Themes and characters

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A theme is a full sentence stating what a work says about a topic — a claim you could argue ("memory can trap us"), not a single word ("memory").

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If it is one word, it is a topic; if you can write it as a sentence with an arguable claim, it is a theme.

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A repeated image, object or phrase (a locked door, the sea) a writer uses to build a theme.

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Repetition, contrast, symbol, and key moments (turning points).

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A concrete object that stands for an abstract idea (a fading photograph for memory).

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Fitting a short quotation smoothly inside your own sentence, in quotation marks, then explaining what it shows.

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The pattern for supporting a theme: make the claim, give a short embedded quotation, explain what it shows.

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The central character the work follows, whose choices drive the story.

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What a character wants and why — the desire or fear that explains their actions.

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How a character is different at the end from the start (proud to humbled); movement usually carries a theme.

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A minor character whose contrast highlights a trait in the protagonist.

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Show the theme through what happens to a character: name the character, point to a turning moment with a short quotation, then say what theme it carries.