Milkweed is an award winning historical fiction novel written in 2003. The story is about a young boy fighting to survive the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. It is a compelling novel that teachers may use to facilitate meaningful discussions with their students about the Holocaust.
Create a plot diagram for Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. Include the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. To modify, students can create a diagram that includes introduction, beginning, middle, and end.
Storyboard Text
MILKWEED by Jerry Spinelli
EXPOSITION
RISING ACTION
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli is the story of a young orphan boy, his friends, and his adoptive Jewish family all struggling to survive the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland during World War II.
CLIMAX
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The young orphan boy doesn't know his name. All he has known is the streets of Warsaw. He is small, quick, and easily able to steal what he needs. He thinks his name is Stopthief until he meets Uri. Also an orphan, Uri takes him under his wing, introduces him to his friends, and gives him a new name, Misha Pilsudski.
FALLING ACTION
The Nazis invade Poland and force the Jewish residents into the Warsaw Ghetto. Crammed into unsanitary conditions with no food, Misha uses his size and ability to sneak through the wall and smuggle food back to his friends, his friend Dr. Korczak, and his adopted family, the Milgroms.
RESOLUTION
Uri warns Misha that the Nazis are deporting the Jews to death camps. Mr. Milgrom tells Misha and Janina to sneak through the wall and escape. But Janina can't bear to leave her father. Misha tries to stop her, but Janina runs back and is thrown into the train taking them to Treblinka.
The trains take Misha's beloved Janina and Mr. Milgrom away. He cannot find the other orphans. He runs, trying to find the train and join his family in the concentration camp, but he is saved by Polish farmers who hide him in their barn. He lives there for three years until the war ends.
Misha immigrates to America, where the immigration officer changes his name to Jack. The trauma of the war affects every part of his life. He marries, but his wife leaves him while pregnant. One day, his daughter finds him and brings him to her home along with her daughter Wendy. Jack gives Wendy her middle name, Janina. He finally feels peace.