P LZ H ELP 01.02 Perspectives and Themes Worksheet
Complete all activities using the Japanese folktale “The Aged Mother.” The full text is included below.
Part 1: Tracking Themes in “The Aged Mother”
Read “The Aged Mother.” Then, select two topics and track their development through the text using the chart below. Answer in complete sentences and use examples from the story in your response.

Steps to Tracking Theme

Topic #1:

Topic #2:

Character
• What are the views and attitude of the character(s) toward the topic?
• How do these views and attitudes change from beginning to end?
• How does the character change from beginning to end?
Conflict
• How does the conflict relate to this topic?
• How is this conflict resolved? If not resolved, why?
• What does the way the conflict is resolved tell you about the character(s) and the topic?

Repetition
• What about the topic do the characters repeatedly focus on?
• Which words related to the topic are repeated throughout?
• Which ideas or images related to the topic do I see more than twice?

Setting
• Which elements of setting relate to the topic – historical context, mood, place, social environment, time, or weather?
• How is the topic treated in the setting? Does the treatment change if/when the setting changes?

Theme
Based on your responses, write a statement of theme for each topic.
Part 2: Characters’ Perspective in “The Aged Mother”
Authors develop and individualize their characters’ perspectives through the narrator’s words, the characters’ interactions, the setting, and the characters’ own thoughts. Using “The Aged Mother,” answer the following question.
1. In “The Aged Mother,” what is one way that Matsuo Basho develops and individualizes either the son’s or the mother’s perspective? Include an example from the folktale to support your response of 2-3 sentences.
https://lti.flvsgl.com/flvs-cat-content/tvsbvo9k1pednlp4airnf37717/flvs-cat-session/mjlanguagearts3_v22/module01/lesson02/docs/01_02_worksheet.docx

This refers to the central message of a text that an author wants to convey to an audience that is usually didactic in nature, which means that it contains moral lessons.

Hence, we can see that a general overview is given for your question so you can learn how to track themes when given a text as it would be super useful in future.