City+of+Thieves+2


 * Discussion Time:**
 * Thursday****, January 19,** **11:10-12:40 (4W)**

Luca Seid Nina Prescott Laura Kapner David Waxman Tom McDowell Emma Wilson Community Book Discussion Agenda City Of Thieves by David Benioff
 * Group Members:**


 * Student Facilitator: Laura Kapner **


 * __Pre-Discussion Information:__ **
 * Characters - List at least 3 significant details for each character: **
 * (Characters: Lev, Kolya, Vika, Abendroth, Sonya, Colonel Grechko (others?) ) **
 * Lev Abramovich: Lev is a 17-year-old virgin adolescent and is therefore very confused about sex, a motif in the book-it’s almost always on his mind. His father, Abraham Benoiv, was a famous poet. He was taken by the NKVD, which leaves some hostility between Lev and Vika in the beginning. **
 * Kolya: His full name is Nikolai Alexandrovich Vlasov. “Big brother” to Lev, also a role model. Loud, oblivious, pompous, loyal. **
 * Vika: Introduced on pg. 146, Sniper for NKVD, disguised as a boy. Associated with Korsakov. Red hair, blue eyes, later the wife of Lev. **
 * Abendroth: German general- playes chess w/ Lev, loses, gets killed (by Lev) **
 * Sonya: Friend of Kolya, provides hospitality for Lev and Kolya **
 * Colonel Grechko: Powerful colonel who sends Lev and Kolya on a mission to find a dozen eggs for his daughters wedding cake. In return for the eggs he will give them both Grade One (an officer’s ration) ration cards. **
 * Galina, Nina, Lara, and Olesya (and Zoya): (not as prominent characters) **


 * Setting(s) - Describe details including time and place, economic, cultural, geographic, seasonal elements. What are all of the details of the backdrop against which City of Thieves is set that help to create its tone and ideas? **


 * City of Thieves is set during World War II in Russia. Lack of supplies, rampant crime, and the constant threat of German bombings creates a very hostile and dangerous environment for Lev. Set with the ridiculous task of finding a dozen eggs in a physically and economically frozen city, Lev and Kolya must venture across enemy lines into the frigid and unforgiving Russia wilderness. Surrounded by crass soldiers in wartime, Lev is exposed to a lot of vulgar behavior and conversation, setting the tone of this novel as very candid. **


 * Important plot events - Choose at least 3 significant plot elements and explain their importance. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Conflicts - Identify and elaborate on the conflicts that drive the plot. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Narration (Lev’s point of view) - Describe how the telling impacts the story. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Qualities of the journey - Each group member should make a statement about the journey (metaphorical, literal, etc.) and how the character changes (or not...). **


 * __Agenda__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: **

__Discussion Questions__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">:
 * __Personal Response Questions__ -- These questions might address your personal reactions to the style and content of the novel and ask group members to share and compare.
 * __Open-ended, analytical questions__ -- These promote multiple perspectives and don’t yield a single answer. They address the WHY and HOW.
 * __Significant passage questions__ -- Observe, as you would in close reading, the qualities of the text and how the passage brings meaning to the novel overall.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- How did you respond to Kolya (or Vika, Lev...etc) ? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- How did you respond to Kolya (pg 20) when he first meets Lev? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- What did you care most about in the book? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Why do you think Kolya chose to hide the fact that he was writing The Courtyard Hound? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- What was a specific passage that stood out/made an impact to you? (Discuss) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- How did you respond to the section about the cannibals? (pg 58) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Reactions to the “field of dogs” scene? (pg. 111) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Reactions to the description of what the Germans did to Zoya, the little girl who tried to escape? (pg. 132) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Reaction to the scene with the little boy (Vadim) and the chicken? Why the boy decided to stay behind instead of leaving with Kolya and Lev. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Do you think you would have acted the same if in Lev’s shoes? (Would you kill Abendroth?)(Would you even attempt to find the eggs in such a hopeless situation?) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- What was your reaction to Kolya’s death? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Why do you think Colonel Grechko sent Lev to get eggs when he already had them? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- What was the significance of Colonel Grechko’s daughter? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Do you see what Lev saw in Vika? (Do you understand his love for her?) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- How did you feel about Vera (the girl Lev got caught to save)? (Did she actually save him from dying in the Kirov bombing?) **


 * __Protocols:__ **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Three A’s Text Protocol
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Good for focusing your attention on the text
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What parts of the text AFFECT you? In pairs, compare notes and find 2-3 passages that make an impact on you. Share these around the circle. Allow time for comments from other participants.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you AGREE with in the passages? Same process
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you ARGUE with in the text? Same process

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another Point of View
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works to extend a discussion about a passage that the group seems eager to discuss and gets participants looking specifically at the text.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Choose a scene or longer passage that is ripe for discussion.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Together, examine how the story is narrated. Describe the narrator’s position, level of power, and tone. Open discussion for three minutes or until you’ve covered it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After you feel content with the discussion in #2, re-examine the scene from another character’s or narrator’s point of view, especially a person who has a different level of power than the narrator.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Discuss the scene/passage openly from both points of view.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Passage Path
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Try this if you’ve talked with your books closed for a while. It is helpful to use the language of the book as a way to open a discussion.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Everyone should refresh their memory of passages they've marked as important in the text.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One person starts by bringing the group to a passage that felt significant. He or she briefly explains why the passage feels important.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The rest of the group should be thinking about other passages that compares or contrasts (for any reason) to the original. When a participant feels she has one, direct the rest of the group members to the page number and read the passage aloud. The participant explains the connection to the first passage; others can contribute.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Repeat #2 until as many passages have been brought up as there are participants in the group, or for a small group, go around twice. Feel free to make connections to passages discussed earlier.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Be aware not to but undue pressure on individuals with this protocol, but work together to find and explain the connections between the passages.


 * __Outside Resources:__ **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Each must include a specific part of the text the group should focus on, a statement about why the outside source is relevant, plus at least one comment or question for discussion. The outside resources can include: literary criticism, book reviews, other works of literature, literary theory, author information -- interviews, obituaries, statements, trailers/spin-offs/popular culture references **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Article about the NKVD Communist Secret Police [|(click here)] **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NY Times article [] **