Themes and Motifs in The Book Thief

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Activity Overview

There are many themes, symbols and motifs present throughout The Book Thief. Students can explore this by identifying a theme, symbol or motif themselves or, in an “envelope activity” being given one or more to track throughout their reading. Then, students will create a storyboard illustrating the examples of that theme from the text. Teachers may ask students to identify multiple themes, or illustrate multiple examples of a single theme.


Themes in The Book Thief

Symbols and Motifs


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Template and Class Instructions

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Due Date:

Objective: Create a storyboard that identifies recurring themes, symbols or motifs found in The Book Thief. Illustrate each symbol and write a short description below each cell.

Student Instructions:

  1. Click "Start Assignment".
  2. Identify the themes, symbols or motifs from The Book Thief you wish to include and type them in the title box at the top.
  3. Create an image for examples that represent each symbol using appropriate scenes, characters and items.
  4. Write a description of each of the examples in the black text box.


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Book Thief, The



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This Activity is Part of Many Teacher Guides