What is the theme of the text and how to define it?

Working with the text is something that you need to learn, gradually accumulating experience and the ability to quickly and correctly navigate the thoughts of others, set out on paper. Before you start working with the text, you need to find out what the text is, what is the theme of the text, the idea of how to isolate micro-themes in it and divide it into meanings.

Text: main features and criteria

To this day, there has not been a single and precise definition of the concept of "text" in linguistics. Attempts to define it were undertaken by MV Lomonosov. Such well-known linguists and literary critics as I. R. Gal'perin and M. M. Bakhtin attempted to reveal the basic laws of text construction in their work. Researchers are arguing about some of its signs. The simplest concept is the following: the text is a set of sentences related to each other in meaning and united by a common idea. The text is also defined as a certain structural and thematic integrity. Special controversy is caused by the form of the text. Some scholars note that formally the text can consist of one sentence. Others refute this idea. One way or another, there are a number of features that can be used to determine this phenomenon.

Characteristics of the text

The first and most basic is the single theme and thought of the text. This is what it says about him. A thought can be identified with an idea. The idea is what the work is for, what the author wants to say. Fables or poems can serve as a vivid example. For example, I. Krylov's fable "Monkey and glasses". This is a fable about how a monkey could not find use of points because of her ignorance. However, the idea of the text is more profound: people sometimes do not appreciate what they have, because they simply do not know something or do not want to know. The idea of a fable is always expressed in morality (that is written at the very end of the work). In poetry and prose works, most often the general is shown through the private. For example, when talking about the fate of an individual hero, writers have in mind the misfortune or guilt of the whole society. You can not confuse the topic and idea. For example, if the life of a writer, actor or politician can become a topic of the text, then the idea will necessarily be a demonstration of his positive or negative qualities or the call to become like him. The idea always contains a goal.

Knowing what a theme text is not enough. It must be remembered that the second sign of the text is connectivity. All sentences and paragraphs are logically or chronologically related. Therefore, when creating your own work, do not forget about the consistency and logic of the presentation. Any text consists of an introduction, the main part and the conclusion. As a rule, these parts are separated formally (that is, they are arranged in separate paragraphs). However, this rule is not the law.

The third sign is the semantic unity and completeness. Any text should be completed, even if it's a small passage. In it, the theme and thought must be fully revealed.

Types of text themes

In the text, you can identify the main theme and micro topics (subtopics). So, what is the main theme of the text? It should unite all the text. As a rule, it is indicated in the title or can be formulated at the beginning of the work. Subtopics, as a rule, correspond with paragraphs. How many paragraphs - so many microtemes.

How to work with text?

To properly understand the text, you must carefully read it. Try to immediately determine what is the main theme of the text: whether the person, nature, work, study, knowledge, war, love, etc. Next, highlight the key words and key motives. Only then you can understand the author's opinion. If the author created the text, then he wanted to express his point of view about this or that phenomenon. Pay special attention to specific examples, quotes, direct speech of the characters of the text (if any). Be sure to divide the text into microtemes. Make a plan, numbering all subtopics.

Why do I need to select themes and micro topics?

If you analyze the text or write a statement on it, then it is necessary to strictly follow the sequence and course of thought of the author. That is why it is necessary to find all the sub-themes and skillfully combine them into a single whole. This is especially important when writing a condensed presentation. Try to pay special attention to the links between paragraphs, so that the finished presentation is coherent and logically aligned. Having lost at least one microteam, you can completely miss the idea of the text and not convey what the author wanted to say.

The main variants of the texts

So, what is the theme of the text? This is what the author tells about. Most often, the authors touch on the so-called eternal themes - for example, the theme of war and peace. Ideas that the authors want to realize may be different: the need to repay duty to the Motherland, the patriotism of people as the basis of character, the unnaturalness and horror of war, and so on.

Another frequently encountered topic is love. What ideas can be implemented in texts with such a theme? For example, love knows no social boundaries, love is always a disappointment (as in the poems of M.Yu. Lermontov, for example, "The Beggar"), love is the most luminous feeling in a person's life, etc.

Among the frequently occurring topics, the following can be noted: fathers and children, friendship, the search for meaning in life, nature, the movement of time, human feelings, betrayal, duty and many others. Similar topics are covered in the text-reasoning. But in the narrative genres the themes are more specific: some specific case, an incident, the fate of an individual.

To understand what a text topic is, it is possible only after several attempts of independent analysis. A competent analysis of the text requires thoughtful reading and painstaking analysis.