All 7 Uses

theme
in
The Outsiders
(Edited)

You're failing this class right now, but taking into consideration the circumstances, if you come up with a good semester theme, I'll pass you with a C grade.
p. 169.9

theme = essay
What's the theme supposed to be on?
p. 170.4
And it isn't a reference theme; I want your own ideas and your own experiences.
p. 170.4
I tried to write that theme when I got home.
p. 172.2
This one started because I hadn't done anything on that theme, and I wanted to go for a ride.
p. 173.5
That theme— how long can it be?
p. 179.8
I wondered for a long time how to start that theme, how to start writing about something that was important to me.
p. 180.6 *

Definitions:

(1) (theme as in: theme of the novel)
a basic idea that underlies what is being said or done -- especially in a literary or artistic work
(2) (theme as in: musical theme)
the initial or primary melody of a musical composition

or

(as in "theme song") music that is most repeated in a film, television series, or other theatrical production
(3) (theme as in: wrote a 2-page theme on my summer)
an essay written by a student

(This sense of theme is much rarer in recent decades than in the past.)
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)