Lesson series for: HAVO, VWO/GYMNASIUM & TTO

Ineke

Young Adult Literature, student’s workbookNovember 2017

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

1. Task description: Create a poster - Work in pairs- Choose one of the topics and investigate your topic

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‘For me, the sky was the

colour of

Jews . . .’

- 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’.

2. 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….

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‘It’s just a small story

really . . .’

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).

3. 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 realize who or what the narrator was?- 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’?

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

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

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

- 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 Symbolism

White

Red

Blue

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“First the colours

Then the humans. T

hat’s ho

Silver

Yellow

Black

Dark chocolate

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?

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 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?

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- 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?

HOMEWORK: Read chapter 3 and 4.

Lesson 3: Characters and relationships

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.

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Liesel

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

Character comparison A lot of characters are presented against type, i.e. Death is presented as a charming narrator with humor. 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.

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 differences.

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HOMEWORK: READ SECTION 5 AND 6

Lesson 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) “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?

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

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.

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?

HOMEWORK: READ SECTION 7 AND 8

Lesson 5: Themes Courage

14.Task description: - What does this proverb mean- How does this proverb apply to life in Germany during the Nazi movement?

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

˜ Japanese proverb

- 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.

Topics, themes and moralsA 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.

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

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HOMEWORK: READ SECTION 9 AND 10

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?

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?

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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 . . . ?’

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

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

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? 

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.

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‘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 . . .’

“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.

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?

Another element that was true of Liesel and Max in particular was the sense of belonging that they both came to feel in their ‘adopted’ home: both were ‘displaced people’, foreigners in their own

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country, their identity and their family heritage cruelly snatched from them due to political circumstances.

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

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

THE END

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