1.3. Thematic formation. Gist and problem identification

The text can be confined to certain thematic content setting up the flow of information in the form of a message.

Theme is the subject of a literary work, the sphere of reality (some phenomenon pertaining to human life or nature) which is treated by the writer in a piece of literature. It describes a central or leading topic, commonly of high topicality, of great social importance, or of eternal value.

Themes are often expressed through conflict, which may be external (between the characters and the society) and internal (when characters are in opposition to themselves).

The key topical points must be included into the analysis that will enable you to check that they are relevant and represent a logical natural progression while maintaining overall thematic balance. In order to comprehend the theme, it is required to examine closely what the author is implying, i.e. the meaning beyond the action. When looking at the thematic structure, you might look for conflicts, ambiguities, uncertainties, tensions, key relationships, as these give clear guides to the direction of meanings in the text.

Thematic content involves presentation of states-of-affairs and covering processes, activities, relationships, participants, attendant circumstances, ascribed attributes. Normally, the themes or main concerns emerge through the details of the narration, images and symbols, the narrative tone and stance. More commonly and very importantly, a thematic pattern may be repeated and varied at different levels of abstraction: not just chains of individual lexical items but chains of whole thematic formations can interact.

In many literary masterpieces of enduring value the themes are drawn from myth or the Bible and possess an archetypal character. For instance, biblical characters, ideas, and events stimulate the creative imagination of writers. Novelists reinterpret biblical happenings and personalities in accordance with the spirit of their own era and their own country. Mythological and biblical subject is inexhaustible. Bible assumes note-worthy prominence among the books that constituted Herman Melville’s background. In writing his novels Melville drew upon Biblical sources for certain themes: the theme of prophecy in most of his books; the theme of the Gospels in Pierre (1852)(in his devotion to the cause Isabel Pierre finally becomes identified with Jesus – the theme of the Sermon on the Mount); the theme of crucifixion in Billy Budd (1891) (the instinctive array of good and evil against each other is symbolized in the association of Claggart and Budd); the theme of the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament in Mardi (1849) and Billy Budd (1891) (the unrelieved pessimism of the Old Testament is shared by the greater number of Melville’s characters).

If we cast a glance at postmodernist writers the mythological themes and motifs are not alien to them. Contemporary American writer Don DeLillo explores different mythologemes: Eschatological (Apocalyptic) and Cosmogonic mythologemes in Point Omega (2010), White Noise (1989), Underworld (1998), Cosmopolis (2003), for example, the mythologeme of the City (Eric Parker’s journey around New York in 2000 in Cosmopolis constitutes the plot of the whole book), mythologeme of the world tree; Heroic mythologemes (mythologemes of way, initiation) in Americana (1971) and Cosmopolis (David Bell in Americana takes a symbolic journey to the West to overcome his stress and come to the roots); mythologemes of Death-Resurrection (mythologeme of Phoenix) and others.

The form of definition of the theme is either a noun, a nominal phrase or a nominative construction. For example, the themes of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1934) (the story about the ritual murder of a man) are the importance of justice and the value of compassion.

There are many messages communicated through the text, and what is seen on the surface is really only the tip of an iceberg. A certain sum of kernel arguments serve the purpose of disclosing the common idea of narration, i.e. the conception that permits one to speak of the solidity of the text. Three procedures must be performed:

• consider what is said, particularly subtleties of the imagery and the ideas expressed;

• assess how it is said, considering how the word choice, the ordering of ideas, sentence structure contribute to the meaning of the passage;

• explain what it means, tying the analysis of the passage back to the significance of the text as a whole.

Such orientation appears to be really helpful in showing how the resources of the text are used to create its meaningfulness.

Obviously, one is intended to recognize the problems posed (solved or unsolved); certain qualities of response, taste, experience, value are called forth so that to do ‘problem solving activities’, aimed at adequate understanding of structure of values, world-view, ideological assumptions. Any kind of writing tends to use cultural codes and the structuring devices of narrative in order to offer a complex understanding of the raised problems. One theme can raise different problems: social, political, moral, cultural, philosophical, aesthetic.

Concept and ideas are usually abstract rather than concrete, and that makes them more challenging to explain as writers can use a wide variety of techniques to bring them about. Idea is the main generalizing thought setting the base of the whole literary work; it expresses the author’s attitude to the theme described.

The idea is formulated as a complete utterance, a complete syntactic structure having the subject and the predicate of its own. In some cases the idea might be formulated by the writer: through characters’ speech, as a quotation of some prominent person or just a citation or a proverb.

The author’s idea presents one’s subjective evaluation, it can correspond to the reader’s view or not; the objective idea can exceed the author’s conclusions. In this respect summary comes up as an essential element presenting the basic meaning of a piece in your own words through condensing a passage without sacrificing its meaning. In particular, a summary is a short statement that contains an interpretation of the most important ideas in a text.

Questions

What is the theme of the extract? Does the story address any universal problem or experience, or does it teach a lesson? Does it reflect any particular set of religious or political beliefs? Start with the basic situation, and move to consider any key statements, any obvious or less obvious conflicts, tensions, ambiguities, key relationships. What is the main idea of the extract? To what problems does the story address? Are these problems just posed or solved? How are the arguments organized? What moral issues is the author concerned about? Which episodes make the main idea the most perceptible? Give a short summary of the text.

Language in use for analysis

to make explicit statements about

to be traced in the author’s outlook

to establish (set up) a conflict

to make inferences as to the theme

to give a perspective on the human misery of war

a compassionate and realistic observation of follies and foibles of humankind

to contain much thoughtful criticism

to show the clash between the values

a powerful call for

to organize the arguments for and against…

to resort to

by using the clues

to read between the lines

to be an advocate of

dominant impression

Themes – eternal/minor: life and death, good and evil, love, maternity, life struggle, human vices, war and peace, inequality, family life, education and upbringing, power of imagination, morbid power of money, multiculturalism

Basic conflict patterns: Man vs. Himself, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Supernatural, Man vs. God, Man vs. Technology

The title is suggestive of …/ might well be applied to …

The ideas are in the perfect keeping with…

The author confines himself to …

The author explores the subject by presenting different viewpoints…

The ideas intrigue me.

The excerpt presents the view on…

The passage is crucial for comprehension of…

The information contained in the text helps to work out the meaning …/ is concerned with moral issues

The texts suggests that…

The main ideas are inferred…

When skimming the extract for general ideas…

This information is helpful to illustrate the point which…

The passage offers a wonderful example of the way in which the author renders…

The ideas are reproduced with great precision testifying to …

It seems to be a battlefield of conflicting ideas…

Based on perfect knowledge of all aspects of life …

The text brings forth the main points of the issues… / It brings to light…

The passage is also significant as it sets forth the conception of … / ideas illustrative of the gravest issues of the time / sums up two widely different viewpoints / throws light upon the most vital problems of …

The development of understanding is further on enhanced by…

It provides the opportunity for new insights into …

The message of the story is significant and original, not a cliché.

The theme grows out of the events in the story.

The information is helpful to illustrate the point that…

The information contained in the text enables to work out the thematic items…

The reader is made fully aware of the theme…

In the present case the subject-matter is unmistakably discerned in …

The effect of adequate understanding of problems is achieved by means of facts brimful of meaning.

The problems embedded in the text…

What comes as the matter of the biggest concern is …

The issues put forward by the author cover the areas …

The text covers / focuses on / tackles the problem of…

It is made quite clear that …

The effect is further enhanced by…

The story is of interest because…

The would-be solution to the problem is seen as the only way to true morality.

This excerpt allows scope for personal involvement and the opportunity to express the personal response to …

The author is concerned about moral issues…

The text aims at a psychological influence on the readers to convince them of the reality and authenticity of the described topic/subject

This is achieved by means of …/ by reference to events, personalities

It is a lively account of the circumstances and the factors which led to the development of …

The writer is basically describing…

This is an evident answer to the problem of…

This prose touches life at so many points that every reader will find what he/she alone wishes to discover.

The passage deals with… / focuses on…

The extract is aimed at acquainting the reader with some disputable problems of social / political / economic aspects of life.