The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Retell – A little boy name Bruno and his family move to a new house. The Bruno’s father is a Nazi General. They move near a Jewish concentration camp but Bruno doesn’t know that the camp is for. One day, while walking through the forest, Bruno sees a boy his age, Shmuel,  behind a wired fence. Bruno goes to visit Shmuel regularly. Bruno decides to go to the other side the fence and digs a hole to go under the fence. Bruno and Shmuel, get rounded up and put into one of the gas chambers and end up dying.

Reflect – I think that this movie was very eye opening and informative. The way that the Jewish people were treated during WWII was very harsh and uncalled for. This movie shows exactly what was happening during WWII, the fake commercials and deceit that the Jewish people went through.

Relate – This movie reminds me of the book Hana’s Suitcase. Hana went through the same things that Shmuel had to go through. She was separated from her family, just like Shmuel was separated from his father, during the end of the movie. Also, Hana’s Suitcase and The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas had the same setting, concentration camps. 

Elsewhere By: Gabrielle Zevin (Final Entry)

www.theguardian.com

A very large part of my book discusses the feeling of loss and grief. The main character, of my book, deals with having to move on. She has to go through the grief of losing everyone that she has ever known. Also, her family has to deal with the grief of their only daughter being dead. All the characters in my book have gone through, or are going through some sort of grief. They were/are dealing with ways to cope for their loss. 

Elsewhere By:Gabrielle Zevin

This picture relates to my book because, almost half the book it talks about Elizabeth (the main character) feeling unsatisfied with the injustice done to her. She feels that no one cares about getting her justice and people are too self absorbed to care to find her murderer, the taxi driver. The driver fled the seen after hitting her with his taxi but stopped to call the police, as explained later on in the book. Therefore, I think that this picture is very significant to the book. 

Elsewhere By:Gabrielle Zevin

I chose this picture because this represents a major turning point in Elizabeth's (the main character) life/death. Elizabeth needed to stop her obsession with watching people on earth in order to feel happy in her afterlife. She needed to start anew and meet new people. If we don't move on we start to feel 'trapped' in our own skin. 

Elsewhere By:Gabrielle Zevin

Life After Death - Slam Poetry

There are things we were told, 

When we were to get old.

But what if we never had a chance to grow old.

How do we know what will happen in the next 5 years,

Or next week, or even tomorrow.

The problem is that we don't know,

Well how do we find out? 

The answer is that we can't.

So the most important lesson in life is to let go.

Forgive, Forget, and Move on.

Life after death, huh!

Who are we kidding?

Elsewhere by:Gabrielle Zeven

Link to Article - CBC

The main social issue in my book is life after death. I chose this article because it relates to how the main character in my book dies. Her death leaves her confused, for a long while she believed that she was just dreaming. I think a death or near death experience effect our brain in ways that cannot be explained. 

Elsewhere by:Gabrielle Zevin

          This is a song by Cristina Perri called Human. I chose this song to represent the social issue, loss, in my book. This is because I feel that this song reflects the feelings of the family after Elizabeth, the main character, dies. The lyrics, "I can fake a smile, I can force a laugh," reflect the show that the parents and her brother have to put on for others to cover their loss. When the lyrics, "I'm only human, And I bleed when I fall down, I'm only human, And I crash and I break down," play, I think about her parents breaking down and crying at her funeral.