The boy in the Striped Pyjamas

We are going to read "The Boy in the striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne. You're also going to answer questions and write a book reflection.

Aim

The aim is to improve your writing and reading comprehension. To speak about the book, express thoughts and opinions and of course enjoy an English novel.

Centralt innehåll

Lyssna och läsa — reception.

• Skönlitteratur och annan fiktion även i talad, dramatiserad och filmatiserad form.
• Strategier för att uppfatta detaljer och sammanhang i talat språk och texter, till exempel att anpassa lyssnande och läsning efter framställningens form, innehåll och syfte

You will in this project have the possibility to develop your ability to:

Understand written English.

Interpret and discuss the plot of a novel.

Express your thoughts and opinions about a novel.

Use different strategies to understand spoken and written English.

This will be your homework for the entire semester VT19. You are to hand in answers for each section at a given time.

Section 1 due week 6

Section 2 due week 12

Section 3 due week 18

Final assignment due week 20

Uppgifter

Section 1

SECTION ONE: Chapter 1: “Bruno Makes a Discovery” 1. What is Bruno’s discovery? 2. What first assumption does Bruno make as to why they are packing? 3. What had happened the week before? Who might the Fury be? Who might the beautiful blonde woman who waved at Bruno be? 4. What do we learn about Bruno’s father’s position? What are the three things Bruno could tell the other children about his father? 5. What do you think Bruno’s parents are arguing about and why? Chapter 2: “The New House” 6. Describe the four new servants. 7. What is the atmosphere in this new house? Describe in your own words. 8. Who emerges from Father’s room? Describe the encounter in your own words. How did Maria react? 9. What was Bruno used to seeing from the window in his old house? What was his reaction to what he saw from this window? What might he have seen? Chapter 3: “The Hopeless Case” 10. What are several of the things that Bruno does not like about his sister Gretel? 11. How does Bruno cope with his sister’s questions? 12. Where does Gretel get the phrase “foreseeable future”? What do Bruno and Gretel think it means? What does Father really mean by it? 13. How does Gretel say the house got its name? Explain the name. What does it mean to Gretel and Bruno? 14. Who were the other children to whom Bruno refers? Why had Gretel not seen them? 15. Explain what Gretel saw. Why do you think so? Chapter 4: “What They Saw Through the Window” 16. What had Gretel and Bruno seen? What does Gretel want to know? What is the real answer to her question? 17. Why is the bench turned to face the house? What might the plaque on the bench say? 18. Describe the fence. Describe what Gretel and Bruno saw just beyond it. 19. What is Gretel’s first explanation of the people and the place they see from the window? How does Bruno refute her first explanation? 20. What things did Gretel decide to do, and why? 21. What does Bruno finally register in his mind and what makes it “extraordinary”? Chapter 5: “Out of Bounds at all Times and No Exceptions” 22. Explain Bruno’s mother’s comment, “We should never have let the Fury come to dinner.” To whom was she referring when she said, “Some people and their determination to get ahead.” What do you think happened at that dinner? 23. Contrast the two trains. What do you think was the purpose of the other train? 24. What seemed to be the problem with the person who had previously held Father’s position? 25. Describe the salute. What were the two words the men cried out? 26. What has Bruno concluded about why the Fury sent his father here? 27. Explain Father’s response to Bruno’s question, “Who are all those people outside?” 28. When Bruno salutes, “Heil Hitler,” what does he think it means? What does it really mean? Chapter 6: “The Overpaid Maid” 29. How has Maria always behaved? Why do you think she had been hesitant to get in the car and accompany Mother and the children when they moved? In what way is she different? 30. What does Bruno mean by the metaphor of the leaking boat? 31. Why does Maria defend Father to Bruno? What does Bruno glimpse about Maria’s life and what does he realise about her? 32. What does Maria confide in Bruno? What does she wonder about Bruno’s father? Finish: “He has a lot of kindness in his soul, truly he does, which makes me wonder…” 33. How has Bruno changed in just a few weeks? 34. What kind of trouble could Bruno cause for Maria? What is it that Maria wants to do above everything else?

Section 2

SECTION TWO: Chapter 7: “How Mother Took Credit for Something That She Hadn’t Done” 35. Why does Mother not wish to discuss the war? 36. What does Lieutenant Kotler mean by “spare tyre” and what does Bruno think he means? 37. What does Bruno learn about Pavel? What does Pavel mean when he says, “Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer…”? 38. How does Bruno misunderstand the word “practice”? 39. What is the difference between Kotler’s “little man” and Pavel’s “young man”? 40. Why do you think Mother says to the “waiter who claimed to be a doctor” that if the Commandant asked, she would say that she cleaned Bruno up? Is she right to do so? Explain. Chapter 8: “Why Grandmother Stormed Out” 41. How do Mother and Grandfather react to Father’s new uniform and title of “Commandant”? 42. How is Grandmother’s reaction different? What does she mean when she says to her son that he is dressing up like a puppet on a string without caring what it really means? Why does she find both her husband and her daughter-in-law foolish? 43. What is the relationship like between Grandmother and Grandfather? Quote from the text to support your answer. 44. What does Grandmother mean by “the terrible, terrible things you do”? Chapter 9: “Bruno Remembers that He Used to Enjoy Exploration” 45. What usual things went on at Out-With? Name at least five in your own words. 46. What interests Herr Liszt most of all? What does he want Bruno to study? Why does he think these things are important? 47. What does Herr Liszt mean by the “great wrongs that have been done to you.”? What does Bruno think he means? 48. What occurred to Bruno after a few months at Out-With and what does he finally decide to do? 49. What does the plaque on the bench say? 50. What was the warning that Mother and Father gave Bruno? Why did he try to ignore it? Chapter 10: “The Dot that Became a Speck That Became a Blob that became a Figure that Became a Boy.” 51. What does the star on the boy’s arm mean? 52. Describe the conversation the two boys have about their names. What is the significance? 53. What fact of significance do the boys find out about each other? What is the author suggesting by creating this fact in the story? 54. What is revealed in the conversation about the difference in attitudes between Shmuel’s mother and Bruno’s father? 55. What other information does Bruno learn from Shmuel? Chapter 11: “The Fury” 56. Father tells Bruno he is pronouncing “the Fury” incorrectly. How should it be said? What is the author suggesting by having Bruno mispronounce it in this way? 57. What does Bruno feel about the Fury as the evening begins and progresses? What does the Fury do that he find offensive? 58. How does Gretel behave towards Eva and the Fury? What is the Fury’s reaction to Gretel’s ability to speak French and why? 59. Sum up the discussion that Father and Mother have when the children have gone to bed. What is it that each of them are trying to make the other one understand? Chapter 12: “Shmuel Thinks of an Answer to Bruno’s Question” 60. Shmuel and Bruno’s father both wear armbands, but they are quite different. What does Father’s armband mean? What does Bruno think about the armbands? 61. How does Bruno identify with Shmuel’s story about his house? What is the difference between their two situations? 62. What does ‘naïve’ mean and how does it apply to Bruno in this chapter? 63. What does Bruno want that Shmuel has, and what does Shmuel want that Bruno has? Can you think of a well known saying about a fence that is appropriate to this situation? 64. What does Shmuel mean by “you’re on the wrong side of the fence.”? Is he? What does Bruno propose to do?

Section 3 VALFRI

SECTION THREE: Chapter 13: “The Bottle of Wine” 65. What do you think Maria tells Bruno about Pavel? Why do you think he changes from being a doctor to being a waiter? 66. What do we learn about Shmuel and Bruno when Bruno shivers after their conversation about Kotler, and Bruno says, “What’s the matter? It’s not the cold, is it? You should have brought a jumper you know”? 67. Describe Pavel’s behaviour and appearance at dinner. Quote from the text to support your answer. 68. What does father mean by, “We are correcting history here”? 69. What does Kotler tell the family about his father? Why is Father so interested, and why does he react the way he does? 70. What does Lieutenant Kotler do to Pavel and why do you think he does it? 71. Why does Bruno decide he will keep his mouth shut from now on? Chapter 14: “Bruno Tells a Perfectly reasonable Lie” 72. Bruno asks Shmuel why he doesn’t wear something different and Shmuel doesn’t reply. What do you think he might have said, and why did he decide not to say it? 73. How does Bruno react when Gretel demands to know more about his new friend? Why does he act in this way? 74. What do we learn about Shmuel through Bruno telling Gretel about what his ‘imaginary friend’ talks about? 75. What does Gretel do after she leaves Bruno’s room? How is this ironic? Chapter 15: “Something He Shouldn’t Have Done” 76. List 7 reasons why Bruno dislikes Kotler. 77. What does the conversation about Treasure Island tell us about Kotler and about Bruno? 78. Why has Shmuel been brought to the house? What does Bruno notice about his and Shmuel’s hands? 79. Why does Shmuel say, “That’s a question you never have to ask me”? 80. How does Bruno feel after he denies knowing Shmuel? Find evidence in the text to support your answer. 81. What does Bruno think has been the cause of Shmuel’s bruising? What is the real cause? Chapter 16: “The Haircut” 82. Why does the family return to Berlin? 83. We learn that the Fury has sent a wreath. What does Mother mean by, “Grandmother would turn in her grave if she knew it was there”? 84. We learn that Kotler has been transferred and that the “departure had come about very suddenly and there had been a lot of shouting between father and Mother about it…” Why do you think Kotler has been sent away? 85. How does Gretel explain the purpose of the fence and the people on the other side to Bruno? What does she still not quite understand? 86. What does Gretel find in her hair and what are the consequences? Chapter 17: “Mother Gets Her Own Way” 87. How does Bruno feel about the possibility of returning to Berlin? 88. Besides the argument with Father, what evidence is there that Mother is unhappy? 89. Why is Gretel moving pins around on her maps? Why is Herr Liszt impressed by this? 90. What does Father mean by “Perhaps this is not the place for children?” Chapter 18: “Thinking Up the Final Adventure” 91. When Shmuel’s father disappears, how do we know that Bruno still does not really understand what goes on at Out-With? What do you think has happened to Shmuel’s father? 92. Why does Shmuel think that asking Bruno’s father isn’t a good idea? Why doesn’t he answer when Bruno asks him if he hates Father? 93. What is Bruno’s plan? 94. The chapter ends “All in all, it seemed like a very sensible plan and a good way to say goodbye.” What do you think of the plan? What do you think might happen? Chapter 19: “What Happened the Next Day” 95. Why do you think the author writes about rain at the beginning of the chapter? 96. What is Bruno’s reaction to the spare pair of pyjamas? 97. What do you think the author is trying to suggest when he says “It would have been difficult to tell them apart. It was almost (Shmuel thought) as if they were all exactly the same really.”? 98. What did Bruno imagine the camp would be like? What is it really like? 99. Bruno thinks he “ought to go home.” Why doesn’t he? 100. How does the author describe the weather after Shmuel says “I never see the people after they’ve gone on a march” and what effect does he create? 101. What is the last thing Bruno says to Shmuel? 102. What is the last line of the chapter? 103. What do you think happened next? Chapter 20: “The Last Chapter” 104. Why does Mother stay at Out-With for several months? 105. What is Gretel’s reaction to Bruno’s disappearance? 106. What conclusion does Father come to about Bruno’s disappearance? 107. The author ends the book with “Nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age.” Do you think he is right? Why/ Why not?

Final assignment For higher grades

Pick one of the following: * ACHIEVED LEVEL Pretend that you are Bruno. Write a letter to your friends in Berlin explaining your new living conditions. This response must be at least two paragraphs (with a new idea in each paragraph) and at least 200 words in length. * MERIT LEVEL Write three different diary entries for one of the characters in the novel. Choose from Shmuel, Mother, Father, Maria or Gretel. Show how they change through the course of the novel. Remember to write in first person, to include “Dear Diary” (or dear whoever), and to consider how the character reflects on feelings and events. * MERIT LEVEL In this novel, Shmuel and Bruno form a strong bond of friendship, despite their many differences. Write three paragraphs of around eight lines, explaining in each one how the two characters show us the true essence of friendship. Your three paragraphs should make three separate points; remember to start with a topic sentence (the point of your paragraph), and include quotations from the novel to support your point. You should write around 300 words. * SPEECH EXCELLENCE LEVEL Imagine you are Shmuel and you have survived the Holocaust. You have returned home after your experiences at Auschwitz and you have been asked to speak to local high school students about your ordeal. Write a 3-4 minute speech explaining what the worst moments were for you, how you coped with these challenges, and what you learnt about yourself during the time you were there. Deliver your speech to the class. Consider the use of cue cards, audience eye contact, and vocal variation.

The boy in the Striped Pyjamas

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