Side by Side
How can you figure out what themes two stories share?
Goal:
Goal:
Like other reading skills, looking for recurring themes (themes that appear in more than one story) requires you to use a series of steps. Read each step below, and study the example beneath the step.
Read the first story. List all the possible themes.
Themes in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz include the value of friendship, good vs. evil, and looking inside yourself for what you need.
Read the second story--with your list of themes nearby. Look for those themes.
The themes friendship and good vs. evil also appear in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Compare how the two stories show the theme. How are they alike?
Both The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn show friends on a journey together, helping each other. In both stories, good wins out over evil.
Contrast the two stories. How are they different?
In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, four friends travel together toward a specific place. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, only two friends travel together, and they are running away from something--not towards something.
Question
Why is it a good idea to compare themes in stories?