In tests in Russian, there are often tasks like "Read the text. Define its theme." It would seem that nowhere is simpler, but for some reason many graduates "stumble" on such elementary questions when passing the exam 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 textbooks, as a rule, are formulated too abstrusely, and yet everything is extremely simple.
A topic is what the text is talking about or about . It can be anything - from the principle of operation of the internal combustion engine to the life story of A.S. Pushkin. |
Let's try to practice. Think about how you can summarize the themes of famous works? Here are a few examples:
- L. N. Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina" - a love story of a married noblewoman and a young officer Vronsky.
- G. Troepolsky, "White Bim Black Ear" - life through the eyes of a dog that has lost a loving owner.
- M. A. Bulgakov, “Dog’s Heart” - Professor Preobrazhensky ’s experience in transplanting a person’s pituitary gland to a dog and its consequences.
- A. Green, "Scarlet Sails" - the life of a girl Assol, living in anticipation of a prince, who, according to a prediction, should sail to her on a ship with scarlet sails.
- A. Dumas, “The Three Musketeers” - the adventures of three musketeers and d'Artagnan, who arrived in Paris to join the ranks of the elite royal guard.
As you can see, if you even know about what the book or article is about, there will be no problems with how to determine the topic 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”).
Subject, idea, problem: what is the difference?
And now we got to the most difficult moment. How to determine the subject of a text, even a child intuitively understands, then where does the confusion come from? The fact is that in the literature there are also the concepts of "main idea" and "text problem", very similar in meaning. In addition, in everyday life we often use them as synonyms.
How to stop confusing these concepts? We forget the long and confusing wording from the 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, various descriptions and artistic techniques. The idea is what encourages the writer to take up the pen, the deepest motive of any work. That is how he felt and understood the topic. |
| The text problem is a complex issue that does not have an unambiguous solution. The author defends his opinion about what is right and what is not (it is expressed by the main idea), and, as it were, offers to reflect on the reader. It is this deep contradiction that underlies all conflicts and collisions in a work. |
In fact, remembering the difference between a topic, a basic idea and a text problem is quite easy. For convenience, we designed the main points in a table.
| Theme | Idea (main idea) | Problem |
| Essence | What is described in the text (events, people, phenomena, etc.) | The goals and personal opinion of the author are what he is trying to bring the reader to. | The global question that the author discusses |
| What questions is answered | What is described in the work? | What do I feel at this moment? | What major problems does the text make you think? |
| Who is the main character? | What should a good person do in this case? | Why did the heroes find themselves in such a situation? |
| Where and when do events take place? | What conclusions should be drawn from this situation? | What should modern society pay attention to? |
| Features | "Report" on the events of the work, a description of the place, the characters, their thoughts and feelings | Personal opinion of the writer, his attitude to characters and events | There are at least two sides to the coin, and each opinion deserves the right to exist. |
| Does not contain subjective ratings. | May contain grades good / bad, right / wrong | Not attached to the plot and heroes, affects global conflicts - religious, political, social |
| Lists facts - who, what, and why did | Demonstrates the position of the author regarding the problem of the text - what is the reason how it affects society, etc. | Expressed in the form of a question |
| Examples | A walk in St. Petersburg | Petersburg is a city where pages of old novels come to life, and each street has its own story | Why do you need to learn to notice the beauty around you? |
| Rescue a 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 stray animals on the streets? |
| The Importance of Proper Nutrition | For human health, it is important that the diet contains 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 specific theme. So, now few people will undertake to describe the events of the October Revolution or the hardships of life of serfs.
However, speaking about how to determine the main topic of the text, it should be noted that there are so-called "eternal" topics - those in which at all times readers will recognize their experiences and problems:
- love, the origin of tender feelings and the bitterness of parting;
- fathers and children (the clash of values and views of different generations);
- the opposition of good and evil;
- friendship and betrayal;
- growing up and becoming a person - how life circumstances change the character and views.
These themes are somehow traced in almost all literary texts. Therefore, when performing an analysis, think about what universal values and problems affect the author.
How to determine the subject of the text in 5 minutes
1. Reread the title . It may contain hints that will help you understand what will be discussed in the text. This is especially true for small stories and articles in which the author immediately goes to the point. Keep in mind that headings can be associative, metaphorical, or paradoxical.
2. Examine the text. Mentally highlight 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 the key sentences . In each paragraph, highlight the phrase that contains the maximum useful, necessary for understanding the material information.
4. Cut back . Now your task is to “throw out” all that is unnecessary from these proposals. Artistic techniques, additional details, complex turns, actions. As a result, only the main keywords and phrases should remain.
5. Assign phrases by importance . To determine the main topic 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 the text says.
6. Formulate a topic . We take as a basis the keywords that we 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 "The Healing Power of Classical Music").