To Be Loved

 Click me first!
I'm misunderstood.  Even Mrs. Frasca was disappointed when she saw me. 
I fall, and I'm forgotten. 
People run to get away from me, they protect their children from me.
People see me as a nuisance.
I am the tears of the world, I bring gloom and grey.
I live in the darkness, there is no escape from the poisoned clouds.
But I am majestic.
People do not seem to understand that they need me.
I am a part of them.
I will never change.
I am a part of life, and as much as people try to hide, I will always make myself apparent.
I refuse to ever be silent.
I will come with flashes of light and sound.
I am dark, I scare some, but I gleam.
I shine and sparkle, I make things beautiful.
But people can only see the dark and the mess of me.
Why can't people see my beauty?
There are few that admire my gleam.
People wait eagerly for me to go away, to disperse and hide.
There are places I won't even go.
I am not discriminate, but people discriminate me.
I am ridiculed.
But I know I am needed.
I know my purpose.
And I will be loud, and let everyone know I am here.
I am not ashamed.
I am not afraid.
I can destroy mountains with time, or melt glaciers.
I am stronger than them.
I am stronger than all.

Love is love... but is the same love always interperted?

To a middle school student, at first glance, this poem is a story of a man in a romantic situation.  But upon further investigation of Rumi, the author, I learned Rumi was an Islam monk, so, romantic relationships probably were not the intention of this poem.  Under the para dime of an Islam monk, it is safe to guess that he would write about God, faith, and belief.  







Love- The word love is mentioned a multitude of times in this short poem, but the word love is actually referring to God.  "Love is for vanishing into the sky".  Vanishing, meaning to cease to exist, refers to dying.  Going into the sky means ascending to Jannah (paradise), the Muslim term for Heaven.

 

Eye- The eye and sight come up a few times.  The eye is both a tool of perception, and a symbol of God.  And Rumi mentions that the eye, or in more detail, your perspective, goes blind when only trying to solve the mysteries.

 If your eye goes blind, it means you've lost your perspective.  In the sense of this poem, it could mean you've lost your soul, your faith, or your purpose.  "Mysteries are not to be solved: the eye goes blind when it only wants to see why".  This could also mean you aren't meant to try to find the science behind God, because, if God does exist, God is a force impossible to explain with science, it is only a matter of faith.

Shakespeare Glogs

http://laramg.edu.glogster.com/desdemona/

http://laramg.edu.glogster.com/cassio/

http://laramg.edu.glogster.com/iago/

http://laramg.edu.glogster.com/othello/

Jews, Wars, and Standover (Wo)men

Max- The Jew
Max is the only of his family saved from Nazis at a young age.  Still on the run, he seeks help from Hans Hubermann, an old friend of his late father.  While in the Hubermann's care, he meets Leisel, who sees similarities in their everyday torture.  The loss of family, nightmares reoccurring their fears, and seeking the Hubermanns with a feeling of agitation, desperation, and fear.  "Leisel, in the act of watching, as already noticing the similarities between this stranger and herself (205)."

• Jew

A word frequently used to describe Max in the story, as if this a Jew is the only thing possible to identify him as.  As if Jew is the only important characteristic of Max.  And in Nazi Germany, that could very well be the case.  There's a certain feeling that comes along whenever the word Jew is used to describe him.  The word, at least in this story, comes with a feeling almost like shame, but difficult to describe otherwise, as the word doesn't come with an explanation to why you feel this way about the word, just the way everyone in the story was feeling about it.  "A Jewish rat, back to his hole (215)."

Hans And Erik
Hans Hubermann and Max's father, Erik, were friends in the time of war.  Erik had in fact saved Hans from being killed during the war.  In fact, Erik made that Hans was the only one to survive that particular battle.  Hans carried Erik's accordion through the rest of that war, and was later told by Erik's wife that he could keep it.  This was also Hans' first encounter with two year old Max, who Erik had never mentioned was his son.

The Standover Man
The standover man is not an actual man, but a book that Max made for Leisel's birthday out of torn pages of Mein Kampf.  The book was 13 pages long and told a brief history of Max.  In the story, Max is illustrated as a bird, which I think may have something to do with Leisel repeatedly saying that she thought his hair was like feathers.  The story tells that Max has always had a fear of men standing over him, which I think may come from his competitiveness, even though as a child, he would always lose fights.  When he found Leisel standing over him, he may have had a bit of fear, but began to find things in common with the girl.

The Book Thief: The Second Heist

The shoulder Shrug

The Shoulder Shrug was stolen from a book burning by one Miss Leisel Meminger.  Three books survived the first fire, before the men in charge noticed and burned it all again.  Leisel managed to snatch one before the second fire came.  Damp, but burning hot, she couldn't hide it for long.  "Quite a few things were most definitely wrong: Smoke was rising from her collar.  A necklace of sweat had formed around her neck.  Beneath her, the book was eating her up" (122).  Hans agreed to hide the existence of the book from his wife and read it with Leisel.  Another successful heist.

SHORT Article on Nazi Book Burnings

Ilsa Hermann
Ilsa is one of Rosa's laundry wash customers, and the only person to see Leisel steal her second book.  On one of Leisel's laundry pick-ups, Ilsa motioned her to come inside.  Leisel was sure she was in big trouble.  "She's going to torture me, Liesel decided.  She's going to take me inside, light the fireplace, and throw me in, books and all.  Or she'll tlock me in the basement without any food" (133).  But on the contrary, the woman brought Leisel into a library, to read to her heart's content.

 

Max Vandenburg *NEW CHARACTER ALERT*
Little Profile About Max

Max Vandenburg, the Jew.  Not much to say about him yet.  But he did show us that Hans Hubermann, Leisel's foster father, not only supports the rights of Jews, but was helping them to escape the wrath of the Nazis.  "As well as a few other important details, he knew the man's name.  Hans Hubermann.  Again, he spoke to him, the distant stranger.  He pleaded. "Please."" (141).

Badge that Jews were forced to wear during Holocaust

Figurative Language in The Book Thief

Figurative language is a way to explain things in a non-literal sense.  The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, is riddled with figurative language.  A challenging read but definitely worth it.

Examples of Figurative Language Explained Simplistically 

Double Epithet-
A double epithet is a type of figurative language used to make a sentence richer and more interesting.  The double epithet itself is when you use two words with identical or almost identical meaning used together for description. 
Example of a double epithet in The Book Thief- "Perhaps he was the last resort, the final solution"(27).

 

Figurative Language Rap

Oxymoron-
An oxymoron is a type of figurative language in which someone uses two words with seemingly contradictory meaning, used for a variety of reasons, including to create drama, or make the reader stop and consider what they're reading.

Example of oxymoron in The Book Thief- "School, as you might imagine, was a terrific failure"(39).

Personification-
Personification is giving animation to something inanimate or non-human.  Not literally, like Frankenstien, but figuratively, like the wind howling or the sun smiling. 

Example of personification in The Book Thief-"A bathrobe answered the door"(42). 

Apostrophe-

This is not the same kind of apostrophe as the kind in grammar ( ' ).  This is a type of figurative language in which you refer to someone or something inanimate or absent.  Like a little girl talking to her doll.
Example of apostrophe in The Book Thief-"Hello Stars"(45).

The Book Thief is all about figurative language.  The book is figurative language.  The symbolism of it amplifies the book to a new level.  The language in the book makes the book come to life, while making you stop and think about what you're truly reading.  The book is shaped by its figurative language, from the symbolism of the colors to the Nazis, the emotions of the characters, to the characters themselves.  It's all figurative, the book would be bland, flat, and depressing without the flair of the figurative language added.

Rudy, Reading, and Relationships

Liesel
Liesel is a small girl, and at the age of ten, is quite illiterate.  Her new foster father, Hans, takes her under his wing and begins to teacher her how to read and write.  She has difficulties, but doesn't let it discourage her for long.

Besides education, she begins to make friends with some of the neighborhood children, including Rudy Steiner, a blonde haired, blue eyed boy with an obsession with Jesse Owens.  But Rudy seems to have more on his mind lately.
Leisel- otherwise known as the book thief- has horrible nightmares over the death of her little brother, and questions about the one thing she has to remember him and her mother by, The Gravedigger's Handbook.  Her and her foster father attempt to read it together, despite the difficulty of the text.

Rudy
Rudy Steiner is a mischievous boy with a lot on his mind.  He's always found ways to get into trouble, including something known to the neighborhood as the Jesse Owens Incident, when he admired the Olympic champion so much that he covered himself in charcoal and acted out Jesse's victories.

Something other than the Olympics has caught his attention.  One young book thief by the name of Leisel.  Does he want more than a friendship?  "But Rudy had an idea.  It was the lover boy coming out of him.  "If I beat you, I get to kiss you."(53)"

The Kiss
This kiss didn't actually occur.  They challenged each other to a race, and if Rudy was victorious, he got a kiss.  The slippery winter conditions outside caused the race to be a draw, but it doesn't seem that Rudy has given up.  "One day Leisel," he said, "you'll be dying to kiss me."(55)