Keith was stressed about his research paper. He had to write five pages about something that interested him, but he couldn't think of anything interesting. He
decided that he would just play basketball. The next fnight Keith sat down to
work on his paper again, but he still couldn't think of anything that interested
him, so he listened to music and played video games instead. The next few days
went much the same: he told himself that he wasn't interested in anything, and
then he read comic books, watched movies, or read about classic cars. Keith
was worried now because the paper was due very soon, and he still didn't even
have a topic. He tried to think of something that he found interesting, but again
he couldn't, so he just played his guitar and cooked a meal for his family. He
loved to cook. At last the due date was here and Keith still didn't even have a
topic. By now he had accepted that he would fail. "If only I could have found
an interesting topic," he told himself.
1. What is the theme of the story? Write it in the form of a theme statement.
2. What happens in the story that leads you to believe this?