Milkweed Themes

Thirty percent of Warsaw’s population were Jews prior to the Holocaust, which was a staggering 350,000. However, during the Holocaust 400,000 Jews were forced to live in grotesque conditions by the Nazi regime. In the novel Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, Misha, a young orphaned boy, befriended a group of boys living in a barn. As turmoil spread in Europe about the Nazi reign, Jewish people were captivated and imprisoned in ghettos to be isolated from the rest of the population. Ensnared to stay with his “pseudo” family, Misha, lives with the Milgroms in a ghetto. As the story progresses, different themes such as famine, disease, and death, manifest throughout the novel resembling the annexation of the Nazi party and the captivity of millions

Shelby Veenstra Mrs. Warwick Language Arts 8-3 16 March 2015 Rough Draft Around six million Jews died during The Holocaust, when Hitler was in charge. He starved them, killed them, and even bombed them. Milkweed a Historical Fiction Novel by Jerry Spinelli is about a young child named Misha, who lives with the Milgroms in the Warsaw Ghetto and steals food fighting to survive, until trains take Jews to a concentration camp, while Misha moves to America.

Milkweed is a book written by Jerry Spinelli, who is a famous American author recognised for writing children's books that feature adolescence and early adulthood. Originally published by HarperCollins on the 9th of September in 2003. It is a book about a little boys perspective on the years that the Nazis infiltrated Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The little boy is an orphan named Misha Podolski by the man who took it upon himself to protect and guide him through the tough life that was living in Warsaw in World War II. Some might say that Misha's view on life at the time was ignorant but we like to say that he is just an innocent kid who doesn't know any better. Throughout the book you can see just how innocent Misha is, The book clearly shows that although Misha is a thief, he has the purest form of kindness and innocence, due to his unawareness of

This book gives historical records of Jewish people who had survived the holocaust these accounts get very deep and descriptive but overall gives you a vivid perspective of the 16 people during this

In the book Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli uses symbolism to provoke a need for a character using their experiences throughout the timeframe of Sept 1, 1939 – Sept 2, 1945. Misha lived in Warsaw, Poland during World War ll and lived through Hitler’s arrangement of the force of the ghetto and concentration camps. In those indifferent times, Misha befriends many people. Misha uses physical appearance when describing power he stumbled upon. Boots was a symbol of power when undergoing the concept of look and its consequences.

The story is a documentary but in a cartoon, comic type of way and is like an adventure that makes you just reflect about your life and back then. LIfe was a struggle to survive during the war if you were a Jew for they would hunt you down. Also it just reflects on feeling of how you would feel if you lost your family and all you had, even if you were rich and wealthy you would be treated like less than a human. The book leaves you thinking on many concepts and it's true how could a human be treated as less just because of your religion.

Then at the end of the story when Misha plants milkweed in his backyard, he is doing it have have hope to hold onto. Planting the milkweed also preserved his memories of Poland remembering the struggles he faced to get to where he was at the time. The first time milkweed

That is because the storyline of the book is easy to follow and keeps you on the edge of your seat while you read, especially when the children are involved in the storyline. Page 37 is a good example of this because that is when the children are kidnaped you don’t know what will happen next. Also because you can form a connection with the characters of the story very easily. Such as with the main character Nancy because everyone at one point in their life has been wrongly accused of something they didn’t do just like Nancy was on page 66 of taking her children. Throughout the story one of the recurring aspects of the story that was very intriguing were the clues the author left in the book for the reader to solve who the kidnaper was. An example of these clues can be found on various pages but one of the best clues can be found on Because this book is not the usual genre I read, it took me awhile to get with the direction the book was heading to but once I did I enjoyed the book very much and I would definitely put it up in my list of top 10 book

I have spotted multiple themes though out this novel but, the main two themes I was were Good vs. Evil and Being Self-Sufficient. The main characters the tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Loin were heavily insecure about themselves. The scarecrow didn’t t think he was smart enough so he traveled with them to get a brain. The lion didn’t think he was brave enough so he traveled with them to get some courage. Though out the novel we see that the scarecrow is the smartest out of the group and that the lion risked he own life many times to save his friends.

Each story ever written has many literary elements within it. Elements such as setting, characters, resolution, plot, and lastly conflict, Conflict is a major part of any story. The plot is centered around any sort of conflict in a short story or novel. It creates challenges with the story and within the characters. It keeps a reader entertained enough to see if the characters overcome those hardships. James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues”, uses conflict as the main concept of the story, the conflicts and struggles wither make or break the characters in the story.

This text also tells me how writers saw the Jewish population in relation to Germany and how their popular writings may have influence the cause of events that is the Holocaust This text is useful to me as it shows that there is both political and racial roots to the causes of the Holocaust which shows how the different causes are inter-related with one another. This is useful as it gives me two different perspectives on the cause of hatred and I can see how they inter-relate with each

Conflict is a normal part of everyday life and is an issue that every one faces. It is defined as a state of struggle or fight caused by the actual or perceived opposition or threat of needs, values, interest, status and power. Conflict is also a very important, common and necessary element in stories. It allows the author to add excitement and suspense thus making the story entertaining for readers. In stories, conflict is classified as any difficulty or problem that involves the characters and usually takes place in the formats of a character opposing them self, a character opposing another and a character opposing an object. The “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman perfectly depicts conflicts and exemplifies the various types

The curriculum for reading with a group of second grade students is, teaching the students how to interact with the text by asking questions and answering those questions. Having the students learn how to ask “who, what, when, where, why, and how” is the first step for new readers to understand what they are reading. The students are learning how to pick out the key ideas and details within the story to help fully understand the concept and meaning behind the writers words. Students need to be able to describe what they are reading and pay attention to the story’s plot. Second grade students now have the ability to understand the reason behind the characters actions within the stories that they read. This short story in particular serves the purpose of learning how to pick out the key ideas and details for new readers.

37- 126) Milkweed takes place between September 1939 to 2001, where the book was published when Jerry Spinelli considered “Today”. A German invasion happened on September 1st, 1939. After about 8 years Jackboots started taking over small towns, finding any Jewish looking/related person and setting them off into concentration camps. This was taken in a slowly matter. They did anything, by just painting the words “Jew” on bakeries/shops to even painting people with yellow and white paint, closing down businesses. “ It says Jew.” (…) So Nobody will come to their shop and buy from them.” (pg.37) This slowed down resources to cause depression in the economy. One example is when Misha takes more than he needs. Stealing too much bread that’ll go to waste. Uri improvised, He took the unneeded rations they had and gave it to the orphanage. Misha thought this was a weird, unusual idea, but now slowly gives in and becomes his new “thing” as he progresses in the plot. Misha oftenly smuggles gives half to either to the orphanage or to “independent orphans”. The other half to a Jewish family with the surname:

Adolescence is a bumpy and unknown section of the road known as life. Both the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier and the poem “Hard on the Gas,” by Janet S. Wong relate to the theme that “the road to growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth”. “Marigolds is the story of an adolescent who is growing up in the Great Depression. Through hard experiences and tumultuous emotions, the narrator learns that growing up is full of ups and downs. “Hard on the Gas” is a poem about a grandchild driving with his or her grandfather. The grandchild realizes that the road isn’t always perfect and that there will be bumps along the way. The theme “the road growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth” is conveyed in both of these selection.