Feel free to just skip over this; it's not going to be at all similar to the other posts, but I just really need to get this out.
I am an above-average student in pretty much everything. Yes, I do get things wrong, but I make up for it. My best subject for as long as I can remember has always been English. I've never been bad at it. I've been bad at science one year, I've been bad at math one year, I was bad at social studies once. But I've never been bad at English, Reading, Spelling, Literature, all the big ones. However, in all my sixteen years of living, there has been one topic that has been repeatedly covered and I have repeatedly failed to master. That topic is theme and symbolism.
As with pretty much everything covered that I've ever been taught, I learned the definition the first time around. It's a pretty simple definition: Theme-the underlying meaning of a text; Symbolism-a repeated object that represents an ideal or a quality. It's been taught and gone over since second grade when I was first taught to write a story. It was gone over at the same time as plot, character, setting, dialogue, all those literary elements. I understand all the other ones, but not theme and symbolism. So, simple solution, when I write stories, I don't use them.
But then I encounter the problem in the classroom setting. When we learn theme and symbolism over (which we do every year which bewilders me to no end), the class is asked to identify the theme in a particular work of fiction. Everyone else can do it. Whether they've been taught it repeatedly like me or it's just a nertle thing, they get it right off the bat. Guess who doesn't. Yep, that's right-Me.
It's not like I don't try, but I just don't get it. I've figured out why, too. I have a literal brain that perceives the direct meaning of things. I see the little details and compile them into the story. I have a great mind for fiction. I can understand what a character does, why they do it, and what they'll do in reaction to whatever happens. I can make a pretty accurate guess at what they're feeling based on the dialogue and what kind of character they are. I know the plot, I know the setting, and I am very good at it. I'm a brilliant writer, but I don't get theme.
I've said this to my teachers when theme and symbolism came up, and I attempted to answer the questions relating to them to the best of my ability, but the basic point is I don't get it and I'm not going to pretend I do, because what would be the point of that? However, nobody quite seems to get it, especially not my current English teacher. If someone tells me what the theme is, I can find all the evidence to support it. That's the easy part. But you can't expect me to find it on my own, because we'll probably both be a couple years older at least before I do. I love "1984". It's one of my favorite books, and apparently it has a very powerful theme. But it was news to me when I was told that. I saw it for the story, and the character's reactions. They were brilliant and logical and they made you think. But theme? What theme? I love "Fahrenheit 451", too, but theme? Wait, it has one? I didn't even notice. It doesn't occur to me.
When I read a story, I think about what the characters could be, what roles they could have, the story's possible historical context ("1984" was an easy one for this), I analyze the dialogue and interpret the character's emotions, I analyze the plot, I figure in all of the details and construct the setting in my head, I examine relationships and potential relationships and say to the characters, "She likes you! Isn't it obvious? If I could pick it out, you can." The first time I read a story, my brain's a little busy. The second time, I read it for pure enjoyment and look for things I may have missed. It never occurs to me to look for theme. I don't emotional react to the characters-I only did once in "Bridge to Terabithia", the movie, and it's one of my favorites-, I don't see symbols, and I can't find theme.
My English teacher doesn't quite seem to get this. I've told her why I don't get theme and symbolism. I've written it, and I think it's very obvious that I don't emotionally react with people at all. Horror stories don't scare me. Love stories don't choke me up. Humorous stories don't always make me laugh, it depends on the level of the jokes. I like science fiction, but I still don't feel with the characters. I sympathize-I know how they're feeling-, but I don't empathize-I don't feel for them. I was 9 or 10 years old before I told my mother that I loved her. In my early life my mom characterized me as a head with eyes, since I really didn't smile. Emotions are not my strong suit. I'm a thinker, not a feeler.
I've tried to get theme. This morning at about 8 AM, I looked up how to find theme in a story. On the third page I clicked on, I thought I'd finally found a teacher who understood, but then when I looked at a powerpoint he assembled, I discovered that I was wrong. He understood, but not how to teach me. Plus, he said that students who couldn't identify theme didn't have the ability for higher order thinking. I don't know about that. I think at a pretty high level. I just think very literally.
In 9th grade we read To Kill a Mockingbird. The symbolism in it was pretty obviously stated, when Miss Maudie started talking about why it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. They didn't eat up gardens or do anything wrong. They just sang sweet music for people. I don't remember any theme, or whether or not we discussed it, but I remember doing really great on the first semester final. I know that theme and symbolism aren't always stated outright, but do teachers know that? Just because I got all the questions on theme and symbolism right on one test doesn't mean that I get it. Test results are not always dependable. It depends on the type of question, the question itself, the student, the teacher, the content, all sorts of things, and any detective or anyone that works with what humans do, knows that you can't just trust one thing. You have to draw evidence from many sources before making a conclusion. I'm a science student. I know that. Teachers should know that if students do. Teachers should know more than the student. Sometimes they don't, but as a general rule they should know more than the student in at least one thing.
I don't have anything more to say right now, but I'm feeling better.
Hey Katie. I was hoping maybe I could help you with your struggle. Maybe you could look at this a different way. Another way to try to find a theme without futilely trying to establish an emotional connection with a story is by asking yourself more logic based questions such as, "why did the author even write this anyways?" Or, "what are they trying to teach me that I can apply to more than just the book?" Ex: brave new world = perfection requires too much control to be perfect or what is ethical to sacrifice/control in the name of the greater good? Also remember almost every story has more than one theme. So if you can pick one out and give evidence as to how that theme is shown no one can really say you're wrong even if they didn't see it. I hope this helps. If it doesn't though please respond.
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