The Book Thief and "A Class Divided"

Well, first off, I LOVED The Book Thief. I started out struggling with it - the constant interruptions by our narrator were a bit distracting at first, but I got used to it quickly. It took me a while to get really into it, but I balled my eyes out the last 75 or so pages!

I kept thinking about teaching The Book Thief. I think it would be a refreshing perspective (rather than reading Night or Anne Frank, though both are good books) to see the Holocaust through the eyes of a young German girl, rather than from the perspective of a Jew in hiding or in a concentration camp (or maybe in addition to one of the other books). The main problem I see is that with kids, first impressions are everything. They would take one look at how thick the book is and groan. I'd be lucky if a handful read it all through. And then there is the struggle of giving them enough time to read it without taking away from something else. I think there is a lot to talk about in the novel, but it would take a really long time to get through it with a group of adolescents, if I could get them to get past the length in the first place.

After watching "A Class Divided," I must say, I was stunned. Stunned that a teacher had the guts (and the OK from administration?) to try such an experiment. I could certainly see how something like this would create a lasting effect on kids who go through it. It really is an effective way (if you can pull it off, as she could) to teach about discrimination, and let them see what it is like for a short time to be on the receiving end of prejudices. I kept thinking, how is she able to convince them (and then the adults, too! I couldn't believe they were able to be duped by the experiment) that their eye color is reason for discrimination? But I guess if I were a kid (or adult) who hadn't heard of this experiment before, I could be made to believe that eye color mattered. Especially since she was so convincing and serious about it. I felt squirmy and uncomfortable, especially watching the adults during the experiment, because at times she was so convincingly prejudiced. It was a lot to watch the reactions and how upset people got.

After watching that video, I read the article on teaching Holocaust literature. I like the idea of encouraging students to think about discrimination and to empathize with people who are different (in whatever way), rather than throwing them right into the literature. So many kids shrug off the things they read about that have to do with racism or prejudice, simply because they don't know what it's like (or think they don't). But if they are made to talk about the differenes, or the many times they probably were discrimated against (like the kid on page 30, who was wrongfully accused of using some drugs, simply because he fit the look of a kid who would do it), they might then be able to bring more to their reading of the literature, and feel some sympathy toward those who suffered during these terrible events in history.