might be, “wealth can make people lose sight of what’s important.”
- Usually readers have to infer themes. You can infer the themes presented in a text by considering:
- a narrator’s or speaker’s tone
- a pattern of images throughout the work
- characters’ thoughts and actions
- characters’ dialogue
- comparing and contrasting two or more characters
- the central conflict in a story’s plot
- the resolution of the conflict in a story’s plot
- details about the setting
- the title and chapter headings
- Remember that theme is a central idea and that a work of literature can have more than one theme. When you are reading, try to identify several themes.
- A theme can be expressed as a word or phrase, for example: competition. Such broad themes will emerge as you begin to read and do not yet know what an author’s final message will be. After you finish a work and think about its resolution, you will be able to infer specific themes, which can be expressed as statements about life: “Competition can poison friendships.”
- Themes can interact and build on one another. Once you have identified some themes, think about how they might relate to produce a complex message. For example, a poem that shows how competition poisons friendships might also show how it drives competitors to greater achievement. “Competition is bad” is too simple a message.
Model:
Identifying the theme or themes in a short story is essential to understanding a work of fiction. Readers can often infer themes by examining a character’s thoughts, actions, and dialogue. In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, notice how the author depicts Mathilde and her husband in the fourth paragraph of the story:
When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth in use three days, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that," she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry that peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvelous plates and of the whispered gallantries to which you listen with a sphinxlike smile while you are eating the pink meat of a trout or the wings of a quail.
When M. Loisel says, “Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that,” it is clear he is content with what is in front of him. In contrast, Mathilde imagines the physical appearance of a wealthy life, right down to the “shining silverware” and the people (“ancient personages”) and animals (“strange birds”) in the pattern of the tapestry on the wall. These details illustrate her admiration of appearances and a longing for a different, richer life.
Mathilde also concentrates on the social elements of this imagined luxurious banquet. She pictures herself with a “sphinxlike smile” (a smile that does not indicate her true mood) while men flatter her with their “whispered gallantries.” Mathilde enjoys the image of herself as an admired guest, which illustrates her pride. The passage sets up two strong contrasts: between her husband’s simple happiness and her own discontent, and between her actual life and her imagined life.
He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was weeping. Two great tears ran slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth.
"What's the matter? What's the matter?" he answered.
By a violent effort she conquered her grief and replied in a calm voice, while she wiped her wet cheeks:
"Nothing. Only I have no gown, and, therefore, I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I am."
He was in despair.
In this passage, M. Loisel has just surprised his wife with an invitation to an important ball. But even though she finally has what she wanted, Mathilde is “weeping” and full of grief because she doesn’t have a gown to wear. She insults her husband by suggesting that his colleagues’ wives are “better equipped” than she is. Her grief is so severe that she can only overcome it with a “violent effort.” Her pride in her appearance prevents her from appreciating her husband’s gift and from allowing herself to go to the ball. In contrast, when his wife is upset, M. Loisel “was in despair.” He wants her to be happy and does not quite seem to understand why his gift doesn’t please her.
By comparing and contrasting character thoughts, actions, and dialogue in these passages, readers can begin to identify some major ideas in “The Necklace”: longing for an imaginary luxury, resentment about one’s place in life, and excessive pride. These ideas interact and build on one another to create a complex, overarching theme for the story: “Longing too much for imaginary wealth can make people excessively proud, and resentful about the good things they actually have.” Mathilde has a happy, loving husband, enough food, and a home, but she can only see what she doesn’t have.