What is a theme in a story or poem

1 answer

A theme in a story or poem is a central idea or underlying message that the author wants to convey to the reader. It is a recurring or dominant topic or subject that can be expressed as a generalization about human experience or behavior. Themes often explore universal concepts and can encompass a wide range of emotions, values, or societal issues. Some common themes include love, death, redemption, power, identity, isolation, coming of age, and the human condition. Themes can be explicit and directly stated, or they can be implicit and require the reader to analyze and interpret the text to identify the theme.