Theftby Katherine Anne PorterFollow 10 Members

The Book Thief, written by an Australian author, Markus Zusak, is a devastatingly powerful historical-fiction novel that bears several re-readings. Being one of the greatest, most divinely-written epilogues in my school library, The Book Thief, is a soul-shattering, thought-provoking story that undoubtedly can be recommended to the young and old alike. This poignant, prolonged, but achingly sad book, is the pinnacle of contemporary historical-fiction, poised to become a classic. Phenomenally breathtaking, and inspiring, bringing nothing but anticipatory dread, this lyrical, surreal book, though depressingly morbid at times, was my “gateway” to historical-fiction. The tribulations and trials provided in the novel, had inevitable passion, perspective

1) Prescribed Text – The Book Thief a. Compose a summary/synopsis of the text (plot/themes/characters/key concerns). (100 words only)

It is Deborah’s love for Hugh that prompts her theft of Mitchell’s wallet. A silent observer during the rich men’s conversation about Hugh’s talent, the woman has overheard Mitchell’s somewhat

The Book Thief, written by Australian novelist Markus Zusak, follows a young girl living in Nazi Germany, and employs innovative techniques to convey the central idea of the extremes of human behavior. This central idea was explored through stylistic techniques and conventions such as Death as the narrator, juxtaposition, irony, lack of chronological order, narrative voices, and themes, namely the power of words.

When most people think about a life of abandonment, they probably see that life as one filled with suffering. In “The Book Thief” abandonment is a central topic throughout this novel. The abandonment through Liesel’s life helps develop her character in the novel. This abandonment happens through family, friends, and mentors. Through acts of both circumstance and heart she constantly feels abandoned, but through the course of these events she eventually finds happiness from it all.

In Julia Alvarez’s poem “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries”, the poet uses poetic devices to convey the speaker’s discovery of a poem that catches her attention so much that she feels a rush of excitement that wants to hold on to as long as she can. She discovers about herself how captivated she can be from a poem and how she would even shoplift to keep the rush. The exciting tone is revealed through the entrancement of the girl.The smooth, calming imagery shows how impacted she was by the poem and how uncertain she was about her situation. The selection of detail shows how the book was unique and how she eventually saw who she was becoming.

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

“The mother removes her purse from her shoulder and rummages through its contents: lipstick, a lace handkerchief, an address book. She finds what she’s looking for and passes a folded dollar over her child’s head to the man who stands and stares even though the light has changed and traffic navigates around his hips… He does not know his part. He does not know that acceptance of the gift and gratitude are what makes this transaction complete… The mother grows impatient and pushes the stroller before her, bearing the dollar like a cross. Finally, a black hand rises and closes around green” (paragraphs 3-5).

Now, Sarah feels that her personal pursuit relies on getting herself embedded in the American culture through getting herself educated. This dream, however, is to face the negligence of her family, leaving her strong will to be the only tool in need to fight with the ancient molding of cultural dilemma which taught to treat women like they were the dolls in the house and are to be treated whatever the man’s in house wished to treat them as. If one raids out the whole book to find the very cause of her family being negligence will find the need for her family’s food and warmth as equal as the societal expectation

). In Jaycee Dugard’s novel, A Stolen Life, the author experiences rape, molestation and is kept in a concealed room for the eighteen years of her life. A Stolen Life is a memoir about the life of Jaycee Dugard, who is kidnapped when she was eleven years old by a pedophile, Phillip Garrido, and his wife, Nancy Garrido. Jaycee was forced to live in a latent part of Phillips backyard for eighteen years. She was raped an uncountable number of times by Philip and gave birth to two daughters.

Liesel most definitely could have trusted Rudy with the secret of having Max hidden in her basement. Rudy was clearly Liesel’s best friend and partner in crime when Liesel was doing her acts of thievery stealing the books from the mayor’s wife bookself. The devotion to Liesel Rudy also had was strong and I believe Liesel could have trusted Rudy.

“The Book Thief” presented a story filled with various themes that comprised a powerful plot line. Although there were many themes in the story, there was one that stood out to me more than others. In the process of reading the book, the theme of suffering affected me the most. The definition of the word suffer is to experience or be subjected to something bad or unpleasant. Different characters within the story are subjected to dreadful feelings and are therefore suffering. Through my analyzation, I observed the three different types of suffering that the characters experienced: guilt, feelings of emptiness, and anxiety. The characters of “The Book Thief” experience these three types of suffering in different ways.

Hustling is not stealing: stories of an African bar girl tells the story of Hawa’s life as an the prostitute, also known a bar girl in the 1970s. John Chernoff, introduces himself in the introduction as a scholar who lived in Ghana for several years studying music and Ghanaian culture. This book is an interview between him and a woman who he gave the name Hawa to protect her identity. Though he mentions that he made slight changes to the writing to make it easier for the readers to understand, the took is filled with tales from Hawa’s life, beginning from her childhood living in the village of Kumasi to her life as a prostitute living in Accra, Togo, and Burkina Faso. The book touches on several aspects of a post-colonial West African life. Urban poverty, patriarchy, lawlessness, European expatriates and the differences between traditional and urban mindsets in West Africa. Hawa is a very strong storyteller and I found the book to be very engaging, it was interesting to see the dynamics that were brought up in the tales that she had.

In A Pair of Silk Stockings, written by Kate Choplin, main character Mrs. Sommers comes across 15 dollars. With finding the 15 dollars, the short story tells a vast tale of female stereotypes of the late 1800’s. From the start, the story goes to show how Mrs. Sommers in almost in a trance over this 15 dollars, intoxicating herself with the thought of spending it. Soon she becomes infatuated with a pair of silk stockings she had found. Without much hesitation, she bought the stockings and was enamored with how the silk felt against her skin. Soon after she had bought the stockings, she was overcome with the feeling to spend more money. This was out of character for Mrs. Sommers, who just earlier in the story was budgeting for her children’s

oth The Robber Bridegroom and The Trespasser are revised from its original versions. The novel of The Robber Bridegroom by Welty is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. In Campbell’s short story The Trespasser draws from the tale of Goldilocks and The Three Bears which was originated by the Robert Southey. In each work, there are similarities as well as changes that are made for significant reasons all related to folklore in which the context changes to better suit the audience.