The Book Thief - A Response to Ptolemy

I agree with you very much. At first I was annoyed with Death because I thought it ruined the ending for me! But as I read further I realized that knowing Rudy's fate made me look closer at his character and as I grew more emotionally attached to Rudy it pained me even more to know his fate. It also intrigued me that an author would think to give away the ending in the middle of the book. Usually people read books for a surprising ending that they didn't see coming so I thought it was an interesting and different way to lure in readers.

"He had not seen the outside world for twenty-two months"

One event in The Book Thief that will stick with me is in Part Seven when the air raid begins and the Hubermans are forced to leave Max in the basement as they leave for the bomb shelter. This part of the book really shows what Max is really like. When the Hubermans arrive home Max immediately apologizing, while they were gone Max made his way upstairs and through the crack in the door he looked out at the night sky and looked at the stars. This part of the book really shows how genuine Max is, he feels guilty for doing something so simple. It also shows how important the simple things are to Max. Going upstairs was something Max was willing to take a great risk for.

My (Donatello's) Saint Mark

Donatello's Saint Mark is a marble statue that is in The Orsanmichele Church in Florence and it stands over seven ft tall.

Marc Antony

In William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar the character Marc Antony is a man of great intelligence, power, and he is master politician. In the the play Marc Antony is illustrated as a man that poses no real threat to Julius Ceaser's conspirators even though he should have been. Marc Antony was an amazing politician and that proved to help him most in the end when he makes his speech about Caesar's death. He uses many different tactics to make the crowd turn against Brutus in a riot. Like it was stated previously Marc Antony was not considered a threat for he was seen as a man not drawn to power, but throughout the play you can see Marc Antony's hunger for power progress. Morally I wouldn't say Marc Antony is completely good, but I also wouldn't say he is a completely corrupt person.

I found Marc Antony such a intriguing character because he seemed complex. In the beginning we get the idea that he is not viewed as a man of great power but in the end he proved that he had much more power and intelligence than anyone gave him credit for, even Brutus and Cassius. I viewed him kind of as the underdog.

Someone I view similarly as Marc Antony is Oprah. She was also a underdog growing up in terrible conditions but working her way to the top. Eventually having her own show where thousands of people tune in to hear what she has to say. She is also a very influential person, she has created charities and has done great work to help the people of Africa living in poverty with little education. Now, Marc Antony wasn't donating his money to the people of Africa but I do think their power with words that influences people is a very similar characteristic.

http://www.oprah.com/

The Allegory

What are the "shadows" Plato would tell us we cannot trust as truth? Give several examples of these "shadows" we encounter.

The shadows that Plato refers to are really nothing more than illusions. Today so many of our illusions are presented by the media whether that be in commercials, magazines, websites, and television. One illusion that we see in our lives so much is the illusion of peoples appearance. I mean, when is the last time you saw an ad for a product and there wasn't a beautiful person with a perfect complexion and perfect body selling it to you? They may look this way in the ad but in real life these people in the pictures are altered all the time. Someones nose is too big? No worries they can shrink that. Someone had a breakout the day of a photo shoot? Just erase it. The media is constantly distorting the reality of what people look like and it sets a standard in society that can never be met because it is all just an illusion that has been created by the media.

Link to an online source that portrays a shadow. What makes it a "shadow"? What is the truth? How do "shadows" impact society? What danger do we face in trusting these "shadows"?

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/real_world_brooklyn/series.jhtml
This link above will take you to the MTV "reality" show The Real World Brooklyn. This show may be a "reality" TV show, but how much of it can we really take as reality? The people on this show had gone through tons of auditions to get on the show. The producers of this show want to get ratings and views so they want to make it as interesting as possible. But is that really reality anymore? So these people are put through auditions and are picked according to which personalities will clash the most because the more conflict the more interesting the show. So these people are purposely put against each other and expected to fight and argue. Some of the arguments and drama are staged. The entire show is just an illusion as to what life is like but there is no real truth to The Real World!

Shadows impact society in many ways but one that is very apparent is the way teenagers view themselves. Being a teenager is a stressful (and lets not lie awkward) time of our lives. And with the media presenting these images of models who are flawless just make teens look at themselves and wish they could be something besides what they really are. Trusting illusions like that is a dangerous thing. Many teens who do believe the "shadows" that the media present end up with self-esteem issues that could result in eating disorders and just self hate. Trusting these "shadows" is not good. It only makes us strive for an unreachable goal.