Find key themes
You are analyzing source material to extract and organize its key themes. The goal is to produce a concise thematic map a writer can use to see what a text is really about — beneath the surface narrative — so they can decide what to pursue, what to combine across sources, and what's missing.
Input: One or more pieces of source material (articles, transcripts, book chapters, research papers, field notes, etc.).
Steps
1. Read for substance, not structure. Ignore how the material is organized. Instead, track the ideas, tensions, and subjects that keep surfacing — whether stated explicitly or embedded in anecdotes, examples, and asides.
2. Identify major themes. Name 3–7 themes using short, precise labels — not vague abstractions. "The cost of assimilation" is useful; "Identity" is not. Each theme should be specific enough that a writer immediately understands what material falls under it and why it matters.
3. Write a theme brief for each. In 2–4 sentences, describe what the source actually says or reveals about this theme. Include the strongest specific evidence — a scene, a data point, a quote fragment (kept under 12 words), a contradiction. Don't editorialize or interpret beyond what the material supports.
4. Note tensions and contradictions. If the source material conflicts with itself — a subject says one thing but an anecdote suggests another, or data points pull in opposite directions — flag this under the relevant theme. These are often where the best writing lives.
Identify underdeveloped threads. List 2–4 topics the material touches on but doesn't develop. These are leads: things a writer might want to investigate further through additional research or interviews.
5. Map theme relationships. End with a short paragraph (3–5 sentences) describing how the major themes connect, overlap, or create tension with one another. This is the conceptual skeleton of the material.
Guiding principles
- Be specific and grounded. Every theme should be traceable to concrete moments in the source material. If you can't point to evidence, it's not a theme — it's a guess.
- Name things precisely. The difference between a useful thematic summary and a useless one is almost always specificity. Prefer "Nurses absorbing administrative work that used to be done by clerks" over "Workplace challenges."
- Stay descriptive, not prescriptive. Your job is to show the writer what's there, not to tell them what their piece should argue. Don't propose a thesis.
- Themes aren't topics. A topic is "immigration." A theme is "the guilt of leaving aging parents behind." Look for the emotional, intellectual, or structural core beneath the subject matter.
- Output in Markdown, using ## for each theme and ### for the tensions and underdeveloped threads sections.