Common Themes in Literature

Confidence vs. insecurities

Overcoming fears
Appreciation/ gratitude
Acceptance/ tolerance
Kindness
Honesty
Teamwork/ goals/
collaboration
Overcoming adversities
Loss of innocence/ Coming of
age (Learning about the harsh
realities of the world)
Sacrifice (What will you do or
say to save/ help someone
else?)
Nature vs. nurture
Fall from grace (i.e., opening
Pandoras Box, tasting the
forbidden fruit, etc.)
Love (platonic - romantic)
Friendship (How far will you
go? Standing up for friends,
etc.)
Fate/ destiny (Are you in
control of your fate? Is there
such a thing?)
Revenge (Good vs. bad
outcomes, etc.)
Taking advantage of
The unexplained (mysterious
happenings which cannot be
reasonably explained)
The importance of education/
Intellectual education/ Moral
education
Bravery vs. cowardice
Racism and prejudice
Role of women, minorities,
etc.
Maturity vs. immaturity
Social class structure/
inequalities/ poverty
Code of conduct
Privacy and security
Uncertainty (Or, the
impossibility of certainty)
Life and death (mortality and
immortality/ circle of life)
The American Dream (Or, the
decline of it)
Time (the value of it)
Social change
Civilized vs. uncivilized society
Hatred and regret
The power of one
Innocence and experience
Choices and possibilities

Guilt vs. forgiveness

Family bond/ loyalty
Religion/ spirituality/ faith
Heroism
Freedom (Causes of/
consequences of)
Individuality vs. group
Liberty and authority
Fame and fortune
Greed and selfishness
Personal vs. public property
Commitment (marriage,
career, family, friends,
responsibilities, etc.)
Abuse (physically, emotionally,
etc.)
Life out of balance/ chaos vs.
order
Personal vs. group identity
(how is it defined?)
Beauty (is in the eye of the
beholder)
Life is short
Alienation/ shunned from
family, friends, life, society,
etc.
Value of life (in creatures big
and small)
Attraction
Purpose of life
War vs. peace
Betrayal/ breaking a bond
Desire to escape
Empowerment
Communication: verbal and
nonverbal
Ignorance vs. knowledge
Emptiness/ loneliness
Traditions vs. change
Government/ capitalism/
socialism/ communism
Responsibilities
Crime and the law
Peer pressure
Human needs
Patterns (in human
interaction, nature, etc.)
Conflict (Interpersonal,
intrapersonal, etc.)
Exploration
Relationships (purpose of, etc.)
Force (attracts, repels,
influences of, causes of)
Birth - life after loss, life
sustains tragedy
Coming of age - boy becomes
a man

Conformity - industrialization
and the conformity of man
Death - death as mystery,
death as a new beginning
Deception - appearance versus
reality
Discovery - conquering
unknown, discovering
strength
Duty
Escape - escape from family
pressures, escaping social
constraints
Fortune - a fall from grace and
fortune
Generation gap - experience
versus youthful strength
God and spirituality - inner
struggle of faith
Good and evil - the
coexistence of good and evil
on earth
Heroism - false heroism,
heroism and conflicting values
Home - security of a
homestead
Hope - hope rebounds
Hopelessness - finding hope
after tragedy
Individualism - choosing
between security and
individualism
Isolation - the isolation of a
soul
Journey - most journeys lead
back to home
Judgment - balance between
justice and judgment
Loss - loss of innocence, loss of
individualism
Love - love sustains/fades with
a challenge
Patriotism - inner conflicts
stemming from patriotism
Peace and war - war is tragic,
peace is fleeting
Power - Lust for power
Race relations - learned
racism
Sense of self - finding strength
from within
Suffering - suffering as a
natural part of human
experience
Survival - man against nature

Qu es la imaginera?

Son palabras, frases u oraciones que ayudan al lector a formar imgenes mentales. Existen 2 tipos de imaginera:
Los Detalles Sensorias y el Lenguaje Figurado.
Qu son los detalles sensoriales?

Son palabras, frases u oraciones en el texto que se relacionan a los 5 sentidos (vista, tacto, odo, olfato y gusto), y
ayudan al lector a visualizar lo que se est leyendo.
Ejemplos:

Vista: agua cristalina de color turquesa, restos de

caracoles trados por el oleaje.

Tacto: cosquilleo de la arena bajo los pies desnudos,

el clido sol con la llegada de una brisa fresca.
Qu es el lenguaje figurado?

Odo: las olas rompiendo en la playa, el graznido de

las gaviotas.
Olfato: bronceador olor a coco, el olor salado del
ocano

Gusto: agua salada del mar, limonada agria y dulce

El lenguaje figurado es una forma de crear imgenes mentales interesantes con el uso de palabras, usando un
lenguaje que tiene un significado ms profundo del que las palabras dicen.
Tipos de lenguaje figurado:

Smil o comparacin: Consiste en relacionar dos ideas, objetos, o un objeto y una idea, que se parecen
entre s. En la comparacin o smil tienen que utilizarse enlaces comparativos o palabras que expresan
semejanza (como, cual, tal, as, parecido a). Ejemplos: Tan liviano como una pluma,
Corri tan rpido como un rayo.
Metfora: es una comparacin entre dos trminos que aparentemente no tiene relacin entre s.
Ejemplos: Mi tiempo vale oro, Solo el tiempo lo dir, Me has robado una sonrisa.

Hiprbole: es una exageracin de un rasgo, caracterstica o cualidad de un objeto o persona. Ejemplos: Te

quiero hasta el infinito y ms all, Tengo tanta hambre, que me comera una vaca entera yo solo.
Personificacin: es cuando el escritor le da cualidades humanas a algo que no es humano. Ejemplos: El
banco llora cuando te sientas en l, La vaca platicaba con el toro, Las aguas de este ro invitan a baarse
dentro de ellas.

Onomatopeya: son palabras que demuestran una accin que est siendo realizada. Ejemplos:
El kikirik del gallo me despert, se oa el tictac de un reloj, Llama a la puerta: toc, toc. No contesta nadie.
Aliteracin: se refiere a la repeticin de palabras con sonidos de consonantes similares. Ejemplos: Pepe
pecas pica papas con un pico. Con un pico pica papas pepe pecas, Compr pocas copas, pocas copas
compr, como compr pocas copas, pocas copas pagar.