English 184: Introduction to Literature – The Journey Begins Dr. Steve Klepetar

Interpretive Essay: The Book Thief: 3 – 5 pages, double spaced in 12 point font fastened with paper clip.

Due date: Tuesday, October 27

This paper marks a departure from the brief response papers you have done both out of class and in class to this point. This will be an interpretative essay, a formal, graded paper, which will give you the chance to write about some aspect of Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief.

Your paper needs to be longer than the brief response papers – 3 – 5 pages. Please be sure to write at least three full pages; a two page essay that spills over onto a third page for a line or two will likely be inadequate in terms of depth and detail.

Some suggestions:

· Be sure to write a clear thesis paragraph (s), one that lets the reader know the subject of the paper and your angle on that subject. It may take more than one paragraph to accomplish this, and that is fine. You may want to go back and carefully revise the opening after you have finished the paper and can see where your investigation has taken you.

· Do not refer to the paper as a class exercise – “In this paper I will…” Try to create a voice appropriate to the task at hand. In other words, imagine that you are writing a piece about the novel that will be read by other students who have read and studied it and are interested in other students’ interpretations. It might help to think about this assignment as though you were going to read the paper at a student conference, and that your paper will be one of several on The Book Thief.

· Back up your interpretation with specific references to the novel. You may discuss particular incidents and you may quote from the text, though be sure to comment on whatever you quote.

· Interpret rather than just summarizing. You may use brief summary, but with an eye toward explaining, analyzing, interpreting.

· Edit and proofread carefully. Work with other students in the class – you can help each other by reading each other’s work and pointing out errors or places that need work.

· Use the Write Place. They can help you plan and focus your paper.

Choose one of these topics:

1. Write a paper in which you explain why Death, the narrator, is interested in the story of Liesel Meminger. What is it about her story and her character that gets him (it?) so emotionally involved?

2. Write a character analysis of Liesel in which you trace her identity development from the beginning of the novel to the end. How does she change? What key decisions lead to the formation of her character? If you like, you may use James Marcia’s identity state as a framework.

3. Analyze one of the major characters in the novel in terms of the Meyers Briggs Type Index. What type do you think Liesel is? Rudy? Hans? Rosa? Max? Focus on one of these characters (or any other you find interesting) and identify that character’s Myer’s Briggs type, using specific evidence from the novel to show how you made your decision.

4. The novel makes it clear that the easiest way to get along in Molching (any anywhere in Nazi Germany) would be to go along with the majority. The Hubermans refuse to do that. Write an essay showing why they resist, how they do resist and what consequences come about as a result of their resistance.

5. Write an essay showing why books are so important to Liesel. You don’t have to talk about all books she gets or steals, but discuss specific examples to show why books and reading matter to her during this terrible time in history.

6. If you had lived in Germany during the time of the novel (1939 – end 1943, though the epilogue goes to the war’s end and beyond) would you have resisted? Write an essay, using material from the text of The Book Thief as your evidence, to explain why or why not. Be sure to show the cost of resistance as demonstrated in the book as you weigh this question and attempt to answer it in an essay.

7. Select a key chapter or scene in the novel, one that particularly caught your interest and attention, and write an analysis of its importance and meaning to the book as a whole. Be sure to look closely at the chapter or scene in question and discuss it in detail.

8. Choose your own topic. Run it by me before or after class, or better still in an email. I will get back to you quickly with my response.