The theme of a fable is its moral. The theme of a parable is its teaching. The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave.
In fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or preach. In fact, it is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action, and setting that make up the story. In other words, you must figure out the theme yourself.
Write a paragraph about why your theme is important to the plot. Your post must be at least five sentences, including a topic sentence (with the theme), three supporting detail sentences (explaining more about that theme), and a closing sentence. One way you might choose to write your closing sentence would be to explain how the story could have changed, or what it would have lost, without that theme. Make sure to vary your sentence structure by including simple, complex, and/or compound sentences.
When you have completed one paragraph on your theme, write another paragraph on another theme of your choosing. Your posts should include the two paragraphs.
Students/Themes:
Mae/Weston/Annie - Wealth
Caroline/Henrik/Nina - Prejudice
Eli/Leah/Evan - Love
Lillian/Alexa/Neil - Fear
Mehana/Jessica/Kirsten - Power
Benjamin/Stewart - Pain
Adam/Benjamin Osnow - Honesty
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ReplyDeleteFear is very important to the plot We Were Liars. It is one of the few, constant factors present in the book. For instance, although it is never said, it is clear Cady is terrified that her memories might not come back. She can’t stand thinking about having chunks of her life missing, which is why she is constantly asking her mom (and others) what happened. Her grandfather also occasionally used fear as a tool to keep the family in line. He threatened to cut them off from his trust fund if they didn’t get their acts together. And throughout the entire plot, there is a general feeling of “what’s going to happen next?”, an element which ties the story together quite nicely. Needless to say, had this element not been added and there was no source of conflict, We Were Liars would not have been much of a story.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of fear within E. Lockhart’s fictional novel, We Were Liars, is essential to the development of the Sinclair family’s story. The Sinclair family wears a facade of perfection; they are beautiful, rich, prestigious, and seemingly perfect, yet being raised in a family where perfection is your only option results in a deeply rooted fear of imperfection which secretly looms over every Sinclair. Throughout We Were Liars, readers are made aware of the abundance of lies which make up the Sinclair family legacy, and that another form of fear throughout this novel is how the Sinclair liars constantly fear the truth. The Sinclairs have worked tirelessly to abandon anything which would make them appear as week, including their emotions, yet because of this, they have developed an incessant fear of these emotions which could lead to their destruction. Without the theme of fear throughout E. Lockhart’s, We Were Liars, The Sinclair Family would never have learned that to truly overcome your fears, you must accept and face them, and without this lesson, the Sinclair family would never have regained sight of the true values in life which would help them to develop a stronger tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteFear is a major theme in We Were Liars. Ever since Cadence’s accident she is fearful of having her memories and thoughts lost. The book never came out and said this directly but you got the feeling that everyone was nervous that her memories might never come back. They are fearful for her. Cadence’s mother, Penny, is fearful of losing her position in the family. She always tells Cadence to chin up and not let others see you when you are weak. An example from the book would be when the sisters are talking about the houses and how Windemere is too small for Cadence and her mom. Penny tells Cadence to speak to her grandfather to say it is perfect for the two of them. The grandfather also uses fear. He constantly threatens his daughters and grandchildren the loss of their inheritance. If the book didn’t have fear it would not have captivated its readers in the same. Fear is a very important factor in this book.
ReplyDeletePain is important to the plot of the fictional book We Were Liars, by E Lockhart. This theme, pain, is important in two ways, it shows up both emotionally, and physically with the characters. The Sinclair family experiences emotional pain throughout the book. Take the Aunts for instance, they spend all their time fighting and bickering about money and inheritance. To some extent, because of that, their husbands are divorcing them, and their kids are going somewhat crazy. Cadence also has to experience lots of emotional pain, accidently killing your three best friends in a fire, would induce emotional pain in anyone. In terms of physical pain, Cadence has to experience it often with her migraines. I dont really know what a migraine feels like. I do know that headaches are very uncomfortable, and migraines are supposed to be worse than your average headache, so they must be pretty bad. Pain is crucial to the plot of We Were Liars in many ways, these are just the most important ways in which they show up in the story line.
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DeleteBen, Nice work and excellent analysis. Yes, physical and emotional pain play important roles in the story. I want you (and everyone - because everyone makes these type of mistakes, and everyone can revise and make their writing better) to see how I have revised your paragraph to make it stronger.
DeletePain (No period after it unless it is a sentence)
Pain is important to the plot of E. Lockhart’s fictional novel, We Were Liars. First, it shows up both emotionally and physically in the characters. The Sinclair family experiences emotional pain throughout the story. The aunts, for instance, spend all their time fighting and bickering about money and inheritance. To some extent, because of that, their husbands divorce them, and their kids go somewhat crazy. Cadence also experiences powerful emotional pain. Accidentally killing a person’s three best friends in a fire would cause emotional pain and guilt for anyone. In terms of physical pain, Cadence has to experience it often due to her migraines.Migraines are supposed to be worse than an average headache. Therefore, they must be very painful for Cadence. [Pain is crucial to the plot of We Were Liars in many ways, these are just the most important ways in which they show up in the story line.]
In Brackets: Run-on Sentence
Also, you can make that closing sentence stronger by asking yourself, “What would have been missing without the “pain” in the story?” Or “Why is the pain important to the story?” Watch:
The Sinclairs’ emotional pain, along with Cadence’s physical and emotional pain, helps develop the major conflict in the story: coming to terms with, and recuperating from, a traumatic experience.The pain drives the characters to fight, burn down a house, die, and experience amnesia and hallucinations as a way to cope and, eventually, to heal. Because of the pain, Cadence and the rest of the characters are forced to change and grow.
I have a grammatical mistake in my first response to Ben. Can anyone find it? Hint: It is in the part in parentheses.
DeleteOne of the many important themes in We Were Liars is love. Without the aspect of love in the story the whole plot would have changed. For example Cadence loves her friends more than anything. Love is what leads Cadence to realize what happened during summer 15. Her love for her friends is so strong that she cannot let go of them even though they are dead. Cadence finally comes to the realization that she killed her friends. That thought agonizes her and she will never forget what happened that summer. Without the love Cadence would never have been able to what happened during summer 15.
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ReplyDelete1. The theme wealth is referenced as an evil in this novel, and not a blessing. As shown when the grandmother dies the grandfather goes crazy and starts using his money and property as a way to make the aunts, and mothers fight over what they believe the grandfather has promised them. Wealth is what drove the Liars to burn down many of the houses on the private island. Without money, in the story, the plot would have no way to have the Liars besides Cadence burn in the fire that they set. In the story, the grandfather gave Cadence an ultimatum to either stop seeing Gat, or lose her inheritance. Wealth drove the Sinclair family into madness.
ReplyDelete2. In the novel, We Were Liars, pain is brought down upon Cadence. Pain came in the form of death, heartbreak, and injuries. Cadence had to force her emotions of pain and sadness down for nothing more than to protect the family image. Pain is connected to Cadence losing her memory, and letting her friends burn to death. Cadence said she does not suffer fools, that is a way of trying to push her emotions down, which only makes them stronger. Cadence had to let her terrible feelings out, but she let her emotions consume her.
In We Were Liars by E. Lockhart the theme of prejudice is greatly expressed . I think prejudice is a great theme for this fictional book because it had to do with a huge part of it. When I read this book I noticed throughout that Grandpa Harris was not a fan of Gat Patil, Cadence’s sweetheart. You could tell every time Gat and he talked that he did not care for him at all. As you turned every page you would notice how Grandpa Harris addressed him, and you could tell just by his words that he thought was more entitled than Gat. Not only is Grandpa Harris Sinclair prejudice of Gat, but the Sinclair family as a whole was sort of as well. Although most never directly came out and said it, throughout the book, you could tell by their emotions that they never really understood why an outsider was apart of their lives so substantially. Although the kids loved Gat, they themself never quite comprehended why he was allowed to be with them. You could decipher from the children’s emotions that they were taught by their parents from a young age that they were entitled and superior in life. So, when the staff on island would come around,they wouldn’t address them by first name, instead they would just order them around. Prejudice is also attached to how the Sinclair family went about their lives. They didn’t want to be known as the family who had a mental case of a granddaughter who killed three people, so I believe they tried to keep their lives quiet but very grand. But of course they kept that “old money democrat” lifestyle in full swing.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart, the theme of love came up as a theme through Cady and Gat’s affection for each other. At the beginning of the story, Gat and Cady found themselves wanting to spend time with each other. They talked a lot and really got to know one another. They had things in common which helped their feelings for each other because they both did not believe in possessions and thought that family was more important. Gat would do anything for his love for Cady, because he helped her in the plan to set the mansion on fire to get rid of the possessions. Cady loved Gat so much that she got post traumatic stress disorder and hallucinated that he was still alive after the fire. The problem in this book is that the theme about love did not have a happy ending because what they did for love and family was criminal and ended in disaster.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart, the theme of wealth is what caused the problems and outcome in the story. It was wealth that caused the fighting over possessions after the grandmother died. Cady, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat felt that family was more important than money, so they wanted to get rid of the possessions in which they felt was causing fighting and were too important to other family members. Their wealth also led to a sense of power. Because of wealth and power, the family hid and did not talk about their problems. They did not want to show any weaknesses. Wealth became the downfall in the story, because there was too much focus on it, and Cady and her cousins tried to fight back against it.
In We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, the theme of wealth holds a prominent role in the plot. The Sinclair family members take their money for granted, and their reliance on wealth is what brings the plot to fruition. They have all become so accustomed to their luxurious lifestyle that anything less is unfathomable. So, when the parents finally realize their trust funds will not not last them forever they begin to continuously bicker over inheritance. When the Sinclair children can no longer stand this, they burn down the main family house in effort to cease the arguing. If the Sinclairs did not rely so much on their money, the prospect of a lesser lifestyle would not have been so worrisome, and thus they would have not constantly argued. Then the the kids would not have been burned the house down, and Gat, Mirren, and Johnny would not have died in the fire. Evidently, wealth not only plays a significant role in the Sinclair’s lives but also in the plot of the book.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of power makes up a huge portion of E. Lockhart’s novel We Were Liars. Granddad controls a huge amount of power, and uses it to manipulate the rest of his family. The aunties want large inheritances; their desperation and selfish actions give Granddad even more hold over them. This conflict leads the four Liars to step in, in an attempt to stop greed from tearing their family apart. By burning Clairmont, they are no longer idle observers; their actions have given them power (although they left three of the Liars dead). After the fire, the accident has broken some of Granddad’s power, as the Sinclair family grows closer over the loss of three of their members. Cady realizes, “The aunties hug one another not because they are freed of the weight of Clairmont house and all it symbolized, but out of tragedy and empathy.” (pg 210.) Finally, this book explores a whole other type of power: power of the mind. Cady’s grief and guilt lead her to block out the terrible truth of what has happened, and create a preferable reality. This fabrication was so strong and so real that it lasted two years. In the end, it was also the power of Cady’s mind that discovered the truth: she pushed past the lies she had been unconsciously telling herself for years. However the term power is interpreted, it is essential to this book’s plot. Without Granddad’s power, the Liars wouldn’t have felt the need to take desperate measures to destroy it; and without the power of Cady’s unconscious mind, she wouldn’t have spent time living in a lie.
ReplyDeleteThe recurring theme of wealth plays its own character in the novel We Were Liars
ReplyDeletewritten by E. Lockhart. The Sinclair family struggles with how much power they have with their money. The wealth of the Sinclair has made the whole family corrupt causing arguments and unhappiness throughout the book. The wealth overpowers the relationships with each character in the book, which makes it difficult for everyone to get along. Cady’s aunts argue to Cady’s grandfather about housing and money. Another problem involving wealth is Cady’s relationship with Gat. It is a constant struggle with Cady’s grandfather judging Gat because of his nationality and how his family is not wealthy. If We Were Liars did not have the theme of wealth in the book, it would not have been interesting because so many intricate details went into this theme. All of the characters relationships involve the common theme of wealth. The relationships, the conflicts and the happiness all come the Sinclair family’s money.
The theme power is an important subject in the book We Were Lairs by E. Lockhart. By showing not only to family members, to the world that Sinclair’s have power, by power I mean, money. Power shows when they send Cady away for a summer, or that they have their own private island to their selves. Power can come in strengths and weaknesses, when people have power it goes to their head, that’s what I think happened to granddad. Power can be a persons biggest fear, that’s why the theme power was an important subject in We Were Lairs.
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ReplyDeleteLove is a confusing concept. Some people are unable to express their love or are afraid that the love they give might not be reciprocated. In the story, We Were Liars, the aunts did love each other, but were seduced by the idea of money and worried about being the recipient of their father’s love. They were more concerned about who would receive the most expensive family heirlooms or which child would be the chosen heir of the family fortune than with enjoying their time together as a family. `Cadence, her cousins, and Gat had such a strong bond that even death could not break them apart. Cadence continued to communicate with her cousins and Gat even after they died. She even sent them emails and was disappointed when they did not respond. Her love sustained and so did her need for them to return the love. Love is neither created nor destroyed, it is a connection between people. If the cousins and Gat had not loved each
other so much, they would have not burned down the house their mothers argued over. If the house had not burned down the aunts’ conflict would have not been resolved. The aunts and grandfather were finally able to find harmony and love for each other. Love is a major theme in this story, it gives the story a resolution.
#2:
Wealth created the controversy in We Were Liars. The children were sucked in to what should have been just an adult argument. Cadence threw a tantrum when she noticed the ivory her grandparents bought. She was upset about how they could do whatever they want regardless of what was right and just. Thus, she destroyed the statues to prove a point. The grandfather is manipulative because he had the means to take advantage of his family. You cannot buy people. If the Sinclairs were not wealthy, none of the tragedies they had experienced throughout the book would have happened. The grandfather would have not been able to control his children and there would not be bickering among them.
In E. Lockhart’s novel We Were Liars, the theme of power plays a crucial role within the Sinclair storyline. The Sinclair’s have everything one could wish for; wealth and prosperity- two factors which greatly contribute to the family’s rich power. The main seat of power in the Sinclair family is Cadence Sinclair’s Grandad, who consistently showcase’s his power over others and his great influence due to his position in the family. Other than their vast wealth and shining legacy, the Sinclairs have gained power through their unwavering determination in achieving perfection, a trait which each Sinclair harbors. Without the theme of power, which incessantly tugs at the readers attention and creates a force of evil which the Liars try to fight off, the Sinclairs would never have seen reason to meddle with the style they live their lives, and the story of the infamous Sinclair family would never have been created, and readers would never know the extent of how power can be dangerous if wielded incorrectly.
ReplyDeletePrejudice is a major theme in the book We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. It reoccurs throughout the book through many different relationships. Prejudice regularly occurs in the relationship between Gat, with whom Cady has a personal relationship, and the grandfather. Gat is not part of the Sinclair family. He came one of the summers when they were little and has come every summer since. Since he is not part of the Sinclair family the grandfather looks down on him. For one thing he is not as wealthy as the grandfathers precious Sinclair family so he is, by default, on a lower standard than the rest of the family. Another place where this theme comes up is how the whole family talks to their maids and servants. Instead of getting to know them, they just order them around and make them do their chores. They don’t understand that they are people too and just because one is more wealthy than another person does not make him or her better than another. Prejudice is a reoccurring theme in this book and it is also an important one too.
ReplyDeleteIn We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, the theme pain played a huge role in the Sinclair’s life. Cadence experienced physical pain when she had migraines for a couple of years, and when she woke up on a hospital bed with 3rd degree burns on her arms and legs. Cadence then felt emotional pain when she found out she killed Gat, Mirren, and Johnny in the fire, and then when her friend’s ghosts left her. Other Sinclair family member experienced pain as well. When Carrie, Johnny’s mother, started to walk around at night after the fire she had emotional pain because all she was thinking about was her son trapped in a burning house and burning to death. Pain was a very important and often theme in We Were Liars and it impacted the story of the Sinclair’s life greatly.
ReplyDeleteIn We Were Liars, by e. Lockhart, honesty is one of the main points. Even though everyone in the family is fighting, they still are honest with each other. One example of that was when the aunts were fighting over the Boston house. Each aunt was arguing but they all were honest with each other.If there was no honesty in this book there would have had a big split throughout the entire family.
ReplyDeletePrejudice is one of the themes expressed throughout the novel We Were Liars. One of the main characters, Grandpa Harris, has a need to uphold the perfect Sinclair family, a family that is white, blonde and rich. Grandpa Harris holds the power in the family as he decides who will inherit his fortune and he uses his power to decide who he will accept and reject into his Sinclair family. Grandpa Harris clearly expresses his prejudice against Gat and his uncle Ed. They are both of Indian heritage and Grandpa Harris is determined to keep them from being a part of the Sinclair family. Grandpa Harris shows his racism when he refuses to call Gat by his name and instead refers to him as “boy”, like a servant. Grandpa Harris also tells Cadence’s aunt that she will lose her inheritance if she marries Ed. The Liars set out to burn down Clairmont to end the feuding of the aunts and to end the racism. If prejudice did not play a role in the lives of the Sinclairs, then Aunt Carrie would be happily married to Ed and might not have felt such a strong need to fight for her inheritance. Gat would have felt comfortable as part of the family and might have stood up to the Liars when they were planning the fire. The theme of prejudice occurred throughout We Were Liars and played a role in the ultimate destruction of Beachwood and the Sinclair family.
ReplyDeleteWealth is a major theme in the novel We Were Liars. The Sinclair family defines themselves by their wealth and the older family members feel a strong need to hang on to their affluent lifestyle of summer homes and servants. Initially the Sinclair’s family wealth seems to be a wonderful thing, as they lead a carefree life. However, as the novel progresses the desire for wealth begins to destroy the family. After the death of Granny Tipper, the aunts begin to feud over who will inherit the Beachwood residences. Grandpa Harris abuses his power and fuels the aunts’ arguments over who will inherit his fortune. This becomes the aunts’ main focus and eventually hits a low point when they begin manipulating their children to get to their father. The excessive feuding and unfair use of their children causes the Liars to take action and leads to the fire that destroys Clairmont. Greed and the overwhelming desire for wealth finally destroys what was once a thriving family.
Power is a major theme in E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars and comes up many, many times in the book. The main example of power is Harris Sinclair, since he knows that his daughters and their family’s depend on his money, he has power over them. He uses this to his advantage by often threatening the loss of an inheritance if something looks like it will not go his way. For example Harris asks his grandson, Johnny, to try to wreck his mother’s relationship with a man that he didn’t approve of. When he refuses, Johnny’s college fund is threatened but Johnny still stood his ground. Harris is power hungry, he likes to be in control of the people around him. Most of the conflict in the book derives from this fact and is a major theme in the book.
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