What is the subject of a text

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Traditionally, in Spanish we calltheme to the general subject of which any text speaks to us. However, if we analyze it from the point of view of some studies on textual linguistics, developed mainly by T. Van Dijk, we can observe that the concept of theme revolves around other factors such as textual coherence, necessary for us to talk about a text as such. In this lesson from a TEACHER we explain what is the subject of a text and how the theme manifests itself within the different texts.

In the field of language teaching, the question of the subject of a text is one of the most important aspects since it allows the student to develop language skills related to reading comprehension and written expression; that is, a student must know how to identify and state the theme of any text, since this is the protagonist of the text, that is, it is the reason why the text is written, that is why it is so important to know how to identify it and distinguish it from the rest of the textual content.

The presence of the theme within a text implies, as we have said in the introduction, the need for textual coherence; that is, the topic must be correctly enunciated, adapting to the meaning of the text, the characteristics of the receiver and the different elements that make up each communicative situation.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the differences between theme and rema so that you know these two basic linguistic aspects.

Let's analyze now what is the subject of a text. In some academic tests it is essential to identify the topic of a text to achieve the highest grade. We can define the theme as the central idea of ​​the text in which the communicative intention is summarized of the same. One trick to make it easier to recognize is to ask the question "What is the text about?" or "why and for what does the author write the text?"

It is not enough to write in a schematic way the global subject of the text in a generic way (for example, love, loneliness, pollution or social criticism), but that it is necessary to complete this statement with more important and specific details that make this topic not to be confused with the topic of other texts Similar.

Keep in mind that the subject of a text does not have to correspond to its title. It is essential to read the text carefully and at least twice to be able to enunciate the subject correctly. It is also important that, when writing the subject of the text, we do not fall into the temptation of making a summary of the text.

Topic and summary are not the same. The topic can be expressed with an abstract noun, complementing it with the assessment of the author about it or specifying the communicative intention with which said text is written (for example: climate change: causes and consequences for society). Typically, the subject of a text should be stated on a maximum of two lines, while the summary of the text contains more details and usually consists of five lines or so.

The function of finding the subject of the text and enunciating it correctly is to get a person who has not previously read the text we are talking about, you can read the topic and be able to get an approximate idea of ​​what the content of the text is at the general.

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