Week 4

Some books that I would recommend to people who enjoyed the boy in the Striped Pyjamas:

The Diary of Anne Frank

This novel is a similar genre of book and is sad yet compelling to read, based on a true story about a Jewish family in hiding during World War II. 

The Hunger Games Series

These series are action packed novels that transport you to a world of violence, leaving you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Parvana

A novel about the life an Afghani child telling her story about her very restricted lifestyle and struggles throughout.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

This page turning novel is one of my personal favourites. It is a mysterious and compelling book that keeps you guessing. This book is about Jenna and her unearthing the truths about herself.

Week 4

Unfortunately Shmuel and Bruno were unsuccessful and failed to find Shmuels father, as Bruno decided to leave Shmuel for the day to go home and have dinner. That night Bruno felt like an un loyal and selfish friend for leaving Shmuel to worry about his dad.

Bruno kept thinking what more could he have done to help, planning startergies in his head. The next day after class Bruno as he usually did, went to the kitchen and snuck some food under his jacket and ran off to see Shmuel again. 

Bruno was excited but sad at the same time as he knew this was his last day he would walk along the long bared wired fence say his goodbyes to his best friend Shmuel. Bruno noticed the closer he got to the spot Shmuel and him would meet the more he realised that no one was waiting for him. Bruno stood at the fence looking into the area trying to spot Shmuel and wondered why he was so late. He stood there for a short time period and decided that Shmuel must of been busy or had just accidentally forgotten. So Bruno decided to leave the food next to the fence with a letter saying his goodbyes. 

As Bruno walked back along the fence to home he had realised that Shmuel was not only his best friend but also like a brother to him and he'd hope one day he would be able to come back and catch up with Shmuel and ask him why he wasn't at the fence that very day.

Week 3-option 3

There are many themes and issues throughout John Boyne's compelling novel, 'the boy in the striped pyjamas'. Perhaps the most significant are the following:

Bruno moves to Out-with and his house only miles away from one of the most horrific and brutal concentration camps in history.

Bruno has no idea what's going on around him and thinks these strange pyjama dressed people are farmers are playing a game.

His father is feeding him lies letting him believe they are farmers.

Let's explore these issues and themes in more detail:

1. Bruno's father has been promoted and his job requires him to move and temporally leave their hometown Berlin in Germany to live in Out-with, Poland.  This makes Bruno mad as he isn't prepared to pack up leavings all his friends behind. However Bruno soon finds that's his unpacking his crates and living in the old fashioned house Bruno isn't used to. The issue is the location of their new house. From Bruno's window he can see what he calls, "strange farmers" that are numbered and are wearing pyjamas. This concentration/death camp is only miles away from their home and consequently the family has to live with the horrid smell of Jews burning and also witness and respect the brutal ways the Jews are treated by their respected soldiers and father.

2. Bruno is what we call an unreliable narrator in the book meaning he has no idea what this camp/farm is however we do. A concentration camp only miles away from their home is an adventure in Bruno's eyes. He becomes curious as to why these people are treated poorly, wear pyjamas and why he is told not play with them. But Bruno doesn't care, he is bored out of his brain and would rather rip out his hair than play with his sister Gretel so despite the consequences he is unaware of he make friends with a Jew named Shmuel on the other side of the fence.

3.Another issue is that Bruno's father is feeding him lies about this camp in order to protect his word and job. Bruno one day walks in to his office with many questions and although we know his father is lying Bruno doesn't. His father is saying "those people aren't people" and "that smoke is probably the burning of the rubbish" this of course is not true.

Week 3-option 1

Journal entries written by Bruno.

Blog entry week 3-option

Entry 1- day 3

I hate it here! I didn't realise how much my friends really meant to me until they were gone. There's something odd about this place. From my window I can see a peculiar farm filled with people wearing pyjamas, this place also smells funny and I wonder if it has to do with the rubbish being burnt in the incinerators, well that's what father tells me anyway. But I don't know who to believe. The other day I walked in on my mother crying, I was listening in before hand all I could pick up was, "......you said it was miles away" and " ...it's my duty......for the father land....". I still can't make much sense of what mother was screaming and crying about, perhaps she wanted to go home too and hated it here as much as I do. 

Entry 2-week 3

A new friend

I was swinging on the swing Pavel had made simply made from a tire and string. Mum ran out the front door before stopping to ask me something, "Bruno I'm going into town for an hour do you want to come?", going food shopping with mother for a whole hour! I couldn't think of anything worse, "no thanks mum". She replied with a shrug of her shoulders and hopped into the shiny black Sudan. I watched the car slowly drive away and once it was out of site I ran, as fast as I could to the open back door. Mother would never allow me to be do this but what she doesn't know can't hurt her.

Entry 3-week 3

Before I knew where my feet where taking me I ended up at the farm. Electrical and barbed wire that stretched 5 meters high separated me from the farm and strange people wearing pyjamas with numbers on them. But for some reason they didn't look too happy. I was lost so deep in my own thoughts that I didn't even realise the boy sitting cross legged, his head bowed. 

He was also wearing pyjamas and his hair was all shaved off. "Hello" I said wondering if he would understand. "Hello" he replied lifting his head with a smile. There are so many questions I had fluttering around in my head but it wasn't fair to bombard him with questions, so I decided to inform him on myself and hope he would do the same. "I'm Bruno. I live over in that house" but I was eager to know more about him and decided not to bore him with the details of my boring life, "how old are you?". 

He replied with enthusiasm as if I wasn't boring him at all "nine" he said. Great another boy to play with that was actually my age. Before I could ask him another question a whistle blew and immediately he struggled to his feet taking his wheelbarrow with him. "Wait" I called after him, "what's your name". He didn't stop running but turned to yell, "Shmuel". What kind of a name was that! "Shmuel" I said quietly to myself. It was a fun word to say. And just like that he was gone. 

For further information, reviews or to watch the movie online, visit the following websites:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/7631177/the_boy_in_the_striped_pyjamas/

http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2539660.htm

http://www.moviewatchersguide.com/2013/01/17what-watch-on-instant-netflix/

Week two-option 3

The boy in the striped pyjamas

Week 2-option 3

This novel in the beginning is set in Berlin,Germany. Bruno's dad's work then requires him to live in Poland and as much as Bruno hates to pack up and leave his life behind, he then finds himself unpacking crates and living in an old, cold, small and boring house that he refuses to call home.

The different settings in the book are:

Berlin, Germany. 

This is Berlin in Germany where Bruno has lived all his life. 

2. Auschwitz, Poland

Bruno's father has been promoted and as much as Bruno hates to they move to Auschwitz in Poland, their house only meters from one of the worst concentration camps of all time. 

3. Out-with concentration camp in Auschwitz 

Bruno's new home is only meters away from the one of the most horrific death camps in history, Out-with. Bruno wonders why all of those strange 'farmers' are dressed in pyjamas and thinks it is all part if a game. He one day goes exploring and gets a closer look at this perculair 'farm' and makes friends with one of the boys on the other side of the fence. 

A brief history on each location:

1. Out-with, Auschwitz

9 out of ten people who were brought to this death camp were Jews, meaning 10% of all these innocent people were nonJewish and must have defied the Nazis in some way. During WW2 only one man managed to get prisoners out of Auschwitz, Oscar Schindler one remarkable man who outwitted Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to save those imprisoned. In Auschwitz 1.1 million people were massacred to transform Hitlers dream of a so called perfect race into reality.

Here is a photo taken of whats left of the prisoners in Out-with

2. Berlin, Germany

After the Allies won WWII Germany and Berlin was split into quarters. Each of these control quarters included French, English, US and Russia. East Germany was communist and closed to the world. West Germany was capitalist and free, trading with Europe. The Berlin war was purposely demolished on November 9th, 1989 to reunited Germany as one again.

A photo during the fall of the Berlin Wall 

3. Auschwitz, Poland 

Auschwitz was home to the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Located in southern Poland, Auschwitz originally served as a detention centre for political prisoners. However, it evolved and became a network of camps where Jewish people and other perceived enemies of the Nazi state were exterminated, often in gas chambers, or used for slave labor. During World War II (1939-45), more than 1 million people were slaughtered at Auschwitz. However, not all those who were sent to Auschwitz were immediately murdered. Those who were fit to work were employed as slave labor in the production of munitions, synthetic rubber and other products that were considered essential to Germany's efforts in World War II.

An Ariel photo of one of the many horrific death/concentration camps in Auschwitz 

 

For more information, maps, stories/legends and pictures on the Holocaust visit: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/ccphototoc.html 

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005144

http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm

http://www.auschwitz.dk

http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/

Week two-The boy in the striped pyjamas

Blog entry, written by Ashleigh

Week 2-option 2

The boy in the striped pyjamas is a novel by John Boyne. Based on what I've read so far I anticipate that this novel will end with a twist or the book will take a drastic change in order to keep the audience hooked and on the edge of their seats. In my head the ending will be unpredictable, for example a well loved character might die or like in murder mysteries the villain turns out be innocent.

The main conflict in the story is that Bruno and Shmuel are forbidden to be friends, as Shmuel is a Jew and Bruno is a German, this is against the Nazis belief. I think that this conflict will be resolved when World War II ends and they hopefully release the Jews, so Bruno and Shmuel can be friends without the complications. By the end of the book I think all the characters will develop closer friendship bonds especially Gretel and Bruno,as they hate each other. 

Visit the official website for the history and other reviews on the book http://www.johnboyne.com/fiction/younger-readers/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/

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