If I get 15 points for this so do you! Read the excerpts from “There Is Value in Teaching History Through Fiction” and “?The Dangers of Fictionalizing History” and answer the follow-up questions.

Point: “There Is Value in Teaching History Through Fiction”:
Admittedly, some of the literary devices in ?The Boy in the Striped Pajamas? might require readers familiar with the Holocaust to accept some historical inaccuracy. (Brown, 1998) For example, as Cesarani points out, the fences of the camps “were heavily guarded and frequently electrified.” (Cesarani, 2012) Thus it is doubtful that Bruno and Shmuel could sit for hours and talk. But in the end, this is not important. Boyne’s main purpose in writing this novel was not to teach young readers facts about the Holocaust. His main goal was to present a story that would move them to want to learn more about the subject. (Boyne transcript, January 11, 2011).

Counterpoint: “?The Dangers of Fictionalizing History”:

More serious complaints involve what Tripp calls “shying away from honest presentation of the period.” Most notably, even if there had been a lot of Jewish children at Auschwitz, the idea that the commandant’s son and one of those children would meet repeatedly is beyond belief. As critics note, the two boys would not have had the opportunity. Guards patrolled the fences and prisoners did not have the freedom to move about at will. Boyne’s literary device hides the ugly truth of the concentration camps: constant roll calls, slave labor, forced marches, and guards with vicious dogs. (Cesarani, 2001; Moscovici, March 11, 2014)

Part A
What do the details in both passages have in common?

О Both paragraphs come to the same conclusion.

О Both excerpts are primarily critical of the book.

О Both excerpts discuss problems with historical accuracy.

О Both excerpts are primarily supportive of the book’s intent.

Part B
Which pair of statements from each selection best supports your answer in Part A?

О “Thus it is doubtful that Bruno and Shmuel could sit for hours and talk.” and “. . . the idea that the commandant’s son and one of those children would meet repeatedly is beyond belief.”

О “Boyne’s main purpose in writing this novel was not to teach young readers facts about the Holocaust.” and “Boyne’s literary device hides the ugly truth of the concentration camps: . . .”

О “. . . as Cesarani points out, the fences of the camps ‘were heavily guarded and frequently electrified.’” and “Guards patrolled the fences and prisoners did not have the freedom to move about a will.”

О “Admittedly, some of the literary devices . . . . might require readers . . . to accept some historical inaccuracy.” and “More serious complaints involve what Tripp calls ‘shying away from honest presentation of the period.’”