Friday, March 9, 2012

Monday Computer Lab: Post due at the end of the period

Read the grading and overall instructions above first! Use your weekend homework to complete this blog post.

Give two or three examples of the author's structural choices and how each affects you, the reader, based on option 4 below:
  • What structural choices does the author make that make you wonder? Is there indentation or odd punctuation? Is there interesting paragraphing or lack of paragraphing? Is there missing punctuation?
  • Ask ANY questions in a different paragraph about the text that others can respond and answer.


100 comments:

  1. So there is a confusion about the post, but I beleive that we should post up option 4 (what we did last night about repeating words/ phrases).

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    1. Nadda, what we did yesterday has NOTHING to do with structual choices but instead repetition. This questions is reffering to specific structual choices like the examples ms. karvunis used in the question. Which of these choices that the author use makes you wonder? write about it. thats what i did

      hope i helped

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    2. it's probably question 3, because she wrote she reapeated "structural" choices 2 times, and the 4 once.

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  2. In this reading of The Book Thief, the author repeats wods such as Saumensch and Arshloch. I think this a symbol in the book because it has been repeated many times throughout each chapter. The narrator says "they seem very fond of pigs" (44). This shows that the narrator has seen the characters repeat this word very often. This word is German for filthy pig. The character that mostly uses this word is Rosa Hubermann, who is known as Liesel's foster mother. She uses this word often towards her neighbors and husband. She is a foul mouthed character, she repeats this word so often that Liesel starts using it when playing outside with other children in her neighborhood.I think this word is now a symbolizes a mojor event that may happen in the book.

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  3. One structual choice that makes me wonder in the book theif is the bolding of specific things. During the novel, the nararoter "death" stops his story and bolds things. The things he bolds ussualy corospond to the story and are some what notes to himself. To me these bolding of words makes things more intresting to read. Also, i think the author does this to make you pay attention to the points hes making in the bolded notes. Lastly, these bolded words ussualy dont have the best of punctaution and are more straight forward than the reading around it. Or in other words isnt in need of breaking down.
    examples
    "***SOME FACTS ABOUT****
    ROSA HUMBERMANN
    she was five feet, one inch tall and wore her
    browny gray stands of elastic hair in a bun..."(34)
    as you can tell the structual choices here are odd and used by the author for a reason. The capital tital"some facts about Rosa humbermann" shows exactly what this note will be about, it makes it organized. Also, he skips lines some what like a poem. To me this makes it more intresting but i dont know exactly why he does that
    A few qurestions i have about this use of structual choices are:
    1) why does he do this?
    2) do you think these bolded texts are notes?
    3) what do they represent

    if people have any answers for me id love it :)
    thanks guys <3

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    1. I think that the author does this to grab the reader's attention and to just put his thoughts out there. He might also do this to put a question in the reader's head and to make them think and wonder about certain things while they are reading.

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    2. Maybe representing things that he's come to realize over the years. In the beginning of the book it says he's read Liesel’s story many times over the years. Maybe the bold represent his notes or realizations he’s had about her. He uses the bold to catch our attention and let us know it’s not part of her story but of his own opinion or thoughts. Kind of like narrating and analyzing Liesels story and life while telling it.

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    3. Jennifer Garcia period 8:
      I think these are just side notes that you should consider. I notice that bold words have information like context or elements of characterization. I also agree with Wendolinne because the bold words do grab my attention and make me want to continue to read.
      Examples of context and elements of characterization:
      *** A portrait of Pfiffikus***(appearance)
      He was a delicate frame.
      He was white hair.
      He was a black raincoat, brown pants, decomposing shoes, and a mouth-and what mouth it was.
      ***Some crunched numbers***
      In 1933, 90 percent of Germans showed unflinching
      Support to Adolf Hitler.
      That leaves 10 percent who didn’t.
      Hans Hubermann belonged to the 10percent.
      There was a reason for that.

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    4. I don't think that the bolded texts are notes because it is meant for the reader to read it. They are useful to the reader. It helps them understand what you are reading throughout each chapter. I found that the bolded texts were helpful to me because I could now understand who each character is.

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    5. I agree with Amani that the bolded texts are not notes. I felt the bolded parts are for the reader to catch importance. TO show that they must know it

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  4. Simon Cheng Period 8

    The author uses the interesting paragraph form of setting a poem or
    background information, before the major details come in.

    For example
    in between each part, “the Women with iron Fist” has an example of
    details then a “DEFINITION” of the way Leslie looks up to her parent, then details, and etc.


    This is odd because our usual format didn’t allow us to have a “floating” quote/passage. Now we don’t have to follow the format, and learn from the author Markus Zusak.

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    1. I agree. Not only does this translate the wording scheme, but this also adds a tiny bit of grim humor and allows the reader to ponder through Death's thoughts on humanity.

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  5. Why does the author italicize and bold certain things?

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    1. what im thinking is that he uses structual techniques, to let the readers know what happns before, its basically like context. Each section like "the women with iron fist" and "the kiss", and etc, usually start out from middle of nowhere (not connected), so thats why the author uses bold to fill in the missing context.

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    2. This affects me because it makes me stop and wonder why the author did this and what is the meaning behind it

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    3. i believe the author italicizes and bold certain things because he wants the work or phrase to express a point he wants make. In the book, the word Samensch is italicize all the time. Since it's in German, it's italicized. It's also a curse word in German but all the other german words are also italicized. - YAlIZ CAMPOS

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    4. It is to tell the reader that these words are important and by looking them up, you can understand the book even more.

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    5. I believe the author does this to emphasize the meaning of a certain word.

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    6. I think when the author bolds and italicizes certain words it brings attention to the reader. When the author did this in the book he was providing context or giving additional information related to the story which I found useful.

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    7. i agree with lily wikie because while i am reading and come up to a bold/italic words i want to know what they mean and become more interested in it.

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    8. I agree with lily and wikie because when I was reading the book and came up to bold/italic words, I wanted to know what they meant and I become more interested in the book.

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  6. Why does the author leave spaces every paragraph or two?

    Why does the author capitalize, bold and/or italicize some words?

    What does it tell you about the meaning of the words?

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    1. I beleive that that the author leaves spaces between a couple of paragrpahs to show how there was a break in time between one event and the other. The spaces between the paragraphs can also show that there might be a flashfoward or flashback.

      The author might capitalize, bold and/ italicize some words to show how meaningful that word is, to pay attention to it because it will be mentioned later, or to express the tone behind the words (such as excitement or rage).

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    3. This is structural choice that the author used since he put in information in the spaces between the paragraphs to explain a little of the paragraph before it. For the italic and bolded words, he used it to indicate that those words are important ones that should be looked up to understand the book better. This is entirely the authors structural choice.

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    4. The author leaves spaces to inform the reader of an important part coming up or an important piece of information that explains a detail.

      The author capitalized, bold and/or italicize words to create the tone of the chapter and/or mood for the reader.

      These little spaces tells the meaning of certain words because the reader should be able to know those words since they are to be used repeatedly like the german swear words. Also if the reader is lazy to look up words, the author provides definitions for the words the reader may not understand.

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  7. TANG WU

    The author, Markus Zusak makes very distinct structural choices in his writing. He uses repition in his writing.He repeats the phrase "Heil Hitler" several times throughout pages 36- 80. This shows that Hitler was very powerful and impacted the lives of the people in many ways. On pages 49-50, the store owner Frau Diller, makes all her customers say the phrase "heil hitler" whenever they enter her store.If they didnt say it, then they would'nt be served. Another structural choice the author made was when he italized the word,"Saumensch." Saumensch" means pig. I think the author wrote this word in italics to show that he is making fun of Papa when Mama says it.

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    1. BESTFRIENNNDDDD<3<3<3<3

      sorry but "heil hitler" is an example of repetition or diction not structual choices. LOL

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    2. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP -sarcasm-

      It is an example of structural choices cause diction is a part of structue i think.

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    3. no its not. check your notes!
      I love you :)) just wanted to inform you. but im not sure myself, so anybody else? help us please

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    4. repetition is a structural choice

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    5. we were talking about diction .

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    6. The term "heil Hitler" can also show how nationalistic citizens are, possibly more specific bussiness owners, toward Germany and Hitler's regime. Business owners are controlled by Hilter and they would do anything to support his regime and influence others to support and follow him as well.
      I also think that maybe the author italicized "saumensch" to show that it's a German term and to highlight it so the readers can recognize how often this term is used.

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  8. One word that was constantly repeated was "saukerl" or "saumench". This term, which means "pig" in an insluting way, was repeated many times throughout the novel, or at least in the reading we have done so far. This term was commonly repeated by Rosa Hbermann, Liesel's foster mother. I beleive this was intentionally repeated to symbolize Germans as rude and obnoxious people. This term was further repeated by Liesel herself, picking up on the rude German personality.
    Is there more to this word? Does it symbolize something else too?

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    1. I agree with you, and I also think that this word shows the authors fustration towards the Germans.

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    2. In my opinion, i think it symbolizes Liesel's life experiences. The word "Saukerl" was present while she learned to write and was said again after she beat up Ludwig and Tommy.

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    3. The word Saumensch is just a word like Saukerl, it is meant to hurt people emotionally. There isn't a deep meaning behind the word.

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    4. Also this could represnet how Germans are ignorant by using insulting words and sometimes luaghing at them when they say them as jokes. That might be what the author tries to show when he puts a lot of curses in the German diction.

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    5. I think accordian is repeted alot. I also think it's a symbol. I believe this is a symbol because everytime she has a nightmare her new father plays the accordian to her. So it symbolizes comfort.

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  9. The author's structural choices make me wonder why he writes that way. I noticed that he does not indent before every new paragraph. I think the author did this on purpose to show us certain parts of the plot. I think he does not indent in some paragraphs because the paragraphs he did not indent on were a new idea or point of view of something. Also he bolds or highlights certain thoughts or definitions that he thinks would help us understand the plot line. Also the author writes incomplete sentences like “grinning and laughing. Bathed in sunshine” (78). I think he did this to help develop his tone more. I also think he does this to certain sentences because those are her thoughts.

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  10. The author uses poetry in the text of the paragraph. It is not a direct structural chioce of metaphor, personification, etc. However, Zusak uses poems in the text to deepen a decription of the character such as Alex Steiner. Zusak also uses allusion or rather historical events of Hitler. It makes the reader(myself) wonder about the events and actions of Hitler learned in History class and prior knowledge. Not obnly does it use allusion but the poems makes us wonder about the meaning the poem what to give to the readers. The poem makes a difficult connection to the text but also easy. The peom helps the reader understand the passage better and also gives the reader a riddle to solve. Zusak uses structural choices to help the reade better understand the context and related to history.

    ~Jacky Lee Period 8

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  11. 4. Does the author highlight or repeat words or phrases? why? list the word or phrase. What impact does it have on you? is it a symbol now?
    Yes, the author repeated words like Saukerl, Arshloch, Watschen, and Saumensch. The author most likely used these words to describe the people who uses them like how Rosa always swears which meant that she is a violent women. These words are mostly curses and it tells me that the household loves to joke around and swear at each other. The way Liesel and Hans use these words, they were meant as jokes between them. But between Rosa and Hans, it was a verbal fight that came from a string of hatred. These words eventaully became a symbol since they are being overused and thus, became a symbol for a specific person when they they are swearing like how Rosa always call Hans a Saukerl. This now symbolizes each other as they are being used both jokingly and harmfully

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    1. How do you know that they are joking?

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    2. Liesel was learning the letters with Hans and when they came to the letter "S", she shouted out Saumensch and both of them laughed loudly at that. This tells me that they are joking around while cursing.

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  13. Jennifer Garcia, period. 8:

    In the novel The Book Thief, the author makes structural choices that are short, yet make me wonder. In the chapter, "The Heavyweight Champion of the School", World War One has begun. Right after Zusak mentions this he states "That was one war started. Liesel would soon be in another"(74).The two sentences make a paragraph in the novel. This makes me wonder about what he meant by Liesel would soon be in another war. Also, in this chapter she fights with two students because they were making fun of her reading. For that reason, I predict that Liesel's war will be about her fighting to get a better education rather than serving for Hitler. What do you guys predict?

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  14. Repetition makes me wonder why the author would use that structural choice. He constantly repeted German curses like "Saukerl", which was also italicized. I think it was repeated to show the changes and experiences in Liesel's life. She said it while learning to write and after she beat up Ludwig and Tommy. In addition, it made me wonder why the author put the abbreviation of BDM (Band of German Girls) and the golden rule of Frau Diller in bold. It makes me feel that the rule and Band of German Girls will have an important role in the novel later.

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  15. There are a few times in the reading where the author uses repetition of a single word. One example of this happeneing in the book was when the author was describing the music that Papa was playing. The author described the music hacving a "story, story after story, story within a story"(71). The repitition was used to show the multitude of the myusic and the story that lies behind it. It makes the message that the author is trying to convey even stronger. It shows me, the reader, that this music meant a lot more than just any music, there was a significant meaning behind it. The author also repeats words many times throughout the text; not only in one sentance. One example of a word that is repeated is "Arscloch". The word arscloch is a german word that directly translates to asshole in english. I believe that the author chose to repeat this word throughout the text to show how people of a lower or working class would talk to eachother. Rosa is constantly callng Papa Arscloch. This shows to me that in Germany at this time, people cared a lot less about provokative language.

    There is a lot of questions that come up when i am reading this book, and there are also somethings that tend to annoy me slightly. One question i have is did this story begin when Hitler already started the remidiation of Jews? Something that annoys me is pacing of this book, it can sometimes jump around in time. I found it quite odd that the author would say something like "four years later" but then couple sentances later be back four years in the past.

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    1. I think the author purposely jumps around in time and leaves you guessing as to whats going to happen next. Personally I enjoy reading books like this one because it builds up the tension. But I also believe he does it for other reasons like so that you make sense of things as you progress through the book. For example in the chapter A girl of darkness he starts off with telling you what Liesel is going to do and foreshadows the consequences. Then again he goes back to where he left off , the point is he wants you to infer and predict as to what cause Liesel to steal the book.

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  16. The author of the book thief repeats german curse words and italicized them to show their importance. He also repeats snowball in different parts of the chpter to shows its significance. He stops paragraphs in certian order. He puts everything in chronological order but if he says a flash back he says it in the last sentence of the to the next paragraph. He does this for many purposes because he wants us to get a different feel than to just throw it in our faces without thought.

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  17. why does he start his sentences with "and"?
    why does he use german words?

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    1. He uses german words to create the background of a German town Liesel is living in.

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    2. He uses German words to tell the reader how would a verbal fight sound like, the tone of it.

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    3. The author starts his sentence with "and" because he wants to read to be aware that he's continuing to talk about the same topic as before.

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    4. I think he uses German words to remind the reader that the story i happening in Germany and to show some aspects of German life at that time.

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  18. In Zusak's book the Book Thief he made structual choices that affects the reader's understanding of the story. One of those structual choices was the huge spaces between each paragraph which marks a note or facts about an event or character. This type of structual choice makes me wonder about how important this piece of information is. There is a number of paragraphs with indentations and some with no indentations at all. Overall, the paragraphing is interesting because I wouldn't be able to get lost in the story very easily with an ocean of words, but I can read the spaces in between to be more informed of the subject the author is writing about in that chapter.

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    1. Do you have any more feelings to how Zusak does this?
      Doesn't it make you wonder how Death thinks of humanity?

      I mean, I understand how you feel; Zusak does cut things into concisely to allow the reader to comprehend his story, but do you think that there is perhaps a deeper meaning to why Zusak does this?

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    2. period 8 (not 2)

      Zusk does this sort of things wai wing to probably give death some sort of feeling. Maybe Zusk wants to show death's feeling of what he's doing to the people. Maybe death will probably see what hes doing to the peeople he take life from. Zusk makes the narrator interested in this girl because he might learn something from her.

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  19. The author does repeats words. He repeats isulting German words throughout the chapters. He repeats the isnults like Saukerl, Arshloch, Saumensch, Watschen and Heil Hitler. The words used between Liesels foster parents Rosa and Hans are used in a verbal fight. They use those insults to hurt each other but these words are practiclly jokes when its used between Hans and Liesel. These words really dont represent a symbol, these words are straight foward and dont have another meaning to it. The use of these word tell me that Hans and Liesel have a good relationship ,and that Hans and Rosa are like a normal married couple, they fight alot.

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  20. Natalie Hachicho

    The author uses repetition and diction in the previous chapters. The author used German words such as "Saumensch" and "Saukerl". Translated to English, they are seen as curse words. (Bastard, skank, whore, bitch)It is funny how these words wouldn’t come out of a child’s mouth yet Liesals who is ten years old decides to use it in every page of the previous chapters I have read so far. The author also used The Grave diggers handbook as an allusion. Liesals papa also mentioned the book a lot and used it to help her read. The author also italicizes the German words that have been repeated many times. She also italicizes words that have a deep meaning in a sentence and wants the reader to think and visualize the text. The authors also right a small note in bold to introduce the next paragraph it is going to be about. I also realized that there is pattern of indenting. One paragraph would be identified and the next wouldn’t. Also while reading the book; I came across some punctuation errors. In don’t think the author meant to do that intentionally. Probably in other countries or in a certain time period he published this used slang. This also will let the reader question and form an understanding of what the author is trying to convey to the audience.

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  21. In the book The Book Thief by Markus Zusak,the authorvuses repeated words to symbolize something important that is happening in the book.One major word that the author repeated was story. Liesal kepted on repeating "A story.Story after story.Story within story"(71). By repeating the word, the author wanted to show the reader how Liesal's whole life has been like a "story." Another major word that keeps repeating is Saukerl,and Saukerl means pig. Liesel's mother is always repeating that word to anyone who she doesn’t like including Liesel, her father. Another word that is constantly used arscholoch, which means asshole. Liesel's mother is always using that word to call Liesel's father who doesn't work. By repeating those words the author wants to show the reader that Liesel's mother doesn't like her life, and the people that she lives with people that she thinks are failures.

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  22. The author of the book The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, creates characters that repeat many words throughout part one of the book. The book uses strong diction and what interests me more is that the repeated words are in German. I find it more memorable when characters repeat words that are in another language. Throughout part one of the book, the two major word Rosa frequently says to Liesel, her husband, and others when she is angry is "Saukerl" and "Saumensch." Saukerl and saumensch both mean pig or human pig. When Rosa insults people with "Saukerl" and "Saumensch" I feel as though it is more powerful than saying it in english. This partially has to do with the fact that the German language (to me) seems harsh to begin with. Watching Hitler's speeches also impacts me how powerful the German language sounds.

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  23. The phrase "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" is repeated many times throughout the chapters. It is used by Rudy on page 54 before speaking of the mud that was all over his body.

    I'm not sure but did Rosa also use the phrase?

    From repeating the phrase, I believe the Germans are relious people or maybe the author is ridiculing religious people.

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  24. Wai Wing Lau
    Period 8: Honors Humanities

    One structural choice that Markus Zusak made that made me wonder about the message of the theme is the way he transitions little thoughts, translations, and blurbs that Death (narrator) makes. This is an interesting method to use that does not confuse the reader, rather it helps the reader comprehend the story.

    Example 1:
    *** A DEFINITION NOT FOUND ***
    IN A DICTIONARY
    "Not leaving": an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children

    I was touched by how Zusak used his indentation here. Even though I know the emphasis of the words "not leaving," to hear Death saying and translating human feelings and knowledge through himself/herself/itself is interesting. This leads me to wonder what Death thinks and how he/she/it acts; is it like a human or is it unlike one. This also leads me to ponder my thoughts once again and confirm that Death is not just an entity for carrying souls to the afterlife but very knowledgable of humans and their emotions.

    Example 2:
    *** A SMALL QUESTION AND ***
    ITS ANSWER
    And who do you think was made to clean the spit off the door each night? Yes-you got it.

    Although, I feel bad for Liesel Meminger, I cannot help but notice the grim humor that Death (narrator) or rather how Zusak incorporates an indentation to give the reader a laugh. Even though the situation of Liesel's life is somewhat grim and not completely happy, I can't help but notice the gag and that makes the story even more interesting. This isn't just a story of a girl who steals books in Nazi Germany. This is a story about that girl's reactions to her surroundings in Nazi Germany.

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  25. What impact does it have on you? Is it a symbol now?
    The author highlights a lot of words and phrase in the book. Zusak wants us to know the language and usage of the word he highlights such as The Grave Digger's Handbook, accordion Saukerl, etc. It is most repeated throughout the book because it holds a symbol. Saukerl means "bastard" and is said a lot in the story to show some people in this book like to use "bastard" and are "bastards". Also, the "The Grave Digger's Handbook and accordion" holds a deep love and admiration to Liesel papa and her brother. "The Grave Digger's Handbook" reminds Liesel about her brother that died and the "accordion" holds the love and admiration of her papa. It symbolizes Liesel's motivates,character and behavior in the book.

    Answer for Homework Option4

    ~Jacky Lee Period 8

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    1. I agree with you because i think that those words are used to represent love. In the beginning of the book, it says that "she did love Leisel Meminger. Her way of showing it just happened to be strange. It involved bashing her with a wooden spoon and words at various intervals" (35) Therefore, i believe that she uses the words "Saukerl" and "Saumensch" to show her love for Leisel and Hans

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  27. The author's structural choices are relevant to the readers. The author uses side notes such as when a new character is introduced to the readers it is often that there is a few facts about that character. When Liesel gets to know her foster mother and father the narrator gives a few facts about them. Such as
    ***SOME FACTS ABOUT HANS HUBERMANN ***
    He loved to smoke.
    the main thing he enjoyed about smoking was rolling it.
    he was a painter by trade and played the piano accordion. This came in handy, especially in winter, when he could make a little money playing in the pubs of Molching, like the Knoller. He had already cheated me in the one world war but would later be put into another (as a perserve kind of reward), where he would somehow manage to avoid me again.(33-34) This is showing that the structural choice that is being made can be really helpful to the readers, so that they have a better understanding of who each character.

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  28. I wonder why the author leaves certain words and phrases in German but doesn't translate them or tell the reader what they mean. This kind of confuses me because i have to stop and look up what that means in order to understand what the author was saying

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    1. in some ways, the author doesnt leave the german word untranslated, there is context that shows wat it means

      IE : "you Dumkopf- you idiot" (chapter the heavy weight champion of the school yard)

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    2. That is true, he does translate certain word but not all of them.

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  29. Leslie Valero ,Period 8

    I agree with Amani. I believe that these words can become a symbol as we continue reading this book. The authors has a purpose for his writing and this might be one of them. Even though the reader can see these words as harsh to use upon Liesel, they were comon in her mother`s mouth.

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  30. Refering back on what i said

    "what im thinking is that he uses structual techniques, to let the readers know what happns before, its basically like context. Each section like "the women with iron fist" and "the kiss", and etc, usually start out from middle of nowhere (not connected), so thats why the author uses bold to fill in the missing context."

    without this it may make the reader wonder about what just happened and etc.

    The BOLD AND ITALiCS are basically compared to when you read a book, when reading a book u usually want to read on and on, wondering what will happen.
    this author uses the same technique but changes it a bit. in stead of "what will happen next"
    its, wat just happened when i was reading about different point of views from Leslie to death and a different narrator each time.

    Questions i have is why does the author does this,
    from the prologe, the narrator was death
    from the other paragraphs its from leslie.

    why does the author changes view from different persecpetive? (point of views that arent even connected physically bu emotionally)

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  31. A structural choice that makes me wonder in the book is why does the author choose not to translate some of the words that are said by the characters in German to english.For example on page 40 Liesel said "Too g'schtinkerdt to wash their own clothes". What does that mean? What was Zusak trying to say here?

    And to answer Saher's question:
    The bold is almostt a way for "Death" to take note of his surroundings, kind of to keep track of Liesel's every move.

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    1. I'm not sure about the definition for "g'schtinkerdt" but to the previous question, I beleive the author chooses not to translate to show that these characters are pure Germans and they interwine their language (such as how I do at home). In addition, the author would want the readers to know these characters are German so we can understand the setting and the theme of the Nazi's and Hitler.

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  32. There were many odd structual choices made by the author, Markus Zusak, in The Book Theif. He would place definitions of words or other additional background information in bold letters in a separate paragraph. The bolded paragraph would also be centered. This structure confused me at first but soon it became helpful as I read because it helps give context for the story and usually answers some of the questions I have. Zusak also italicized the use of German words in the text. Two of the most common German words used were "saukerl" and "saumensh" which were both curse words that meant pig. These words were constantly repeated throughout the text by Rosa Hubbermanns. I think this is probably used to make fun of how Germans are rude. "Heil Hitler" which was a greeting between German soldiers, was also repeated in the text. I think this is because the author is trying to show how powerful Hitler is and how many people respect him.

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    1. If those words were used literally to prove that the Germans were rude, then why was Liesel comfortable with the word? I feel that it has a deeper meaning than just poking fun at how rude they are..

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  33. Minyi Ruan
    period 8
    March 12, 2012

    In the book The Book Thief, the author used many repetitions. The author repeats the German’s words “Saukerl” and “Saumensch”. These two words both mean pig, but “Saukerl” is for male and “Saumensch” is for female (32). They both are insulting words. Liesel’s mother Rosa likes to use these two words to insulting others, like Liesel and her husband Han. These two words become the symbol of Rosa because she keeps saying in the story. Also those words show Rosa’s characteristic which is means. The other German word that keeps repeating is “FÜbrer” which means leader. This word is use to describes Hitler. The author uses those German words to remain the author what’s the background of the book, which is Hitler’s control of Germany.
    The most interesting part is when Liesel’s father Hans teaches Liesel read and Liesel draw a picture for herself. The conversation between them is very cute and I like Liesel. The way she draw herself is so cute.
    Question:
    Why did the author choice to describe Liesel’s friendship with Rudy?
    Is the author try to foreshadow something?

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    1. It was Hans who drew the picture of Liesel.
      I think the author is foreshadowing their relationship. In the middle of the reading there was "The Kiss" and at the end it said that Rudy will get one from her.

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  34. Jessica Sacco
    The author Markus Zusak uses diction and repetition in part one of The Book Thief. Zusak uses several curse words but in German language. The book thief, Liesel, was just adopted by new foster parents in Germany. The parents use several curse words in front of Liesel even though she is only ten years old. After the author writes the curse words in German he will explain what they mean after each paragraph in a note. Also the way Zusak writes and indents I find odd. He almost indents after each sentience on each page. Also when he writes notes he makes them bold.

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  35. The author, Markus Zusak uses a lot of repeating words that is very important to the storyline. Liesel Meminger, the main character of The Book Thief was called a “Saumensch” by her mother and Rudy Steiner, it was also a word that her father said, but not towards her. “Saumensch” is referred to a pig, “it serves to castigate, berate, or plain humiliate a female” (32). A similar word used was “Saukerl” which instead is used against a male. The second word was mostly used by Rosa Hubermann against her husband. Another word that is also repeated in the text multiple times was “heil” a German word that means ‘hail’. This word is used to represent the support and admiration for Hitler. These three words were the most repeated and used to represent a complex idea, they are also all spelled in German in the book. These word forced me to remember their meaning since, it has already repeated a dozen times, it will probably keep repeating over and over again in the later chapters.
    I find it really interesting that whenever there is a time lapse or introducing a small different idea, there is a new paragraph. I also found it really interesting that small sentences were used to represent something very big and important. For example, one sentence, “Sister Maria. Was not impressed.” (76) Could have been one sentence, but it was split into two.
    Why did the author do that? Why split it into two when it could be one sentence alone? Does having Sister Maria unimpressed mean something so important that that one line has to be separated into a new paragraph?

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  36. The author repeats words to send the reader a message. For example her repeats the word “Accordion” and it brings Liesel joy and happiness whenever she hears it. Her Papa leaves to play it late at nights without saying where he’s going or when he’ll be back.
    Why does it represent happiness to Liesel and yet Annoyance to Mama?
    Mama is always cursing and saying “Saukerl” and they even say that they were very fond of pigs. Maybe the author wants us to think poorly of the Germans. Yet they believe they are the superior race. Contradiction?
    For some reason Papa is always smoking and the author makes it very known that he enjoys rolling them. Again rolling cigarettes brings joy to Liesel and Papa but not to Mama. Why is it that the author chose such a hard headed woman to be Liesels foster mother?

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    1. He could have chosen a mother like this to show the differences between Liesel's papa and mama. They have different ways of showing their love to Liesel. The accordion brings happiness to Liesel because it makes her feel calm and in a different world. she IS ABLE TO CONTROL HER FEAR WHEN SHE IS WITH PAPA AND THE ACCORDION.(sorry for capitalizing, i was in a rush)

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    2. Do you think Mama could be Mama love Liesel any less than Papa?
      All she does is curse at her and send her to do her work for her. Do you think Mama doesn't know how to love with out hate? Can you infer anything about her because of the way she shows it?

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  37. The author's, Markus Zusak, structural choices that made me wonder was when he italicize the German words. In the begining of the book, the insulting German words such as "Saumensch"(32) and "Saukerl"(32), were italicized. It was obvious at first to why they had to be italicized because the author introduced a new word. But as the story progressed, the words were always italicized. To me,his structural choices proves a message or idea that affects Liesel in a postive way. The word "Saumensch" means female pig and "Saukrel" is male pig,which are bad words. When Liesel and her family use those curses constantly, that repetition of italicized words made me wonder about the love between her and her family. It seems like those curse words symbolized the word "love" so that everytime the reader sees the curses, it refers to love. Zuzask's structural choice of italics made me wonder about love.

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  38. Responding to Wendy:
    Ibelive that author mentions these words in German to keep the meaning of the word going. If he would have used another word then the reader would not be able to catch the information that is behind these words.

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    1. i agree with Leslie. i think the author the wrote the words in German instead of English to let the reader know that there's an actual meaning behind it

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  39. Examples that I gave prior TO MY FIRST COMMET.

    Example 1 of Structural Choices

    THE CONTRADICTORY POLITICS
    OF ALEX STEINER (59)

    Example 2 of Structural Chioces

    Hitler
    (56) (63) as allusion and symbol for most Germans that respect him.

    ~Jacky Lee Period 8

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  40. In the book “The Book Thief” by Markus Zukak uses unique structural choices. The text is written with more indents than other books. Since the narrator is death it kinds of shows how death acts. With more indents it gives the book a bit more pauses than usual, this shows how death is slow and gradual. Also, in the chapter “The Other Side of Sandpaper” the word “papa” is repeated many times, symbolizing that it has a very important meaning to Liesel in the chapter. These things affect the book in a positive view because it makes it more interesting. It makes you want to know more about death as a narrator and understand more of Liesel’s new “papa.


    Some Questions I have are

    - Why use death as a narrator?

    - What is the meaning of Liesel's new father besides trust?

    - What other structures is the book written in?

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  41. Erick Bonilla period 8
    option 4 repition

    Before I answer the option I have a question isnt option 4 repitition? well it says use your weekened homework so im assuming a typo or something. Ill be doing repitition since its option 4 and we did do that one for homework

    The author Markus Zusak uses repitition in his novvel to give readers a message. Some diction choices he used were "saumensch", (29,31,34) or "saukerl". These words were repeated most throughout the book. They seem to symbolize a sort of progression to Liesel because she began usuing those words during times in the book. She used to word when her father was teacher her the alphabet. Another example is when she got hit by a snowball the word showed a sign of strength to her. This word seems to have grown on Liesel and is a word that helps her in difficult momments. Another word that is repeated is "Book thief", (80). On the last page you're able to understand the meaning of book thief. Liesel is a girl who stole a book the symbolized as a memory of her brother and mother. She could not read yet she became a "book thief". The book however is benefitting her in her studies of learning to read. These words are repeated to give the reader a message that these words are a part of Liesel. The author wants to remind us who Liesel is and the words shes learning.

    Some questions I have of the novel is where is Liesel's real mother now? What happened to the communist father of Liesel? Did hitler kill him?

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  42. Mario Joya
    Period 8

    I was wondering if this is talking about repetition throughout the story... that's what the homework was about...? Thats he option we did for homework so if there was a typo it would be useful to know if it was referring to the structural choice of repetition.

    Throughout the rest of "The Book Thief" Markus Zusak uses repetition to aware the reader about symbols. For example, when death (narrator) keeps repeating that Lieselkeeps having nightmares of her brother's death and her last time seeing her mother he expresses her discontent and makes it clear that this event plays a huge role in the story.Also, the book plays a huge role because the grave digger's handbook keeps being brought back in every chapter. It is mentioned repeatedly and it is of great value to her because it is the only "connection" she has to her brother and mother. Also the author repeats the swearing. In my opinion the swearing is symbolic because most of the time it is relevant to pigs. The author himself said that the pigs played a huge role in Germany. The swear words Liesel learned helped her progress in love and made her feel stronger. The symbol of the swearing was strength.

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  43. To answer Bryan they use death in order to show the death around Liesel and probably its easier for death to keep an eye on Liesel. This is probably why they use death as a narrator.

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  44. The author's structural choices make me wonder why he writes that way. I noticed that he does not indent before every new paragraph. I think the author did this on purpose to show us certain parts of the plot. I think he does not indent in some paragraphs because the paragraphs he did not indent on were a new idea or point of view of something. Also he bolds or highlights certain thoughts or definitions that he thinks would help us understand the plot line. Also the author writes incomplete sentences like “grinning and laughing"(78) "Bathed in sunshine” (78). I think he did this to help develop his tone more. I also think he does this to certain sentences because those are her thoughts. This affects the reader because while he/she reads they will noticed incomplete sentences and will remember the information in the sentence more.

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  45. Example 1 of Structural Choices

    THE CONTRADICTORY POLITICS
    OF ALEX STEINER (59)

    Example 2 of Structural Choices

    Hitler
    (56) (63) as allusion and symbol for most Germans that respect him.

    The author uses poetry in the text of the paragraph. Zusak use poems in the text to deepen a description of the character such as Alex Steiner "The contradictory polotocs of Alex Steiner"(59). It gives background information of Steiner and Zusak also uses allusion or rather historical events of Hitler. It makes the reader wonder about the events and actions of Hitler learned in History class and prior knowledge. Not only does it use allusion but the poems makes us wonder about the meaning the poem what to give to the readers. The poem makes a difficult connection to the text but also easy because it helps the reader understand the passage better and also gives the reader a riddle to solve. Zusak uses structural choices to help the reader better understand the context and related to history.
    What impact does it have on you? Is it a symbol now?
    The author highlights a lot of words and phrase in the book. Zusak wants us to know the language and usage of the word he highlights such as The Grave Digger's Handbook, accordion Saukerl, etc. It is most repeated throughout the book because it holds a symbol. Saukerl means "bastard" and is said a lot in the story to show some people in this book like to use "bastard" and are "bastards". Also, the "The Grave Digger's Handbook and accordion" holds a deep love and admiration to Liesel papa and her brother. "The Grave Digger's Handbook" reminds Liesel about her brother that died and the "accordion" holds the love and admiration of her papa. It symbolizes Liesel's motivates, character and behavior in the book.
    Answer for Homework Option 4


    ~Jacky Lee Period 8

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  46. The author's structural choices are very fascinating, especially since the author choose "Death" as the narrator of the story, instead of having the story told through Liesel's eyes. Although , my biggest question is, why did the author choose to have "Death" only follow the life of Liesel's? Why her? why does she interest "Death"? What was the author trying to say or do with this theme? The bold in all of the chapters/sections are like reports of Liesel's every move before and after the death of her brother.This makes the reader more interested in the text, and want to find out more, as to why the author choose this style of writing.

    Questions:
    -Why did the author choose to have "Death" only follow the life of Liesel?
    -What was the author trying to say or do with this theme?
    -If "Death" portray's himself as such an evil being, why does he care so much about Liesel?

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  47. In the novel, The Book Thief, the author's, Markus Zusak, structural choices that made me wonder was when he italicize the German words. In the beginning of the book, the insulting German words such as "Saumensch"(32) and "Saukrel"(32), were italicized. It was obvious at first to why they had to be italicized because the author introduced a new word. But as the story progressed, the words were always italicized. To me, his structural choices proves a message or idea that affects Liesel in a positive way. The word "Saumensch" means female pig and "Saukrel" is male pig, which are bad words. When Liesel and her family use those curses constantly, that repetition of italicized words made me wonder about the love between her and her family. It seems like those curse words symbolized the word "love" so that every time the reader sees the curses, it refers to love. Zuzask's structural choice of italics made me wonder about love.
    Though I see the other literal meaning of these words. Without the deeper meaning of the German curse words, the story would just show how rude Germans are towards one another. It would also appear to me that Germans, especially Rosa Hubermann , have an addiction to calling each other pigs.

    I have some questions that maybe you all could answer:
    -Why did the author choose “Death” to follow Liesel, was Death fascinated by her in some way?
    -What was the main reason in the word “Saumensch” and “Saukrel” to be repeated so many times?
    -When the author bolds parts of the book, does it annoy or help you?

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