• It is usually a big idea about life or about people.
• There can be more than one theme or idea in a passage, but usually, there is one that fits the whole passage.
• A theme is more than a word; it should be stated in a complete sentence.
• Topic + author's attitude = Theme

Questions to ask when looking for theme:

1. Has the main character changed?
2. What lessons has he or she learned?
3. Does the title reveal anything special about the story?
4. What is the conflict in the passage?
5. Does the narrator make any key statements about life or people?
6. Can this idea be supported by details in the passage?
7. Are the author's choice of plot, character, conflict connected or controlled by this idea?

You know a lot about evaluation already. When you score your own writing, you are evaluating, or judging it against a set of standards, or criteria. You are matching your writing to a target and making a decision about the quality of your writing.

Readers evaluate when they:

. . . compare, conclude, contrast, criticize, describe, discriminate, explain, justify, interpret, relate, summarize and support.

Evaluation is taking everything you know from the narrative and from life, and making a judgement:

• Is it logical? Does it make sense?
• Are conclusions presented by the author supported with enough information?
• What is the value of the story?

Readers ask:

Who is the author writing to? Me or another group of people? What response do they expect from their readers or from me? Should I laugh, cry, scream in terror or anger, jump up to fight for a cause, giggle, shudder, be convinced or not, swell with pride or warm with compassion?

Remember when you evaluate, you should have a set of standards to compare or judge the writing against. Just like the scoring criteria you've used for your own writing, you need to know what elements make a story great, average, or one you'll soon forget. You might use these questions as criteria.

Ask:

1. Does the setting seem believable? Does it add to the story?
2. Is the plot believable, or does it rely too much on chance or events that don't really belong with the rest of the story?
3. Are the characters believable? Are their motivations clear? Do they change or develop in the story and are the reasons for those changes clear and believable?
4. Does the dialogue sound natural?
5. Does the story's ending resolve the main conflict in a satisfying way?
6. Does the story have a theme or is the author's purpose only to entertain?
7. Is the writer's style interesting to read? Is the language fresh, imaginative, descriptive? Does it make me want to find another book by the same author? Does it make me want to talk with the author?

1. All chocolate is nutritious.
2. All students can learn.
3. People need oxygen to live.
4. Drugs are bad for you.
5. All four statements above are generalizations.

Generalizations are statements that apply to a whole group of people or things. The word ALL is a clue, as well as the name of a group of things, such as people, animals, clouds, vegetables, school, cars, musicians, clothing and the list could go on forever.

You might have felt an argument arising when you read some of the statements above. You have already started to evaluate the truth or validity of the statements and have judged some of the statements to be false generalizations.

Of course all chocolate is not nutritious; in fact there is only recent evidence showing a possible minor nutritious element of chocolate. Of course not all drugs are bad for you; aspirin, allergy spray, and chemotheraphy have positive effects if used as prescribed. Of course street drugs damage the user.

A true or valid generalization must be true for every individual or thing in the group. All people need oxygen is a valid generalization because there is not one human being who can live without oxygen. Valid generalizations must have lots of evidence; they are based on many many observations and experiences.

When you make a generalization from the events, characters, or ideas in a narrative passage, ask:

• Is it true in all cases?
• Is there any case in which it is not true?
• Is there evidence such as facts, examples, information from experts, to prove the generalization is true?

Merriam Webster says when you draw a conclusion, you make a thoughtful decision about something; you think about the evidence (supporting details and what you know ) and reach a logically necessary end by reasoning; you infer on the basis of evidence in the story.

The two keys are:

1. Evidence. Always always always be able to support your conclusion with evidence from the text. Don't take a side path and make statements that cannot be supported with evidence from the text. Even though you may have an opinion, you need to write about what the author says. Be able to prove it!
2. Logic. A conclusion has to make sense. It has to be reasonable. It has to be something you can explain clearly, and a friend or teacher will say, "Oh, yes, I understand. That makes total sense!"