This exercise will help you avoid confusing a summary with a theme.
The themes of a book are the main messages that the writer wants us to learn from the book.
A summary of a book is a short description of what happened, or a list of the book's main arguments and conclusions.
Here is an example of a theme:
Read this paragraph and answer the question below.
The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam
One of the main themes in Barbara Tuchman's book is that throughout history, rulers and governments often acted very stupidly. Instead of using all the information they had and acting reasonably, they refused to listen to common sense. Even when they were warned that they were acting against their own interests, they made wrong decisions which resulted in tragic consequences. This is not an ordinary history book that simply summarizes the facts. Tuchman weaves different periods of history together to form a well-integrated story that underlines the central theme: If we ignore the lessons of history, we will repeat previous mistakes.
According to the above paragraph, which of the following sentences are true? Choose 2 correct answers.
