International Mindedness: Graffiti Knight By Karen Bass

Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass provides IB students with ideas about the world after WWII (specifically Germany), also known as International Mindedness. Some major real-life conflicts shown in the story are poverty, war, and the people’s attitudes because of these things. These ideas can be used by I.B. students to effectively understand the I.B. concept of International Mindedness.

The first major concept within Leipzig, Germany is poverty. Poverty is a state of being unable to self-sustain a lifestyle effectively, which is commonly shown among all families in the story. Families are unable to purchase important necessities to keep living, such as food, water and proper living space. To get the absolute minimum amount of resources, they have
The people in the story are usually depressed and frustrated, usually because of the Schupos and Soviets and their shenanigans. Generally, the people who have power (government officials, police force, etc) are mean, power-hungry and greedy, though there are a few exceptions. These traits are shown through their actions, such as beating up random people, stealing resources and using power to get what they want. An example of this is how Schupos stole about 1,800 kg of butter from the public and other types of food. This was a real action of stealing resources from the public and made the Germans suffer without food and proper nourishment. These actions made the citizens furious and aggressive, coaxing them to rebel. A real life example of rebellion is the Wolverines and Hitler Youth. Hitler Youth was a military organization for Nazi Germany children, and Wolverines were a resistance that sabotaged and attacked behind the enemy’s back, based on their real life inspirations called Werwolves. Wolverines and some Hitler Youth destroyed, vandalized and stole, but made sure to do these actions uncommonly, due to a miniscule soldier count, limited supplies and staying out of suspicion. Students are able to observe and understand the attitudes of different peoples during mid-life crises in Graffiti Knight. Students can see how societies can become greedy and how communities become a survival arena.

In the end, Graffiti Knight is able to promote International Mindedness in our IB students, making Graffiti Knight the perfect book for IB Novel Studies. IB students can understand the anatomy of people’s attitudes during crises and how a community, even an entire world, can change through one chain of