26th June 2018

The Book Thief Essay Plan

Analyse how language features revealed the writer’s purpose in the written text(s).
The books (symbols) reveal the writers purpose to show Liesels maturation as she reads each one.
1. Grave diggers handbook – disposition and experiences
-represents great loss, great sorrow, and her feelings of abandonment. -It represents the end of one phase of her life, and the beginning of another.
-Marks her transformation from illiterate to literate,
-represents great sadness and loss,
-it also represents great friendship with Hans and learning to read.
Possible Quotes:
“Then they discovered she couldn’t read or write. (7.25)”
“Did the Führer take her away?”
“Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t”
“With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief, also known as Liesel Meminger could see […] that her younger brother, Werner, was now sideways and dead. His blue eyes stared at the floor. Seeing nothing”
2. The shoulder shrug- Rebellion,
-Secrecy gives power (now has control of her own life),
-Consequences ( Frau Herman knows) , Frau Herman doesn’t get angry so she learns to trust.
-When this is broken she now feels betrayed and bitter.
-Gives her greater literacy.
-She reads to max when sick.
-features a Jewish protagonist. This is why the novel is sentenced to burn in Hitler’s birthday book burning.
-steals it from the bonfire after getting confirmation from Hans that Hitler is likely behind the disappearance of her parents/poverty that caused her brothers death
-revenge on her new sworn enemy, Adolf Hitler- wants a book to read, but she also wants to take back some of what Hitler is destroying
Possible Quotes:
-“Beneath her shirt, a book was eating her up. (21.56)”
-“What trash is this girl reading? She should be reading Mein Kampf.”
-“That such a room existed!”
-“In fact, on April 20 – the Führer‘s birthday – when she snatched a book from beneath a steaming pile of ashes, Liesel was a girl made of darkness”
– “In front of him, he read from the copy of Mein Kampf. His savior. Sweat was swimming out of his hands. Fingermarks clutched the book”
– “You know, Liesel? I nearly wrote you a reply and signed your mother’s name. […] But I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself.”
3. Shoulder shrug/ word shaker/ Mein Kampf (Max’s publications) – the horrifying truth Liesel learns
-Hitler has made his words come to life, and they shape Liesel’s reality
-Hitler’s book can be used as a shield, a disguise
-for Liesel, this book definitely means Max, and Max’s life… but it also goes deeper than that. Max hits on the idea of painting the pages of Hitler’s book white and using the pages to write The Standover Man and The Word Shaker. Liesel learns that kind words can be used to combat hateful ones.
-pushes Liesel to act as courageously as she can.
– these three books also point to the development of Liesel’s secret life during most of her time on Himmel Street. The fact that she was able to keep these books—and Max—a secret
-testament to her courage and strength.
– “The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing.”
-“When death captures me,” the boy vowed, “he will feel my fist in his face.”

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