The+Boy+in+the+Striped+Pajamas+by+John+Boyne

Discussion questions 1. Do you think that Bruno's father is considerate? No, because he talked in a vulgar manner to the family maid, Maria, like she was a piece of garbage. 2. Do you think that the maids and servants will become an important part of the story? No, because they seem to just get on with their job. They do not really talk with other characters in the story. 3. If the story was set in modern day Europe do you think that the mother would speak out against the moving? Yes, because back then, the male was in charge of the whole family, and orders from the Fury meant that they had no choice or "else." 4. Why do you think that Gretel is considered a "Hopeless Case?" Because she does not do anything productive except yell at people who come in her room. She is basically a "meanie" who is unproductive. 5. Do you think that Bruno's innocence and ignorance will be his downfall. I think that his innocence will be his downfall because "nice guys finish last." However, I think his ignorance will benefit him for standing up for what he thinks is right. Therefore, I believe that innocence will not help, however, ignorance may help him get far.
 * Week 1:**

Today in our book club meeting, we did a lot. Our meeting started off with a snack of popcorn and chocolate milk. Next, we discussed things we like about the book, and we established the order for what we were going to do for todays meeting. After we had a set order for the meeting, we slacked off a little, but our group member who was in charge of keeping us on track, Eric, got us back on our que of things to do. When we were finally back to work, Joey, our discussion director read off the above questions and we discussed our opinions.

The next thing we did was discuss how many more pages we needed to read to keep up with our one fifths a week policy. We came upon the conclusion that we need to read up to pg 86. Next, we talked more about different views on Joeys questions, and tried to look at each question differently. Lastly, since we had time before the pep rally, we talked about what should be written in our group review. That was all we did for our meeting today.

1. So far from what you’ve seen with the fury, are they civilized? No, because they treat the maids and women like they are useless. Not to mention they feel like they can just walk in on a house. 2. Do you think if Bruno’s was part of the youth Hitler organization and knew what was going on so far would he be acting the same about moving? Yes because most likely if he was, then he'd agree with what the nazis were doing, and would be excited to move to a place where his dad could kill more people. 3. Do you think Gretel acts her age? No. She tries to act older in order to impress the sergeant, and to persuade her parents to trust her 4. Do you think the butler that fixed up brunos leg after he fell was afraid because he was Jewish? Yes. The butler was afraid because since he was jewish, he was expected to work and not interact with anyone that was german and "Better" 5. Was Bruno right for yelling at his sister because he thought she was a hopeless case? No because she never actually said anything that pertained to Bruno. She was going about her own selfish ways.

In round two our group got started a little slower than we should have. Joey kicked off our meeting with Oreos and chocolate milk. After Stephen inhaled thirteen Oreos our meeting really started. Brandon did a good job getting us to start because we were laughing our heads off from the thirteen Oreos Stephen devoured. During the meeting we began with Stephen's questions which was hard because they were very broad so he changed a few. But, it seemed everyone of us in the group had thoroughly read the book and the questions were finished quickly. We constantly had trouble keeping on target but Brandon did a very good job.
 * Book Club Meeting Week 2:**

After, towards the end of the meeting we agreed to read to page 129 in the book. Then we went over Steph's revised questions. That went well. We still know nothing about a boy in striped pajamas but we had enough to talk about. At the end we remembered the topic of the week and went over that before the bell. Good job team.

1. What is ironic about Bruno's birthday? Bruno is born on the same day and year as Shmuel. 2. Who is the short man with the short black hair and the small mustache? The Fury is Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany. 3.How long did Bruno say he walked to meet Shmuel? 2 hours. 4. How did Bruno hurt himself? He made a tire swing on a tree and fell off of it. 5. How are Bruno and Shmuel alike? They both do not know much about their surroundings, they are both born on the same day and year.

1. How would the story have differed if Bruno knew what was going on? 2. Why was Shmuel not able to see Bruno everyday? 3. Would Shmuel be considered a hopeless case, like Gretel, because he never knew what was going on around him? 4. What does Bruno think of his homeschool teacher? 5. Do you think Bruno will inquire more about why his mom didn't want him to talk to the butler?
 * Week 3**


 * Week 4**

1. Describe the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel in the reading. They are friends who do not know what is going on around them. Their ignorance brings them together. 2. Specify Pavel's actions at dinner. He was fidgeting his hands and was unable to stay still. 3. What does Kotler tell Bruno's family about his dad? He said that his dad moved to Switzerland and it was neutral in the war. His dad was a teacher at a university/college. He moved in 1938 to Switzerland and Kotler had not spoken to him ever since. 4. Why do you think Pavel switched from being a doctor to a waiter? Pavel is Jewish and he was forced to move down the “working chain” drastically. 5. What does Bruno notice about Pavel at dinner? He thinks he is a nice guy. He is thankful that he treated his wound from the swing incident.

This week we enjoyed Eric's homemade cookies and yoo-hoo. We all had 3 of Eric's cookies, they were delicious. Steven showed Brandon his scar and the story of how he got it.

1. What do you think happened to Bruno and Shmuel. 2. What were your last thoughts of Shmuel. 3. Do you think that Bruno's father found out what exactly happened. 4. Week 5 Group Progress: Today our goup was led by Eric. We started off by eating chocolate chip cookies and discussing the plan for the day. Joey read his questions about the book and we tried to come up with answers that were open ended so we could have a good discussion. We talked about whether or not the dad knew that Bruno was killed at the concentration camp, and whether or not Brunos death was Shmuel's fault. For a brief period we sat and talked about our opinions on each others research topic but then since Eric was our discussion leader he got us back on topic..

Another thing we did today was we talked about what book we were going to read next semester since this was our last one. We came up with a few ideas, but we don't have anything for sure. The next thing we did was talk about the topic of the week which was reflection on the book. We decided unanimously that we disliked the book and we said that we definitely wouldn't recommend it. By now the period was almost over so we gave our last inputs on the book and waited for the last two minutes of the period to be over.