

This Grade 6 literary analysis worksheet helps students identify a story’s theme and support it with direct textual evidence. Using the powerful original story “The River and the Rock,” students follow twelve-year-old Ravi as he learns to process grief and overcome fear. Task types include multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, true/false corrections, sentence-based vocabulary selection, and a short paragraph writing exercise focused on theme and evidence. This worksheet builds essential skills for writing a literary analysis essay — a key requirement for middle school English.
Theme is the heartbeat of a story — the deeper message an author wants readers to take away. For Grade 6 learners, understanding theme is important because:
1. It teaches students to look beyond plot and find the story’s meaning.
2. It prepares them to write evidence-based literary analysis essays.
3. It improves critical thinking by asking “What did the character learn?”
4. It connects reading comprehension to real-life emotional intelligence.
This worksheet includes five literature-based activities that strengthen theme identification and evidence gathering:
🧠 Exercise 1 – Multiple Choice Questions (Story Recall)
Students answer 10 questions based directly on “The River and the Rock,” testing memory of characters, setting, events, and key dialogue. Example: “Where did Ravi live?” (A small village)
✏️ Exercise 2 – Fill in the Blanks
Students complete 10 sentences using keywords from the story, reinforcing vocabulary and main ideas. Example: “Ravi helped pull the fishing ______ daily.” (nets)
✅ Exercise 3 – True and False (with Correction)
Students read 10 statements and mark them true or false. Each false statement must be corrected using story details, promoting careful reading. (This worksheet has 5 true and 5 false statements.)
📖 Exercise 4 – Underline the Correct Word
Students choose the correct word from three options to complete each sentence accurately based on the story. Example: “Ravi was (twelve / ten / thirteen) years old.”
📝 Exercise 5 – Paragraph Writing (Theme & Evidence)
Students write a 60–80 word paragraph identifying the theme of the story and citing two evidence examples from the text. This directly builds literary analysis essay skills.
Exercise 1 – Multiple Choice Questions
1. c) A small village
2. a) A fisherman
3. b) His brother
4. b) The monsoon
5. c) A large rock
6. c) It stayed still
7. b) His bare feet
8. b) The memory
9. a) Still very sad
10. a) That is enough
Exercise 2 – Fill in the Blanks
1. nets
2. flood / monsoon (monsoon also accepted based on context)
3. grassy
4. water
5. rough / cracked (either accepted)
6. still
7. thought
8. tightly
9. rushed / passed (either accepted)
10. acceptance
Exercise 3 – True and False (with Corrections)
Statement 1: False → Ravi did NOT love the river. He feared it deeply.
Statement 2: True
Statement 3: False → The father was a fisherman (not a carpenter).
Statement 4: True
Statement 5: False → The monsoon was coming next week (not next month).
Statement 6: False → The rock stayed completely still when water hit it (it did not move).
Statement 7: True
Statement 8: True
Statement 9: False → Ravi stopped being afraid of the river, but he still thought of his brother and let the memory pass through him.
Statement 10: True
Exercise 4 – Underline the Correct Word
1. twelve
2. Kaveri
3. sunrise
4. silver
5. two
6. knees
7. brown
8. middle
9. grassy
10. hug
Exercise 5 – Paragraph Writing (Sample Answer)
The theme of “The River and the Rock” is that we cannot fight grief — we must let it pass through us. First, Ravi learns that “the rock does not fight back. The water simply passes around it calmly.” This symbolizes accepting painful memories instead of resisting them. Second, at the end, Ravi says, “I am still very sad. But I am not afraid of the river anymore.” This shows that healing does not mean forgetting; it means finding courage despite the sadness.
Help your child master theme identification and evidence-based literary analysis with a Free 1:1 Communication Skills Trial Class at PlanetSpark.
Literary analysis involves examining the components of a story, such as plot, character, theme, and style, to understand the author's message.
By practicing close reading, taking notes on literary devices, and writing essays that analyze these elements in depth.
Students may struggle with identifying subtle themes or literary devices, which can be improved with practice and guidance.