How do you find the heart of the story?

Answer 1

The "heart" of a story is the theme, or the message that the author is trying to convey. A short story or poem will usually have one theme, while a book may have several themes.

The theme, or heart of the story is not the same thing as the plot. The plot is what happens in the story - the theme is what message you should take away from the story.

Here are some things you can do to find the heart of the story: The heart of the story is the lesson that the author offers or what the author wants you to take away from the reading experience.

• Look at the title - sometimes the author will give you a clue to what message he is trying to convey by giving the story a telling title.
• Look for repetitions - are there any symbols or patterns that the author repeats? These will give you a clue about the theme.
• Look for allusions -
• Look for details and ask yourself "What message is the author trying to send by including this detail or fact?"
• Look at the main character - is this character someone with whom the author wants you to identify, or are you supposed to dislike the character? Is the author sending you a message by the way the character acts?
• Look at the conflict - often, the things that oppose the characters are the author's way of getting a point across.
• Look for generalizations - try to generalize from the actual events of the story to broader topics.

It is a matter of identifying patterns.