- This topic has 34 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated May 9, 2021 by
.
-
Posts
-
-
-
Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s lesson we began our study of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of ideas on the historical context of the novel and how crucial an understanding of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust is in understanding the events of the book. We spoke about the history of book burning, and why it is such a recurrent event in authoritarian regimes, thinking about what the burning of books represents on a deeper level and considering this in relation to Heinrich Heine’s famous work on the subject. We discussed the Orwell quote “whoever controls the past controls the future, whoever controls the present controls the past” and the class did a fantastic job of linking this quotation to wider ideas on authoritarianism and censorship. I was really impressed by the extent of their knowledge about Nazi Germany and how maturely and sensitively they were able to deal with some very complex and troubling ideas surrounding the suffering and brutality of the Holocaust. Fantastic work today everyone, I am super impressed with you all. You dealt with some really difficult and challenging themes this lesson and did so beautifully. I look forward to reading your homework and will see you all again next week. Really well done for all your insightful and thought-provoking work today! 😊
Here is the video we watched about the Holocaust survivor, Heinz Skyte (only available in the UK): https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/history-ks3-gcse-from-kristallnacht-to-Britain/zddfcqt
Here is an article written by his son about his life: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/12/heinz-skyte-obituary
Here is the video on the history of book burnings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W01W3yMmxew
Here is the video on the Nazi book burnings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQYmF0FL5Wo
Homework
-
-
-
Dear Beth,
Thank you for the lesson 😀
Here is my homework:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMLt_Ry-ZTFmP7YqBK4bBPWvprK38CmzXBkuZffOoVA/edit?usp=sharing
Thank you again 😀
-
-
-
-
Dear Beth,
Here is my homework:
In my view, I think it is crucial for the story of The Book Thief to be situated in Germany due to the problems the characters have to experience and the environment during that certain time period. For example, it was the period of when Germans were very objecting against Jewish people, by doing devastating and unimaginable things such as, burning books, hurting , burning Jewish people. This emphasises the importance of the story being set in Germany as only small amounts of countries in the world have experienced something like this. Furthermore, I think it was near the last quarter of the book when Germany began a battle against England which caused much bombings and eventually leading to the death of Rudy, without these circumstances the book would become slightly less dramatic and intrigueing for the reader.
from,
Amy
-
-
Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s lesson we continued our study of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of ideas on the themes and semantic field of the novel, taking a wider approach to get to the heart of what the novel is all about. The students wrote some fantastic summaries of the novel that exposed what they found most important and moving in the book, and thought deeply about the way Zusak employs symbolism throughout. We then moved on to talking about author intent, thinking about why Zusak had made the choices he made in the novel and what could be inferred from this. The class completed a hot-seating exercise beautifully, and also watched and analysed a real-life interview with Zusak for comparison. Finally, we discussed the moral of the story, which the students encapsulated in a very lyrical and poignant way. Well done everyone, you all worked fantastically today. Keep up the amazing work and I will see you all next week! 🙂
Homework
-
-
-
Hi Beth
Thank you for the lesson, here is my homework:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K5NCYQp1aF2dHtS9xZ9Vzbb1Y3Td_Uk728DIlXG549I/edit?usp=sharing
😀 😀
-
-
-
-
To Beth,
Here is my homework:
How does the novel explore the idea of family? How is family defined at the start vs. The end.
The novel expresses ideas of family by including characters who play the roles. At the start of the novel, Leisel’s family situation is very chaotic, such as a dying brother, unmentioned father and a betraying mother. Liesel is forced away from all of her family, into a home that would have preferred and was expecting her brother more. Starting of, Liesel did not have an exceptionally good relationship with her foster mother, whereas, she begins to warm up to her new father Hans Hubermann very quickly, as if bonding with each other at first interaction. Furthermore, in the novel there was a scene where Leisel missed her mother and attempted to write letters to her -unfortunately receiving no reply- I think it was from around that point when Liesel’s relationship with her mother became slightly closer. Later on, there is an obvious contrast in Leisel’s family situation where they heavily highlight the power of teamwork by trying to hide Max (a Jew) from the Nazis in the anti – semitism times; the novel then moves on to when Liesel’s mother reports good news to her by pulling her out of class, which is also when Liesel’s mother finally tries to express her realistic feels. Disastrously, Leisel’s new family is once again ripped apart at the start of a battle against the English which is how the story emphasises how important it is to treasure your family because you may lose them anytime.
Thank you,
Amy
-
-
Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s lesson we continued our study of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains our work on the narrative voice and characterisation of the novel, focusing in particular on the effect of having a personified version of Death as the narrator. We analysed the perspective of the novel, comparing the presentation of Death to other works of literature where Death is personified, and then mimicked the narrative voice of the novel through writing our own scene narrated by Death, which the class did fantastically. Finally, we discussed the concept of irony, and how it both adds darkness and humour to the novel. The class worked beautifully today, I was super impressed by the originality of their ideas and their dissection of the way Zusak conceptualises Death. They also conducted some lovely analysis of character development in the book which was great. Really well done everyone, I was so impressed with your thoughts and contributions today. Keep up the fab work! 😊
Here is the link for the video we watched on the role of Death in the novel (it also has a blog post attached which is worth a read!): https://www.ignitedinkwriting.com/ignite-your-ink-blog-for-writers/read-the-book-thief-by-markus-zusak/2017
P.S. Remember you need to come to next lesson having picked your favourite quotation from The Book Thief as we are going to be working with it in our lesson together. Just have a flick through and a think about any quotes you find particularly powerful in the novel.
Homework
-
Hi Beth,
Thank you for the lesson.Here is the link to my homework this week:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qyngBMyvTQL-iCqlv4XUtR0qU5HG7IZQVfKQqWtkvCE/edit?usp=sharing
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
-
-
-
-
Dear Beth ，
Thank you for your always wonderful lesson, here is my work, enjoy the spring time~~~~^_^
-
-
Dear Beth,
Here is my homework:
What purpose does Rudy’s death play in the novel?
In my opinion Rudy’s death emphasises the seriousness of ‘the book theif’. Even though this novel is already heartbreaking and upsetting , the death of Rudy implies how dangerous that time period was. For instance, Rudy was bombed during the war between Germany and England, the loss of lives enhances the effects and troubles that it caused others.
Rudy’s death also conveys a moral ‘take care of those around you’. This is also because of Liesel, e.g. the friendship between Liesel and Rudy). After Rudy’s death, Lieselwas extremely sad and attempted to wake Rudy up by reflecting on the recurring line ‘can i have a kiss…’. However, Rudy, Rosa and Hans Hubermann taught Liesel how important and speacial family is; leading to the moral ‘take care of those around you’.
Thank you very much, have a great day,
Amy.
-
-
Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s lesson we completed our study of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the poems assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains our work on quotation analysis and getting under the skin of the poetic, figurative way in which Zusak writes, thinking about he uses symbolism, foreshadowing and how he makes the reader feel through the abstract language he uses. We watched a video on a really important five-step process for quotation analysis, and the students then applied this beautifully to quotations of their choice. We also completed an exercise where they had to come up with their own versions of various quotes from the novel, employing their creativity to mirror Zusak’s writing and put their own spin on it. They came up with some truly outstandingly beautiful quotations of their own- I was seriously impressed by the way they were able to use metaphor, symbolism, high-level vocab and much more in their work. Finally we spoke about allegory in The Book Thief, considering how it is demonstrated in Max’s story of The Word Shaker, and discussing its effect. I was really, really impressed with everyone in today’s class; the work they produced was of an incredibly high level and it was an absolute joy to teach them all. I loved hearing all their analyses of quotations, and thought that the speed with which they adapted to the new five-step approach (which is designed for much older kids) was outstanding. Really well done guys, I can’t stress enough how well you all did today at picking up some really advanced, GCSE level skills & can’t wait to see what you come up with for homework! Keep up the amazing work and I will see you all in a couple weeks 🙂
Here is the link on quotation analysis (please watch it if you have time, it is so useful!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OItIG1AJxKU&t=1s
Here is the Word Shaker animation to help you think more deeply about the allegorical writing in the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCwvnHMboHU
Homework
-
-
-
Dear Beth,
Thank you for the lessons 😀
Here is the link to my homework:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MqDaJvoOsDTX2XUrQovFFgzeFaMytaiQvMZGsfNHYqw/edit?usp=sharing
Thank you 😀
-
-
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.