What strategies are best for identifying the implied main idea in a work of literature?

Answer 1

The main idea of a work of literature is called the "theme," which is basically the main point or sometimes multiple points of the work.

Strategies of identifying the theme or themes include asking questions such as "why is the author telling this story?" or "what, if any, lessons does the main character learn at the end?".

Other strategies include contextual research, which is basically research outside the scope of the primary text. The Biographical Approach, for example, includes researching areas of the author's life. This may reveal his motivations or that his work is very similar to an actual event which occurred in his life (e.g. Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour").

Other approaches include the Psychological Approach and the Marxist Approach. Psychoanalysis of characters can sometimes reveal an author's attempt to expose rare psychiatric conditions or commonly misunderstood illnesses that actually exist in society, like depression. The Marxist Approach, despite its name, is simply an analysis of socioeconomic aspects that can exist in a text. In some instances, these can be subtle and actually unknowingly included by the author. The socioeconomic conditions that existed in a society during the time of the author's writing could have perhaps influenced his work. For example, a story that contains a character who beats his wife may appear to be an indictment of spousal abuse; however, if such actions were commonly accepted by society during that time period, the story's theme may be something entirely different, and the abusive character may actually be the story's heroic protagonist.