Lesson series for: HAVO, VWO/GYMNASIUM & TTO

Ineke Young Adult Literature, teacher’s workbookNovember 2017

Introduction for the teacherThis teaching package is designed for the novel “The Book Thief” written by Markus Zusak. The appropriate reading level is B2 according to European ERK standards. This book is therefore suggested for Havo, VWO/Gymnasium and TTO students year 3 and up.

Short summary of the book:

The Book Thief is an extraordinary novel which best speaks for itself. The book is situated in Nazi Germany during WW2 and although the theme of the second World War has been told in many books before, the concept and context of this book is very original. Death as a narrator telling the story of Liesel, a girl in Nazi Germany in the years 1939-1943. The title “Book Thief” refers not only to the fact that the main character, Liesel, is stealing books but also to the book written by herself and told by Death, who found her book after a bombing which killed her foster parents and most of her friends. The book is her life story that she called “The Book Thief”.

The setting is Molching, a small town near München. Liesel comes to live with the Hubermans in a small and slightly impoverished but rich and warm house in Himmel street. There she lives with her foster parents, is best friends with Rudy, the boy next door, and becomes acquainted with the mayor’s wife from whom she gets access to the library and books. In the meantime the Hubermans take Max, a Jewish person, into their house and hide him in the basement. The stories with Max form the heart of the book with important themes like the power of words and propaganda, kindness and cruelty of humans, ideologies and their duality and survivor’s guilt.

The book captures approximately 4 years, jumps back and forth in time quite a lot with many flash backs and stories within a story, therefore the book is sometimes a bit complex. However, the beautiful round characters and the contrast and conflict within the stories makes it a compelling journey with an unexpected plot, drawing the reader right into the book. The goals of this series of lessons are as follows:

Create an environment and context for students to inspire them to read; Use challenging exercises to stimulate engagement at a deeper level; Support a thorough and complete study of the book and make students respond to the book; Spark off discussions based on students’ engagement with the text and their knowledge of the

wider issues; Gain a deeper understanding of life during WW2 and the horrors caused by persecution; Use this book as a stepping stone to discuss Holocaust and WW2 literature; Relate this novel to the world’s situation today, i.e. wars going on, the persecution of people

and refugees in search of better places to live; Stimulate students to think for themselves and challenge critical thinking.

Teaching approaches:

It is a long book and the following teaching approaches for progressing through the novel may help, although I would strongly advice to encourage the students to read the whole book.

Let the students read at home – if this is appropriate. Start just before a holiday so students are able to read in advance during holiday. Group readings – each group is given a section to read and then reports back Students or teachers can recap on chapters that haven’t been read – often a good approach if

you reach a ‘valley’ in the story.

The lesson series is deliberately spread out over no more than 6 weeks, although this means a heavy workload every week. However, in my opinion working with a book should not take more than six weeks for students might lose interest in the subject when it takes longer. The golden rule though is to let students control their own pace; if they want to read on, let them. Let the focus be on enjoying the reading and try not to overanalyse the book. The best place to start is to activate the students’ prior knowledge about the Second World War. Unless students fully appreciate the horrors that are caused by persecution, they will never reach a full

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understanding of the novel, nor will they be able to relate it to contemporary contexts. They need the social and historical context in order to see and feel what literature is. Therefore the pre-reading activity is used to focus on their knowledge of WW2. Resources which can trigger a response and to find out what they already know about the Holocaust are the following:

- http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.html

- https://www.bing.com/videos/search? q=holocaust+documentary+&view=detail&mid=26E4CDE97EFD1368FA5126E4CDE97EFD1368FA51&FORM=VIRE

In the next step their predictions in relation to The Book Thief can be discussed as well as structure, voice, narrative and style.

Structure. The book is sub-divided into ten parts, Therefore the lesson plan could easily be adapted to ten weeks, reading one section a week. This is up to you, the teacher. In this lesson plan the reading tempo is 2 sections a week (around a hundred pages).

Each chapter and section is introduced by a list of key features, a summary of the main points. The way the novel has been structured can be used:

- As an orientation activity – what will this section be about? - As a critical re-reading activity – how well does this represent the section of the novel?

Voice The narrator of the story is Death, who regularly punctuates the commentary and drives the story forward with anticipatory comments. A good starting point would be the Death and Chocolate section of the Prologue. What do we learn about the voice? What do we feel about the voice? At which point does the reader realise that the narrator is Death? How does the voice try to earn the reader’s sympathy? And finally, how is the reader set up to read the rest of the story? Students could then read to the end of the Prologue and explore whether their opinions about the narrator have changed at all.

To challenge the higher ability, develop the discussion with a focus on authorial voice. How is this different from the narrative voice? What impression do we have of the author? It might be useful at this point to let the students have access to an interview with Zusak:

- https://www.goodreads.com/videos/3647-interview-with-markus-zusak-author-of-the-book-thief

- http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/videos/

Style To open up discussion about style you might ask the students how Zusak’s style is different from what they are currently reading. One of the things they will notice are the centred pronouncements in bold type. Why have these been done like this? What is the impact on the reader? It might be difficult for some students to get into the book but once they get past that they will be absorbed by the language and beauty of the words.

The book is written like a circle, in the beginning you know already the end (Death tells us he has a circular heartbeat, it starts with visions of what’s going to happen to Liesel). In most books the tension is achieved when the reader wonders what is going to happen. This does for the greater part not happen in the Book Thief, we know the end before the book has barely begun (who’s going to die and live). Yet there is still a lot of tension in the book. How does the writer achieve this? Because Death has a compulsive need to tell us, the reader, what happens. What is the strength of this approach and what is the danger?

Themes After exploring context, voice and style, it might be useful to show the students the trailer of the movie about the Book thief and then ask the students to decide which themes will be key players in the book.

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It could be a good idea to compile a class list, which can be revisited during and at the end of reading the novel to see whether their predictions were right.

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnLF-pCybw

Finally: About the lesson package itself: just follow the assignments. It is provided with short or long “model” answers at most of the questions but of course there are different interpretations possible. Therefore the best approach is to read the book and decide for yourself. And if you need more input there are of course lots of debates, blogs and interpretations to look for on the internet as The Book Thief is a well discussed book all over the world ( a good suggestion is “Sparknotes” were I read some useful points of view). In addition there are “Tips for the teacher” at some assignments to suggest a certain approach, such as internet links to Padlet and Wheel Decide.

Have fun with this lesson plan and use whatever you can use. All in the best interest of educating our students and hopefully encourage them to read and enjoy books.

Sources:- Background information, retrieved from:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-book-thief/themes/

- Burke, V. (2007). Novelinks. Retrieved November, 2017, from http://novelinks.org/pmwiki.php?n=Novels.TheBookThief

- Interview Markus Zusak. Retrieved November 2017, from https://www.goodreads.com/videos/3647-interview-with-markus-zusak-author-of-the-book-thief

- Interview and background information on Markus Zusak. Retrieved October, 2017, from https://www.teenreads.com/authors/markus-zusak/news/interview-040906

- Holocaust documentary. Retrieved November, 2017, from https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=holocaust+documentary+&view=detail&mid=26E4CDE97EFD1368FA5126E4CDE97EFD1368FA51&FORM=VIRE

- Holocaust Kristallnacht. Retrieved November, 2017, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.htm

- Official trailer of the Book Thief. Retrieved November, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnLF-pCybw

- The Book Thief lesson idea. Retrieved November, 2017, from http://thebookthiefyalit.blogspot.nl/p/lesson-plan-ideas.html

- The Book Thief Teacher Resource. Retrieved November, 2017, from https://teachers.theguardian.com/assets/book-thief-markus-zusak

- Zusak. M. (2007). The Book Thief. Anniversary edition. ISBN 9780375842207. USA: Random House Inc .

The Book Thief 4

The

Book Thief Markus Zusak

Introduction to the Book ThiefYes, The Book Thief has well over 500 pages, but don’t let this put you off. Once you have started the novel, you won’t be able to put it down. You’ll get through it in no time at all – and you’ll be glad you did. This is an exceptional novel, a beautiful and haunting journey with an unexpected plot. It will captivate you and you will be drawn into the story, you might even want to read it more than once. It’s a story with the ability to feed the soul, a story with great images through colours and words. A story with pure beauty on the one hand and pure destruction on the other. Bring those stories together and you have……humans.

In an interview about writing Zusak describes three elements which are needed to grab the reader’s attention: “The first thing is the gems . . . the second would be story. While it’s nice to have the gems, if the story doesn’t captivate me, it makes finding the great images that little bit harder. Lastly, I think voice . . . If you can hear the characters or the narrator talking, they can almost tell you anything and you will go with them”.

- Interview:https://www.teenreads.com/authors/markus-zusak/news/interview-040906

- Background information on the writer:

https://www.goodreads.com/videos/3647-interview-with-markus-zusak-author-of-the-book-thief

PRE-READING ACTIVITIESLesson 1:

Historical Context To be able to understand fully – and, it might be said, really enjoy – a novel, you need to know about its context. The Book Thief is set in 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War. Where might you find out information about this period in our history? In pairs, combine your efforts and share information. Research topics are:

WWII Nazi party Kristallnacht Adolph Hitler Persecution of the Jewish people/ The Holocaust Mein Kampf

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‘For me, the sky was the

colour of

Jews . . .’

Effects of WWII on the German people Hitler Youth United German Girls Allied bombing of Munich

Tip for the teacher: use “Wheel Decide” to distribute topics. http://wheeldecide.com/

1. Task description: Create a poster - Work in pairs- Choose one of the topics and investigate your topic- Give a brief outline for the rest of the class - Stick your poster on the wall.

The word Shaker

Let’s look at the sense of story now. Read the short story ‘The Word Shaker’, set within the main story in A Hidden Sketch Book in part eight. Don’t worry that you haven’t read the rest of the novel yet. Look up the definition of parable. ‘The Word Shaker’, written by Max, one of the characters, is certainly a parable because it has an ‘unspoken meaning’.

1. Task description:

- Read ‘The Word Shaker’- Discuss what you think this hidden meaning is. Is there more than

one meaning? - How does it help your understanding of the context of The Book

Thief? - Can this parable be applied to any other context other than the

Second World War? For example, can you think of any other recent wars or persecutions of a group of people?

- Expand your vocabulary! Look up the words diaspora and pogrom. You may need to do this on the internet. How might these apply to the context of The Book Thief?

You will have discovered from your combined knowledge that the Second World War is a huge topic. But there are still wars going on……Class discussion on the effects of war on innocent people, the economy, housing, employment etc….

Tip for the teacher: use Padlet to post comments on the smartboard https://padlet.com/

Tip for the teacher: when there is time, it might be a good idea to end the lesson by reading the prologue “Death and Chocolate” aloud.

The story told in the Word Shaker is a background story of the rise of Hitler. The Fuhrer deciding “to rule the world with words”. Hidden meaning: Zusak uses a metaphor to equate the propaganda of Hitler to seeds and the spread of propaganda among the German people to the growing of many forests out of that one seed. One particular phrase that is used is: “(Hitler) invited his people towards his own glorious heart, beckoning them with his finest, ugliest words, handpicked from his forests”(445). At one point in the story, a girl representing Liesel meets a male character representing

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‘It’s just a small story

really . . .’

Max ( who was “despised by his homeland”-446). Liesel’s teardrop became a seed of friendship, and when planted, became a tree. This new seedling was planted amongst the other trees, showing us that the goodness from one person can start of a new forest as well, just like that one seed of hatred.

Diaspora: the spreading of people from one original country to other countries.Pogrom: an act of organized cruel behaviour or killing that has been done to a large group of people because of their race or religion.

HOMEWORK: Read the prologue and chapter 1 and 2.WHILE-READING ACTIVITIES

Lesson 2: Narrator and symbolism

VocabularyYou may find some of the vocabulary from The Book Thief difficult. If you don’t know a word and you are desperate to know the meaning you may look the word up.

Point of view in The Book Thief

DEFINITONS:  Point of View – The perspective from which a story is told.  Narrator – The person or voice telling the story. The narrator determines the point of view. 

FIRST PERSON narrator is an "I" (occasionally a "we") who speaks from her/his subject position. That narrator is usually a character in the story, who interacts with other characters; we see those interactions through the narrator’s eyes.

THIRD PERSON narrator is not a figure in the story, but an "observer" who is outside the action being  described. A third-person narrator might be omniscient (i.e., able to tell what all the characters are thinking) Third‐person narration may also be focalized through a particular character, meaning that the narrator tells us how that character sees the world, but can’t, or at least doesn’t, read the minds of all the characters this way.

VoiceLet’s move on to the voice in the story. You have read the section Death and Chocolate in the Prologue so now explore the narrative voice and how this differs from the authorial voice (voice of the author).

2. Task description: Make on your own and write your comments on the lines below.

- Who is the narrator in the Book Thief?- At which point did you realise who or what the narrator was?

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‘‘If you feel like it, come with me. I will tell you a story. I’ll show you something.’

- What type of narration is used in The Book Thief?- What did you learn about the narrator and how does he earn our sympathy?- The Book Thief is a that story goes beyond the Second World War. It isn’t just about how

awful the Nazis were, or how much they persecuted the Jews. How does having Death as a narrator add to the ‘bigger picture’?

The narrator of the book is Death. Death being the narrator became already clear during reading the prologue when Death is collecting the soul of Liesel’s brother. He earns our sympathy because he is compassionate, handling his souls gently. Having Death as an observer creates distance from the main character and events and gives us, the reader, a rather unique perspective on war. It shows the reader a cross section of German people during the war (and their points of view). In this way having Death as a narrator adds to the” bigger picture”. Death acts like a first person narrator but makes it seem a third person narration with Liesel, the main character, as he tells us how Liesel sees the world. So, for the parts of the book where Liesel is described we have essentially a third person omniscient narrator.

Jump ahead to part six and listen to the reading of the opening chapter: Death’s Diary. - What is the role of the narrator here? - What do we learn about the impact of war on humanity? - Pick out some of Zusak’s ‘gems’ that really describe the horror of what Death experiences.- Class discussion on answers

Death’s diary describes the allied bombing on Cologne. It shows us that the German people suffered a lot during the war as well. The allied bombing of Cologne had a huge impact with lots of casualties amongst civilians. Death describes the ordinary man, woman and child desperately looking for their loved ones. It brings war right on our doorstep this way. This chapter also gives Death a more human character as he provides us with more commentary on his feelings towards humans and how these terrible events, in fact, affect him. Death is weary from working but knows there is much more to come. In the meantime he also reflects on small moments of beauty when he tells us : “The sky is yellow and children play”. It shows a small moment of beauty that stands against a huge amount of suffering. He also brings up the theme of lightness and darkness through his example of Liesel, how there are sometimes beautiful stories like hers hidden amongst all of the destruction and sadness he has witnessed.

Symbolism in The Book Thief

DEFINITON:

Symbolism – Symbolism occurs when something is used to  represent an idea, concept, feeling, or emotion

COLOURSIn the novel The Book Thief the narrator, Death, sees the world, people and events in colours. Death explains that when it collects a soul, there is always a color, which represents the nature and tone of that person’s soul and their passing.

4. Task description:

- How do you see things in your life? Write down your remarks

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“First the colours.

Then the humans.

That’s how I usually see things.”

(Death, p 3)

- It can be argued that there is a contrast between Death and colours. With a story told by Death you would expect dark or greyish colours. What do the colours represent and what do you think the following colours might say about a person’s soul?

Colour is used by Death to describe the souls and skies in the moments that he comes to takepeople’s spirits away. It’s a way of distracting himself from his awful job. The colours represent either the events of the world in that particular time or the personality or temperament from the person’s soul he is taking. For example: when he comes to collect the soul of Liesel’s brother he sees the colour white, as it is winter with blinding snow, but also the innocence of a young soul.

Colour Symbolism

White White, like black and red, is associated with death (winter, blinding snow, the "coldness" of death, the innocence of a young soul)

Red Red, like white and black, is associated with death (the red of the German flag, violence, blood, emergency, danger)

Blue Happiness, harmony, peaceful days

Silver Hans's eyes are silver and look through you (Hans represents security, reliability, and calm). The accordion (music) is described as "silver." The colour of the sky is silver when Liesel kisses Rudy (love).

Yellow The sky is yellow during bombing raids (warning, hazard). Rudy's hair is lemon coloured (youth, sunshine, optimism).

Black Black, like red and white, is associated with death, especially the black swastika. Black also represents the absence of colour, destruction, and mourning.

Dark chocolate Death says he likes dark chocolate skies; they suit him, symbolizing the darkness of death itself.

BOOKSWhat do books represent?  And what are they used to symbolize? 

5. Task description: -  List three concepts, ideas, or feelings that  books can represent- Can you find any contrasts in these concepts?

Words and stories are among the most powerful ways in which people connect with one another. There are numerous examples of the ways words connect people throughout the story. Liesel learns the alphabet and how to create words from Hans Huberman, something which creates a bond between them. Later, Liesel’s descriptions to Max about the weather outside also help to establish a bond between them. The greatest gift Max gives Liesel in the novel is words in the form of the “The Word Shaker,” the story he writes for her. In it, he suggests that words are the most powerful force there is, indicated by the fact that Hitler uses words and not guns or money or some other instrument to take over the world. Liesel later uses words to calm her neighbors during the air raids by reading from her book, and she gives Frau Holtzapfel some comfort with her private readings to her. Ultimately, it are Liesel’s words in the book she leaves behind after the bombing, that establish the emotional connection Death feels to her. And the novel itself creates a connection between the reader and the characters of the story.Examples of concepts that books can represent: dreams, wisdom, sharing knowledge, emancipation, stimulation, intelligence, joy, information, communication, imagination.Contrast: words can be used for good or bad ( see Word Shaker). Words hold the power to spread ideas, and that power can be dangerous. In the book Max leaves behind for Liesel after he had to go he says Hitler used words to conquer the world.

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Book BurningBackground: the Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria. These were mainly books by classical liberal, anarchist, socialist, pacific, communist, Jewish and other authors whose writing were viewed as subversive or whose ideologies undermined the nationalist Socialist Administration.

6. Task description:

- Explain the symbolic meaning of the Nazi book burnings. - What were the Nazi’s really trying to destroy?

The Nazis burned books to keep people away from certain ideas, as if those ideas would spread like an infection. The Nazis feared those ideas, like the one in the book Liesel steals that a Jew could be a hero, because they could undermine the Nazi ideology and therefore the party’s control over Germany. In fact the Nazis tried to burn all ideology opposed to Nazism.

The Standover manThe pictures and stories that Max draws and writes during his time in the Hubermann’s cellar are an important part of the novel. They helped to keep him alive by passing time, providing him with a mental and creative release, as well as proving to be very therapeutic in making sense of the many thoughts, feelings and emotions he experienced as a result of his confinement.

7. Task description: - Before reading The Standover Man in the novel, look at the drawings only

(minus the accompanying text). - What story do you think the pictures are telling? - Who are the two characters? - What is their relationship? - What are they talking about or discussing? - What is the significance of the last page?- What was the message that Max was trying to make?

The picture on one of the pages is of a man looking into the mirror and seeing a bird, a reference to Liesel’s comment that Max’s hair looks like feathers. The story tells the story of Max’s life.The idea of Max being represented by a bird suggests that while he is physically "caged" in the basement, his spirit is free and proves untamable by the Nazis. The "standover men" in Max's life suggest his inner vulnerability: losing his father at a young age, for example, is compared with losing a fight. Yet a girl, not a man, standing over him brings him comfort as they become friends. Max has reached perhaps the most vulnerable point of his life thus far: he can continue to survive only at the mercy of the Hubermanns. His friendship with Liesel brings him such comfort that his best standover man is a young girl full of compassion.

HOMEWORK: Read chapter 3 and 4.

Lesson 3: Characters and relationships

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Rudy had already made up his mind about Liesel Meminger . . .’

The characters in the novel are carefully chosen and form a cross-section of Germany in those days: Jews, Nazis, rich, poor, old, young, soldiers and civilians. Liesel is the lynch-pin of the story, the glue that keeps it together, brought into Himmel street as an outsider. We get to know the people in her life as she meets them and what we learn about Liesel is through her relationships with other characters in the story– Rudy, Max, Ilsa Hermann, the Hubermanns.

Relationships

8. Task description:- Begin to assemble a mind-map which reflects the relationships between Liesel and the other

characters. - Put Liesel in the middle of the map and draw links between the characters. - On the links write down keywords that describe the nature of the relationship. Add some

quotations or examples of actions that highlight your ideas. - Which character is your favourite at this moment and why?- Keep adding to this mind-map as you progress through the story.- You can revisit this mind-map when you have finished reading the novel to see if your

thoughts have changed or developed. - Make this assignment individual, then compare.

Liesel is nine years old, almost ten, at the start of the novel. She is about fifteen towards the end of the novel when the bombs destroy her home and kill her loved ones. At the start of her story, Liesel is without words and cannot read. She understands that there is great power in words, though, and she longs to be able to read and write. Hans is Liesel's foster father, her Papa. He is a tall man with kind, silver eyes who plays the accordion. He has a quiet, gentle nature and Death tells us that he is the one Liesel loves most.Rosa Hubermann is Liesel's foster mother, her Mama. She is a stout woman, who calls Liesel a Saumensch ( a female swine), and Hans a Saukerl, the male equivalent. To the outside she looks

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Liesel

harsh and cold but in fact she has a very big heart, she deeply loves both Hans and Liesel. She also cares for Max when he is ill.Rudy is Liesel's best friend and they are “as thick as thieves” ( this expression means : to be very close friends who do things together, share secrets etc.). They are not only best friends but they are also literally thieves as together they steal apples and potatoes, as well as books from the mayor's house. Rudy is in love with Liesel and is constantly trying to get her to kiss him. Rudy often sticks up for Liesel, protecting her in any way that he knows how.Max Vandenburg is the Jewish man who hides in the Hubermanns' basement. His father saved Hans's life during World War I, and later Hans tries to save Max's life, which puts the Hubermanns' lives in great danger. In many ways, Max and Liesel are similar. He and Liesel become great friends during their time together.Ilsa Hermann is the mayor's wife. She gets to know Liesel because Rosa does the mayor's washing and ironing. Many of the people living in Molching believe that Frau Hermann is insane. She has fluffy hair and walks around in her bathrobe during the day. The reality is that she is depressed over her son's death in World War I. She is the one who sees Liesel steal The Shoulder Shrug from the bonfire during Hitler's party in Molching. Frau Hermann invites Liesel into her library to share her books with Liesel, and she gives Liesel a small notebook to write her own story, a gift which saves Liesel’s life in the end. In many ways, Liesel and Frau Hermann are able to save one another.

Character comparison

A lot of characters are presented against type, i.e. Death is presented as a charming narrator with humor. Tip for the teacher: read out aloud the words of Death about left-over humans, page 15.

9. Task description- What other examples can you find of characters presented against type?- And how about male characters versus female characters? Is there anything that strikes you?- Write down your notes - Class discussion on answers.

Most of the women in the story are strong and fierce, they are survivors, features commonly seen as manly.Liesel: behaving like a boy, loves playing football with the boys in the street and seeing no harm in fighting an older boy.Max: a gentle and dreamy man who loves books, but also loved to fight (Jewish fist-fighter).Rudy: Liesel’s best friend, is the embodiment of the perfect Aryan type with his blond hair and blue eyes, athletic power and intellectual talents. But he has a very gentle and compassionate nature and always fails to obey orders at the Hitler Jugend.

10.Task description: Liesel and Max: these two characters have much in common, but also some important differences.

- Compare Liesel and Max. - Work in pairs- Use the Venn diagram below to organize their similarities and difference

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In many ways, Max and Liesel are similar. They share similar pasts ( they both lost their real family, Max because they were Jewish and Liesel because her father was supposed to be a communist) and they both have nightmares about their past. They share the fact that they gain a foster family and find shelter in the Huberman household. They share a sense of guilt, Max because he left his family and couldn’t stop the SS from taking his family and Liesel because of her brother’s death. They also share a love for fist-fighting and a fascination for books. And they are both survivors.

In contrast: Max was literally fighting for his life every day, Max had to hide himself for the outside world whereas Liesel could go and walk the streets freely. Max’s presence put other people’s lives in danger whereas Liesel’s presence didn’t. Liesel came to the Hubermans for a better life while Max came to hide.

HOMEWORK: READ SECTION 5 AND 6Lesson 4: Literary Techniques

Internal movieWhen you read, whether it is a novel, short story or poem, you have your own internal movie or video that turns the words on the page into images in your mind.Authors use a variety of different written techniques to bring their written words alive for the reader. Some of the literary techniques that Markus Zusak employs in The Book Thief are simile, metaphor and personification. SIMILE: when the subject is compared to another subject, using the words like, as or such. METAPHOR: describes a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated objects. PERSONIFICATION: Gives animals and objects human traits and qualities. These may include

sensations, emotions, desires, gestures, expressions and powers of speech.

11.Task description: - Make groups of four and draw a placemat. - Use a quote from the novel and interpret it creatively from the image in your

mind’s eye onto your section of the paper. You can use one of the following examples or you can choose one yourself.

- Present and share your ideas or drawings to the other students in your group, turning the placemat so everyone can have a look at your visual interpretation/picture.

QUOTES from The Book Thief “I travelled the globe as always, handing souls to the conveyer belt of eternity.” (Death, p23) “I do not carry a sickle or scythe. I only wear a hooded black robe when it’s cold. And I don’t

have those skull-like facial features you seem to enjoy pinning on me from a distance.” (Death, p307)

“This time, his voice like a fist, freshly banged on the table. (p126) “The soft spoken words fell off the side of the bed, emptying onto the floor like powder. (p65) “Everything was so desperately noisy in the dark when he was alone. Each time he moved,

there was the sound of a crease. He felt like a man in a paper suit.” (p140)

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“Five hundred souls. I carried them in my fingers like suitcases. Or I’d throw them over my shoulder.

“When the train pulled into the Bahnhof in Munich, the passengers slid out as if from a torn package”. (p25)

GemsIn his interview, Zusak says that he: ‘loves the idea that there can be one gem on every page of a book. It can be an image, an idea or a piece of dialogue. If there is one gem on every page of a hundred-page book, that’s a hundred good reasons to read it.’His narrative style is very evocative, yet the language he uses is straightforward. There are very few Latinate words and the vocabulary is not difficult. So how does he create such a powerful style?

12. Task description: - Make groups of four and draw another placemat.- Choose a chapter you want to explore for gems, read it and find a gem you particularly like. - Use the ‘placemat’ to write down your findings. - Compare them in your group and discuss the impact on you as a reader. Is there a pattern

emerging in relation to how these ‘gems’ work- You might want to see the interview from lesson 1 again, feel free to do so.

Gems: “The minutes dripped past”“The desperate Jews- their spirits in my lap as we sat on the roof, next to the steaming chimneys”Death: “You want to know what I truly look like? I’ll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue”.

PunchlinesAnother facet of Zusak’s style is his use of ‘punchlines’. For example, at the end of part nine, Death states :”Yes, it was a great night to be Liesel Meminger, and the calm, the warm and the soft would remain for approximately three more months.But her story lasts for six.”

13.Task description: - See if you can find two or three other examples of such ‘punchlines’ and discuss the effect of

these on the reader. - Which reading strategies do they make us use? - How do they make us look forward and

backwards?

“ *** A small announcement*** about Rudy Steiner.

He didn’t deserve to die the way he did “ (37.9)

It’s one of Death’s favourite pastimes: foreshadowing and plot-spoiling.As narrator, throughout the novel Death reveals things, the fates of individual characters, survival or death etc. The effect of this employment of foreshadowing is the emphasis it places on the events and ‘machinations’ in Nazi Germany that lead the characters to their ends. And the curious thing is that it doesn’t spoil the reading, as Death doesn’t reveal everything it makes you to want to know exactly what’s going to happen..

HOMEWORK: READ SECTION 7 AND 8

Lesson 5: Themes Courage

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The courage to stick out “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down!!”

˜ Japanese proverb

14.Task description: - What does this proverb mean- How does this proverb apply to life in Germany during the Nazi movement?- Who has the courage to “stick out” in The Book Thief ? Think of three characters who show

courage standing out from the crowd in the Book Thief, and explain what made their actions brave.

This proverb means that whenever you stick your head out it might get cut off (or banged down in this case) so you take a risk when you stick out and behave differently. If you act out of the ordinary you will pay for it and therefore it takes courage to do so.

Probably Hans Huberman shows the most courage of all. At that time period, offering mercy to the Jews was an act that no one should do. However, Hans takes his risks and protects Max in his house. Another act of courage from Hans occurs when the Jews are marching through Molching on their way to the concentration camps, he watches an old Jew fall down and offers him help and a piece of bread. This really gets him in trouble and he is conscripted to serve in a dangerous air raid recovery unit. Although he regrets what he has done, it is his nature to help someone who needs help even though he might be in danger. Another example is the painting over anti-Semitic slurs on Jewish-owned homes and business by Hans Huberman.

The Hubermans as a family showed a lot of courage by hiding Max in their house.

Rudy showed a lot of courage too. He had the courage to stick out too when they were looking for Max between the Jewish people marching to concentration camps, helping Liesel and taking the beating of the Nazi soldier. Rudy sticks by Liesel’s side and tries to protect her if necessary, for example: when Viktor Chemmel starts to bully Liesel, Rudy tells him to leave her alone, and when Viktor tosses Liesel’s book in the river, Rudy doesn’t hesitate to dive in after it, not because it holds any value to him but because he knows it’s important to Liesel.And of course Liesel herself has the courage to stick out through all her actions and kindness towards Max.

Topics, themes and morals

A theme is a central idea or concept within a text. It says something about life or about being human. It is not a moral. A moral is a lesson, it tells people what to do or not to do; whereas a theme simply says something about the people themselves. Topics are: death, empathy, courage, innocence, power, survival, loss, love, etc.

15.Task description: - Work in groups of four and make a list of topics you agree on- We will compare them and agree on a master list (shown on the board)- Discuss the message the novel contains regarding each topic- What the story says about the topic is a theme: topic + insight is theme. Therefore theme is

more than just a topic.

The power of words and propaganda: see books The kindness and cruelty of humans: Kindness and cruelty go hand in hand in The Book Thief. On the one hand there is Ilsa Hermann inviting Liesel into her library and Rudy giving the teddy bear to the dying pilot. On the other hand, there are acts of cruelty, such as Viktor Chemmel’s and Franz Deutcher’s treatment of Rudy. The Hubermanns commit a great act of kindness in hiding and caring for Max. They not only keep him alive at great risk to themselves but they also treat him with respect

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and make him feel like a part of the family. Liesel in particular is kind to Max, and the two develop a strong bond. Meanwhile, the concentration camps are unseen in the background of the book as the most extreme example of cruelty. One scene in particular shows the two extremes of human behaviour: when Hans Hubermann tries to help one of the Jews being marched through town on the way to Dachau he shows great kindness but immediately after, one of the Nazi soldiers starts to whip Hans and the Jewish man. The act is cruel to begin with, but its cruelty is heightened by the fact that it comes in response to Hans’s kindness (Sparknotes 2017).Ideologies and their duality: Rudy paints himself black to look like Jesse Owens. While on the surface Rudy appears to be an ideal Aryan, so much that the Nazis try to recruit him into a special training center, he tries to imitate an African-American athlete. This, of course, contradicts Nazi ideology. Max, does the opposite. When he travels from Stuttgart to Molching, he acts like a non-Jewish German, trying to look calm and reading Mein Kampf, but in reality he is a terrified Jew who finds the book totally revolting. Another example of duality are the Hubermans, leading a double life after taking in Max, on the outside pretending to be law-abiding citizens, while inside they hide their dangerous secret. In fact, Hans even slaps Liesel for saying she hates Hitler in public, explaining that she can feel as she likes in the house, but in public she must behave in a certain way. Liesel and Rudy both spend a great deal of their time engaged in typical teenage activities like playing soccer in the street. But these moments are broken up with events like the parade of Jews through town, or the bombings that threaten and ultimately destroy Himmel Street. Therefore the topic (duality and ideology) combined with the insights that in the oppressive political climate of Nazi Germany many people must express their humanity in secret ways, the theme is that appearances don’t always reflect reality (Sparknotes, 2017).Survivor’s guilt: Max and Liesel share a sense of guilt, Max because he left his family and couldn’t stop the SS from taking his family and Liesel because of her brother’s death. The son of Frau Holzapfel takes his own life because he couldn’t live with the guilt. Ilsa Herman, the mayor’s wife, was depressed and full of guilt after having lost her son in WW1.Thievery: thievery is not so much a theme but a motif. It begins with Liesel taking the book dropped by the gravedigger right at the start. Later, Liesel and Rudy join a group of kids who go out stealing food because they’re hungry and starving. But Liesel is longing for more books after she finished her first one and starts stealing more regularly. Initially she just steals what she finds, like the book she takes from the book burning held in celebration of Hitler’s birthday. Later, the thieving becomes more deliberate as she starts taking books from Ilsa Hermann’s library. In the context of the novel, these thefts aren’t portrayed as crimes, Liesel steals because she loves books and Rudy follows her because he loves the thrill of stealing.. For both characters, stealing is a way of taking back some control over a world that is largely beyond their control.

16.Task description: - Choose several prominent themes from the text- Create a collage of images that represent these themes. These images can be cut out from

magazines, drawn or otherwise created.- On the back of the collage, provide explanations for at least five of your images. These

explanations should identify what the image represents and explain why it is an important theme in the book.

- Work in pairs.

Front

Images

Back

Explanations

HOMEWORK: READ SECTION 9 AND 10

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POST-READING ACTIVITIES

Lesson 6: Understanding and Reflection

Books, words, stories– these play a significant role in The Book Thief.

17. Task description:

- Re-read ‘The Word Shaker’.- Discuss how your understanding of this story within a story has changed now

that you have finished reading the novel.- There is a contrast in this novel about words; words can be celebratory and used

as a force for good, but they can also be used destructively and as a force for evil. In what ways are words used both positively and negatively in the story?

Liesel learns that the power of words can influence humans to act towards both good and evil as she experiences the beauty and the brutality of humanity. The story told in the Word Shaker is a background story of the rise of Hitler. In ‘The Word Shaker’ words are transformed into seeds, which Hitler uses to create a forest that fills people with Nazi ideology, deciding ““to rule the world with words”. At one point in the story a girl representing Liesel, however, grows her own tree and takes shelter in it. Nobody can chop it down, but Max is able to climb it and take shelter there with her. The girl’s (Liesel’s) teardrop became a seed of friendship, and when planted, became a tree. This new seedling was planted amongst the other trees, showing us that the goodness from one person can start of a new forest as well, just like that one seed of hatred. The story of the Word Shaker is therefore a metaphor, comparing the propaganda of Hitler to seeds and the spread of propaganda among the German people to the growing of many forests out of that one seed.

An important thread that runs through the course of the novel, and which gives it its title of The Book Thief, is the extraordinary lengths that Liesel will go to, and the risks she is willing to take, in order to fuel her love and passion of books, reading and learning.

18.Task description:

- If you were a ‘Book Thief’, which book do you love enough to go to extraordinary lengths to secure or steal?

- What do you think of the choice of books Liesel is reading?

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‘I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn’t already know . . . ?’

It’s not so much the books themselves that are symbolic, but how Liesel relates to them.

- Although Liesel loves books she also destroys a book (chapter 10). Why do you think she did that?

She understands that there is great power in words and she longs for them. She reads with her Papa and visits Frau Hermann in her library, one of the greatest places Liesel has ever seen. She also reads to those around her in the basement when there are air raids. Books become a source of comfort for herself and for those around her. She loves how words can fill her up, but then she also realizes that words can be ugly things, especially in the way Hitler uses words to encourage the German people to carry out horrific acts of violence and cause so much suffering. She realizes, too, that these same words are responsible for taking her mother and her brother away, and for Max having to hide in the basement. Later, she is overwhelmed by the pain of seeing Max on his way to the concentration camp and she rips the pages out of a book in Frau Hermann’s library because she blames words for the current state of the world. Therefore, she sometimes hates words and wishes she could be without them.

At the very end of The Book Thief Death says, ‘I am haunted by humans.’ This theme resonates throughout the story.

19.Task description:- What message does the author want to transfer to us and how

does he use Death’s voice to do this? - What makes the narrator

Death an effective narrator in The Book Thief? 

One of the major themes of the novel is the contradiction between the

tremendous cruelty of the Nazis and their sympathizers and the extraordinary kindness of ordinary Germans like Hans Huberman who risked their own lives to help others. Death is fascinated by humans, but he struggles to understand how humans are capable of so much ugliness and so much beauty at the same time. That Death chooses to say he is “haunted” indicates that this contradiction troubles him and it suggests that we don’t make any sense to Death, which is quite ironic because it’s a feeling people often have regarding death. Death the narrator reverses it back onto us, making us, humans, the frightening and mysterious phenomenon.

Death as a narrator: through the character of Death, Zusack is able to make us (humans) look at ourselves through the eyes of an outsider. Death takes an interest in Liesel and her story, and he believes that Liesel's story is one of a handful of beautiful stories he possesses. Throughout the novel, Death often provides humorous, informative, or dark insights in human nature. He directly interacts with the reader and likes to skip around in the story's timeline, revealing events to come and then apologizing for giving parts of the story away. He steers the story and while his commentary often focuses on his perception of humans, he also tries to correct humans' perception of him, revealing that he does have a heart, that he doesn't carry a scythe, and that he, in fact, appears quite human. He describes how he has to do the bidding of many different bosses — these humans like Hitler who exterminate and bring war to others. The job often tires him, he feels “haunted by humans”.

The Book Thief 18

‘The consequence of this is that I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both . . .’

20.Task description: Some people join, some people fight. What is wrong and what is right? What makes people’s decisions? Read the following quotes from Veronica Burke ( Burke, 2007) carefully and spend some time thinking and forming your opinions and ideas

“Some crunched numbers. Since 1933, ninety percent of Germans showed unflinching support for Adolf Hitler. That leaves ten percent who didn’t. Hans Hubermann belonged to the ten percent.” (p65)

Consider this quote from The Book Thief in relation to the one below from a novel called The Magus by John Fowles

“The human race is unimportant. It is the self that must not be betrayed.I suppose one could say that Hitler didn’t betray his self ------------ He did not. But millions of Germans did betray their selves. That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be evil, but that millions had not the courage to be good.” (The Magus, p132)

- How has this book developed your understanding of man’s inhumanity to man?- What is your opinion? Are people naturally and inherently good…or bad?- Discuss your opinion of the topic ‘People are inherently good / bad’ as a class debate.

To add structure to the class debate it might be helpful to use Padlet again to post comments. A follow-up question could also be to ask the students if they consider this book a story of

hope. As in the end people do survive and people did fight back against the ugliness of war.

A JourneyAn integral element of the novel is the journey that many of the characters undertake during the course of the story: they are all very different people at the end of the novel than they were at the beginning. The notion of a journey is not only a physical thing, but can also be emotional or spiritual. There is no question that the characters are emotionally stronger at the end of the novel even though they were physically weaker through hunger, starvation and plain hard work.

21.Task description: - Describe the characters of Liesel and Max at the beginning of the novel to the people they

were at the end. - Which people and events shaped and changed them throughout the course of the novel?

Liesel: At the start of the novel Liesel is a fragile, nine year old child. As the story progresses she develops to a more mature and strong woman. This development is symbolized by her relationship to books. Her first encounter with a book comes just after her brother dies when she is on her way to be delivered to a foster family. And although she is unable to read the book she picks it up. A bit later, she struggles to read in front of the class and is mocked by Ludwig Schmeik and this incident causes frustration as it makes her feel powerless. As Liesel begins to learn how to read and write, with the help of her Papa, and thus begins to gain power over books, her character also develops. She starts to mature emotionally and to be kinder and more understanding of those around her. This change is highlighted by her friendship with Max. She becomes his caretaker and again books play a significant role in their friendship as she often reads to him, using books as a way to comfort him. Furthermore

The Book Thief 19

different incidents and persons contribute to her growth and development. Hans, her foster father who learns her to read and write and who shows her what it means to be gentle and caring and courageous, is of great importance to her development. From Max Liesel learns that perseverance, hope and courage are essential in the darkest hours. And from Rudy she learns what loyalty and friendship is.

Max is only twenty-two years old when he enters the story. In the beginning he almost seems like an old man, beaten down by his sense of guilt for leaving his family behind and because of the hiding and starvation in dark places. But he is a fighter and a survivor. As he lives isolated in the Hubermann’s basement, he imagines literally fighting Hitler and countless Germans. Then again, as a child he used to fight and was known never to give up, although he rarely won a fight. Later, after he has left the Hubermans and is caught by the Nazis, he is led to the labor camp at Dachau, and though we don’t know what happens to him there it is clear that he still had to fight to stay alive. Liesel is the one who reaches out for him and in a way saves his life and soul from dying during those two years in the basement at the Hubermans.. His friendship with Liesel brings him comfort and teaches him the value of compassion. But also Rosa and Hans Huberman are important as they really care for him, Rosa doing everything she can during his terrible illness. In the end Max survives Dachau and the Holocaust and in a way this is his act of resistance against Hitler.

22.Task description:

- Think of those people in our own community and broader society who have been forced to flee their homeland, their lives and their families due to war, political reasons, famine or tragedy and undertake a huge journey of some kind. Do you know any of these people?

- How do you feel about this?

CREATIVE WRITING

Near the end of The Book Thief there is a big gap in time between Liesel and Max reuniting at the end of the war to Liesel’s death in Sydney.What do you think the rest of Liesel’s life turned out to be like? Do you wonder about the effect that her experiences during the war had on her personality, her values and her family life? Do you think she ever returned to Germany, or would this have been too difficult for her to face?

23.Task description:

Write another chapter in the life of Liesel. This could be: - Just after she and Max reunite

The Book Thief 20

If you could ask Death one question, what would you ask?

- The events and decisions that lead her to leave Germany - Who she married and how they met - Anything else of your choice

THE END

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