What is the theme of the work? This is a definition of its content. There is an inextricable logical connection between the theme and idea of each literary work .
What is the theme of the work?
If you raise the issue of the theme of the work, then intuitively everyone understands what it is. It just explains from its point of view.
The theme of the work is that which underlies this or that text. It is with this basis that the most difficulties arise, because it is impossible to determine it unambiguously. Someone believes that the theme of the work is the problems that are described there, the so-called life material. For example, the theme of love relationships, war or death.
Also, the theme can be called the problems of human nature. That is, the problem of personality formation, moral principles or a conflict of good and bad deeds.
Another topic may be the verbal basis. Of course, it is rarely possible to find works on words, but this is not about that. There are texts in which puns come to the fore. Suffice it to recall the work of V. Khlebnikov's "Werewolf." His verse has one feature - the words in a line are read the same in both directions. But if you ask the reader what, in fact, the verse was, he is unlikely to answer something intelligible. Since the main highlight of this work is the lines that can be read both from left to right, and from right to left.
The theme of the work is a multidimensional component, and scientists put forward one or the other hypothesis regarding it. If we talk about something universal, then the theme of a literary work is the "foundation" of the text. That is, as Boris Tomashevsky once said: “A theme is a generalization of basic, significant elements.”
What is an idea?
If the text has a theme, then there must be an idea. An idea is a writer’s intention, which pursues a certain goal, that is, what the writer wants to present to the reader.
Figuratively speaking, the theme of the work is what made the creator create the work. So to say, the technical component. In turn, the idea is the "soul" of the work, it answers the question of why this or that creation was created.
When the author is completely immersed in the theme of his text, really feels it and is imbued with the problems of the heroes, then an idea is born - spiritual content, without which the page of the book is just a set of dashes and circles.
Learning to find
For example, you can give a short story and try to find its main topic and idea:
- Autumn rain did not bode well, especially late at night. All residents of the small town knew about this, so the light in the houses had long gone out. In all but one. It was an old mansion on a hill outside the city, which was used as an orphanage. In this terrible downpour on the threshold of the building, the teacher found a baby, therefore there was a terrible bustle in the house: to feed, bathe, change clothes and, of course, tell a fairy tale - this is the main tradition of the old orphanage. And if someone from the city dwellers knew how grateful the child who was found on the doorstep would be, they would answer the soft knock on the door that sounded in every house that terrible rainy evening.
In this small passage, two themes can be distinguished: abandoned children and an orphanage. In fact, these are the basic facts that made the author create the text. Then you can trace that the introductory elements appear: a foundling, a tradition and a terrible thunderstorm, which made all the city residents lock themselves in houses and turn off the lights. Why is the author talking specifically about them? These introductory descriptions will be the main idea of the passage. They can be generalized by saying that the author speaks to the problem of mercy or disinterestedness. In a word, he tries to convey to every reader that, regardless of weather conditions, you need to remain human.
How is the topic different from the idea?
The topic has two differences. Firstly, it defines the meaning (main content) of the text. Secondly, the topic can be revealed both in large works and in small short stories. The idea, in turn, shows the main goal and task of the writer. If you look at the presented passage, you can say that the idea is the main message from the author to the reader.
Determining the theme of a work is not always easy, but such a skill will be useful not only in literature lessons, but also in everyday life. It is with its help that it will be possible to learn to understand people and enjoy pleasant communication.