Senior English Critical Writing Handbook - Selwyn House School

spirit of freedom against the spirit of slavery; at the end, in the free air of the Uncharted Forest,her protagonist sings a victory anthem containing his beliefs. In Rand’s book, setting not onlydetermines action but also symbolizes theme.One special symbolic setting involves pathetic fallacy (the figurative implication that thesituations of the characters provoke and reflect the concern and participation of the physical andspiritual environment). In Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, for example, Gatsby’s struggle to identifywith the values of East Egg rather than with those of West Egg takes place on the roadbetween the two, where the gigantic billboard face of Dr. Eckleberg judges the rightness ofGatsby’s decision.THEMEThe theme of a work of fiction is the idea the plot demonstrates, in its resolution, to be theauthor’s fundamental version of the truth. Believing, for example, that it is impossible to reshapethe present to conform with illusory past desires, Fitzgerald plots Gatsby’s attempt to reshapehis own past in such a way that when Gatsby tries to fulfill his obsession for Daisy, hemeets his death. The first business of an essay about theme is, naturally, to identify the maintheme by examining the author’s resolution of the plot, an action that shows which side of themajor conflict he approves.The next business, still within the introductory paragraph, is to identify whatever subsidiary“truths” (sub-themes) work with the main theme. Here is a list of a few common themes expressedas aphorisms:All that glitters is not gold.The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.Don’t count your chickens before the eggs_ have hatched.Never cry, “Wolf:”Do not be ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.Behave towards everyone as if receiving a great guest.The glory is never in falling, but in rising every time you fall.Doubt is the key to knowledge.Fishes see the worm, not the hook.The best horse cannot wear two saddles.Defeat is not bitter if you don’t swallow it.When you can be yourself, why try to be someone else?A small leak will sink a great ship.Everyone is a moon and has a dark side he never shows.Minds are conquered by love and generosity, not by arms.The task of identification complete, the student should formulate a thesis statement; thesubstance of it should be that the author develops his themes through certain methods as outlinedbelow:Explicit Statement31