Identifying Theme in "Nadia the Willful"

"Nadia the Willful" Background: The Bedouins, the group featured in today's story, are an Arab people of the Sahara and the desert lands of the Middle East. The leader of a Bedouin tribe or clan is called a sheik. Bedouins live as nomads, or wanderers, searching the desert for oases (placed with water and pasture) where they can settle with their goats, sheep, camels, and horses. When water becomes scare, the group moves on. Life in the desert is hard and dangerous. Food is scarce, sandstorms are common, and temperatures can reach up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 Today's Learning Objective   Identify the theme of a story.

Identifying Theme Google Slideshow  Over the last few days we have spent time analyzing some of our favorites stories, books, and movies and trying to identify their themes. Let's take a look at what some of you came up with as part of the 'Identifying Theme' Google Slideshow.

Identifying Theme in "Nadia the Willful"  Today will be reading a wonderful piece of short fiction entitled "Nadia the Willful" and try to identify its theme. You can find the story here, as as well as on page 67 of your Language of Literature textbook. First, examine the "Background to the Story" section, as well as the images featured throughout the text. Take note of the setting of this story. Read the "Text Analysis: Conflict and Theme" section to remind yourself what a conflict is and how it can help a reader determine the theme of a story. 

As we read "Nadia the Willful" together, we will also pay special attention to the characters and their actions, speech, thoughts, and how they change, as clues to determining the story's theme. You can find the assignment Nadia the Willful - Characters and Theme in your Language Arts Google Classroom. (This assignment will be due next Friday, September 25.)

Homework  (1.) Complete and 'turn in' assignments from the past week by tomorrow, Friday, September 18, which include: Text Marking: “On Turning 10”, Identifying Fragments - Practice, and Identifying Theme. (2.) Read your A.R. book at home for at least 30 minutes and, if you choose, make a reading log entry using the Digital Reading Log. (Remember you must have made at least two entries by the end of the day tomorrow.)