In a class discussion, ask students to share their prior knowledge of themes. What is a theme and what are some examples from books or films they have enjoyed?
Clarify for students that themes are the central ideas, messages or lessons that storytellers want to communicate to the audience. Themes are like a thread woven through a story, implicitly connecting different events, interactions and imagery. These are often ‘big ideas’, like identity, friendship, courage or justice. Themes work to bring coherence and deeper meaning to the overall plot.
Understanding how to recognise themes improves our understanding of the story and our responses as audience members. For example, this skill helps us to:
- Understand a character’s feelings, motivations and actions.
- Identify hidden meanings within the story.
- Learn lessons from the story and apply these in our own lives.
- Appreciate different ways of thinking about the world.
To practise this skill, divide students into small groups to identify and examine the themes in Runt. Have students reflect on the film and discuss likely themes, providing examples from the text to support their thinking. Student groups could record their themes and evidence on a T-chart.
When groups have completed their charts, ask each group to present their findings to the class. Facilitate a whole class discussion about the identified themes and evidence, whether different groups identified similar themes, and why individuals might have interpreted the film differently.
Teachers can extend this conversation by reading aloud ‘The Themes of Runt’, which details Craig Silvey’s reflections on his story's themes. (See the Behind the Scenes section in this resource).