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Language Arts

The language arts is about experience through words and the images that words represent.

Why learn language arts?

  • Summarize what you read

  • Identify the theme or message of what you read

  • Understand the meaning of words

  • Write and speak correctly with proper grammar

  • Learn to gather facts about a topic, organize the information, and talk or write about it

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The 6 language arts are:

  1. Listening: understanding spoken language and making connections between words and their meanings.

  2. Speaking: communicating words and ideas through spoken language

  3. Reading: understanding written language

  4. Writing: communicating information to others through written language

  5. Viewing: understanding visual images in books, photos, movies, theater, videos, computer programs, and websites and connecting them to accompanying spoken or written words

  6. Visually representing: presenting information through visual images  with or without spoken or written words

An important area of language arts is reading. Reading has many purposes. It can be for information or entertainment. It offers challenges or relaxation. Reading helps readers discover more about themselves. The reader recognizes in his or her own self of what the work says. Reading lets readers have other experiences, learn how others respond to situations, and reflect on the work's message. A reader interprets a work's message in light of his or her own experiences.  

A theme is a main idea, lesson, or message explored in a work. There are many different themes found in literature, movies, and other works of art. Often a work has more than one theme. Some popular themes include:

1. Maturity or transformation

A character matures or changes through events and learns life lessons in the process. An example of a work about transformation is My Fair Lady, a 1956 stage play based on the 1913 play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. My Fair Lady was made into a movie in 1964. In My Fair Lady, a lower class flower girl is given speech lessons by an arrogant phonetics professor and transformed into an upper class lady.


2. Family

A character learns the importance of family, makes sacrifices for family, or deals with adversity and family bonds. An example of a work about family is The Godfather, a 1969 book by Mario Puzo and a 1972 movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. 

3. Judgment

A character is judged for being different or doing something wrong, which could be real or just perceived as a wrongdoing by others. An example of a work about judgement is To Kill a Mockingbird, a 1960 book by Harper Lee about prejudice and injustice. To Kill a Mockingbird was made into a movie in 1962.

4. Heroism

A character experiences true heroic acts or false heroism. An example of a work about heroism is The Hobbit, a 1937 fantasy book by J. R. R. Tolkien about an unwilling hero who helps a group of dwarves take back their kingdom from a dragon and faces many dangers on the journey. The Hobbit was made into an animated movie in 1977 and a live action film series directed by Peter Jackson that includes An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and the Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

5. Love

A character experiences true love. An example of a work about love is Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare published in 1597 about a tragic romance between two young lovers from feuding families. Romeo and Julie was made into a movie in 1968, 1996, and 2013.

6. Loss and Death

A character deals with the loss of someone or realizes their own death is inevitable. An example of a work about death is Charlotte’s Web, a 1952 book by E. B. White. Charlotte's Web was made into an animated movie in 1973 and a live action movie in 2006. 

7. Good and Evil

A character deals with the coexistence of good and evil. An example of a work about good and evil is the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. The first book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published in 1997. Then there was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2006), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). Eight movies of Harry Potter were made between 2001 and 2011. 

8. Survival

A character must overcome odds to live. Lord of the Flies is an example of a work about survival is Lord of the Flies, a 1954 book by William Golding about a group of boys stranded on an island. Lord of the Flies was made into a movie in 1963 and 1990.

9. Conflict

A character deals with a conflict. The 5 types of conflict are human versus self, human versus society, human versus human, human versus nature, and human versus supernatural. An example of a work about conflict is Gulliver’s Travels, a story by Jonathan Swift published in 1726 about a man who travels to strange lands and meets unusual characters and discovers the virtues and flaws in his own culture by comparing it with others. Gulliver's Travels was made into a movie in 1939 and 2010.

10. Suffering

A character deals with physical and/or internal suffering. An example of a work about suffering is Oliver Twist, an 1838 book by Charles Dickens which shows the suffering of impoverished children. Oliver Twist was made into a movie in 1948, 1968, and 2005.

11. Deception

A character uses physical or social deception to keep secrets from others. An example of a work about deception is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, an 1884 book by Mark Twain.

12. Hope

A character hangs on to hope during difficult times. An example of a work about hope is Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl published in 1947.

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