The Book Thief Rhetorical Analysis

In part four of ‘The Book Thief’, there is a flashback to when Hans was in World War 1. In the chapter ‘The Accordionist’, Hans, Erik Vandenburg (Max’s father), and many other soldiers were stationed in France. One day, the sergeant asked who the best writer was. Because of the first incident in which a soldier had to clean the restroom with a toothbrush, none of the soldiers wanted to volunteer. Finally, Erik Vandenburg stepped up and proclaimed Hans as the best writer. The sergeant then told Hans he had to write a couple dozen letters, because the captain couldn’t, while the rest went into a battle. None who were involved in the battle came back.

Precise writers make linguistic choices to create certain effects. They want to have their readers react in a certain way. Go back through the text and analyze Krakauer’s use of words, sentences, and paragraphs, and take note as to how effective a writer he is.

For example, Night, by Elie Wiesel contrasts against A Long Way Gone : Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah in writing style which allows both stories to more heavily emphasize an element of literature. Night chooses to more heavily highlight the events that seem more extreme in nature, causing it to be allows readers to feel as if they had the emotions of the author. For instance, one intense event that allowed the reader to synchronize in emotion with the author was when Eliezer Wiesel was whipped by the SS officer. Elie Wiesel states, “I no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip” (Wiesel 57). Through the intensity of the cruel environment Eliezer Wiesel is put in, it allows the readers to empathize and also feel the disgust that Eliezer Wiesel felt towards the SS officer that lashed him. Whereas A Long Way Gone : Memoirs of a Boy Soldier chooses to include most events through-out the novel to increase its effectiveness in developing the author’s character. This can be seen when the write, Ishmael Beah, states, “I walked for two days straight without sleeping. I stopped only at streams to drink water. I felt as if somebody was after me” (Beah

He goes in extraordinary detail to grandstand the imbalance the Jews experienced. He demonstrates to us that the families that needed to help were rebuffed like the Huberman's. Zusak's utilized the consuming of the books that were composed by Jews symbolizes how the Jews were really placed in chambers and consumed because of their religion and appearance. He likewise utilized the accordion to show the misery of the family. The accordion used to give comfort as it would occupy them from the war however when Han's dies it demonstrates how it made the family endure as they didn't have whatever else to solace them. Ultimately the Nazi party/swastika symbolizes the anguish of the Jews because of the Nazis needing to be the unrivaled race which brought on an awesome heap of agony for the Jews. Stamp Zusak's get his message of the torment and imbalance against the Jews by depicting these

Zusak tells us about chaos in the way his metaphors lead into events of chaos. Zusak’s shows us chaos in his use of the metaphor, “Max Vandenburg arrived on Himmel Street carrying handsfull of suffering.”(30). The first part of this quote shows us that Max has a fresh start in a new place. The second part of the quote leads us to suffering he has seen, he grew up with no father, he fought a lot and lost most of them. He has seen the destruction of all Jewish establishments, kept Nazi from taking his family, and worst of all left his family.

He handled topics such as poverty, domestic violence, loneliness and fear of love. This is taking the young adult audience to a very serious place and making them consider very adult problems. We see Ed having to handle a 'rape case', an old lady that made him think how a 'human could be so lonely' and a young family that didn’t have much but were ‘beautiful […] in what they are’. Whilst doing this Zusak has also kept the underlying elements of surprise and mystery present throughout the novel.

“This fabulous novel is rich, complicated and wise enough to satisfy a reader of any age,” says Atlanta Journal-Constitutional (Zusak, 0). In grade eleven, university level English, students may study Brave New World by Alex Huxley, but The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a much more suitable novel to study. The Book Thief incorporates an amazing plot with excellent characters, is beautifully written, and is the perfect novel to analyze.

Mark Zusak’s tone is evident towards several themes and subjects through his usage of diction, syntax, detail, and imagery. In this passage, his tone towards the death of the residents on Himmel Street is blunt.“In short, Himmel Street was flattened” conveys his frank feeling towards the numerous amounts of death. Zusak has been foreshadowing this ending from the perspective of Death throughout the novel. He describes the bombing of Liesel’s street through Death; his own tone is seen with his description of each death on Himmel Street. These short declarative sentences depict how Zusak is processing every death. He deliberately names all the people that she loved and cared about as if saying it out loud makes it a reality. They are slowly

how he lives his live. Markus Zusak creatively delivers a story that structures a blank, foundationless

The book was written based on the stories of his parents, who were from Austria and Germany during WWII. His mother remembers a bombing in Munich and Jews being marched through towns toward Dachau, events included in the book (“Biography of Markus Zusak”).

Zusak also shows how words can be used for good, when Liesel described the weather to Max. They way she described the sy with her words cheered him up. Liesel says, “The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud, and it's stretched out, like a rope.

To begin, Zusak shows how unlearned his characters

To excel at his craft, a writer must be in control of the words he chooses, and then use those words in ways that will both appeal to the reader and deliver his message. Linguistic elements, such as diction and dialogue, work together to define the author’s style. Diction requires a search for the perfect word, and is a meticulous practice that cannot be underestimated; it involves “choosing the right words for calculated effects [which] is at the heart of writing. Accuracy of description or exposition and force of persuasion depend absolutely on the words in which ideas, attitudes, perspectives, and feelings are conveyed” (Curzan and Adams 292). One way an author can make use of his carefully chosen words is through dialogue,

He does not use complex words that often tend to loose a reader. Zinsser asks

From the point of view of syntax the text includes a lot of long and complicated sentences. It tells that the narrator is well-educated person. All these language means reveal the author’s manner, his style of writing. He renders his feeling and thoughts such way and therefore reaches his desired effect.