The BOOK Thief Markus Zusak

1. Background Information & Historical Context The BOOK Thief Markus Zusak

2. Prejudice , Stereotypes, and Scapegoats

3. During the 1930s Germany, soundly defeated in WWI, gathered strength under the leadership of the fanatical nationalist Adolf Hitler. Hitler and his Nazi Party rearmed Germany – breaking the Versailles Treaty of 1919 (was designed to keep peace throughout Europe) Envisioning themselves as a superior race, the Nazis ultimately planned to rule all of Europe The Seeds of World War II

4. 1934 Non-aggression pact signed with Poland Hitler signed an agreement with Stalin, Russia’s leader, dividing Poland between them 1936 – Mussolini , Italy’s leader, signs a non-aggression pact with Germany 1938- The Third Reich: includes Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia Hitler’s Political Groundwork

5. The stage was set for another world war. When France and Great Britain failed to act quickly to stop Hitler, the Germans opened hostilities, launching a massive air offensive on Warsaw and the surrounding area. It took only three weeks for the Nazis to gain control of Poland. http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/bldied.htm The Stage is Set…

6. Why did this ethnic group pose such a serious threat to Hitler’s ideal Germany? • The answer lies in the long history of anti-Semitism in Europe. • The Jews were persecuted in Spain and in Russia where they were coerced to convert to Christianity or face dire consequences. • The addition to the religious issue, Jews sometimes acted as money-lenders and were scapegoated for the economic problems of the time Hitler and the Jews

7. Hitler was not Germany’s first anti-Semite – he was greatly influenced by Karl Lueger – mayor of Vienna In Mien Kampf, Hitler takes a similar approach to Lueger and accuses the Jews of deliberately attempting to pollute the pure German gene pool (Aryan) Nuremberg Laws (1935) : German Jews lost their rights as citizens, and intermarriage between a Jew and non- Jews was prohibited Hitler and the Jews

8. When did the Holocaust take place? How many people were killed? In 1942 the Nazi’s instituted the concentration camps, where prisoners were worked to death, shot, or gassed. The vast majority of German and Polish Jews ended up in these camps – few survived Hitler’s Final Solution The Holocaust

9. Nazis concentrated the Jewish people into a “Jewish Quarter” so they would be easier to control. Poor sections of a city Surrounded by barbed wire or walls, the ghettos were sealed off. Overcrowding , malnutrition, and heavy labor were problems Jewish Ghettos

10. Overcrowding in a Ghetto

11. Forced labor was a Nazi strategy to exploit Jews They were forced to work for the very people oppressing them Food rations in the Ghettos allowed residents only 300 calories of food daily. Does anyone know the recommended amount ? At one time , the Warsaw, Poland Ghetto contained 37% of the population squeezed into 4.6% of the area of the city! Conditions in the Ghettos

12. Death: The narrator of the book throughout the story. Death is sympathetic to mankind and dislikes all of the despair and destruction brought upon humans by war, which is different from a belief that Death is friends with War. He comments on the thoughts, morals, and actions of humanity throughout the story while keeping a close eye on Liesel The Narrator

13. The Book Thief Metaphor – Simile – Conceit

14. Simile: a comparison of two unlike things using like or as - “A is like B” Metaphor: also a comparison ; a type of analogy - “ A is B , or A can be substituted for B” Conceit: an extended metaphor What’s the difference?

15. Simile: “You’re as happy as a clam!” • Metaphor: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference”("The Road Not Taken”) • Conceit: • “All the world’s a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances” — William Shakespeare, As You Like It Examples

16. The Book Thief Symbolism & Irony

17. Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. A symbolis an object, action, or idea that represents something other than itself, often of a more abstract nature. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWrno6lBUQ Symbolism

18. What does The Grave Digger’s Handbook symbolize? What other item(s) or event(s) in The Book Thief represents more than what we would usually associate with the object or event? Symbolism in The Book Thief

19. Verbal Irony: a statement in which the meaning that a speaker employs is sharply different from the meaning that is supposedly expressed. • Ironic Simile: “As pleasant as a root canal!” • Situational Irony: a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results in a certain situation. • Dramatic Irony: the device of giving the spectator an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of (at least consciously), thus placing the spectator a step ahead of at least one of the characters. • EX: In horror movies • Irony: refers to the difference between the way things seem to be and the way things are. What is ironic about the first book Liesel stole? IRONY

20. Verbal Irony: • Sarcasm • Overstatement (hyperbole) • Understatement The narrator says that WWII was the result of the German’s love of burning things. What tells you that this statement should not be taken literally , at face value? Irony Continued …

21. Understand what it really means to be “literal” Literal: not figurative or metaphorical I ate my weight in doughnuts this morning. I made a 20 on my theology test. She cried buckets! I will smack you if you inappropriately use “literally”. Literally