Night Literature Circle Packet

I. Reading Schedule and Discussion QuestionsA. Read Pages 1-12 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.

a. When and where were the author’s early boyhood spent?b. Who was Moshe the Beadle and how was he “different”?c. What did the author and Moshe talk about? Why was this important to the author?d. Why did Moshe disappear for a few months?e. How did people respond to Moshe’s stories about the Gestapo? Why do you think they responded in this manner?f. What does Moshe’s experience foreshadow?g. Why did the author’s father say he was “too old to start a new life”?h. What happened to Sighet on the seventh day of Passover?i. What was the ghetto? How was it used?j. List three rights the Jews of Sighet lost by decree.

B. Read pages 12-20 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. Why was someone knocking on the window? b. Why did everyone prepare to leave Sighet?c. What did the Jews think might be the reason for their deportation?d. List three ways the deportees were abused.e. Where were the deportees told they were going?

C. Read pages 21-32 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. Who was Madame Schacter and what had “broken” her?b. What did Mme. Schacter scream about? What mood did this set on the train? How did the prisoners react to this?c. What is ironic about Mme. Schacter’s experience on the train?d. To what station were the deportees brought?e. How did Mme. Schacter’s dream come true?f. How did the author get separated from his mother?g. Why didn’t the deportees throw themselves on the guards?h. What did the author see the Germans do to a truckload of children?i. How did the author’s faith change when he saw the children killed?

j. Why did the author plan to kill himself- then change his mind?D. Read pages 32-43 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.

a. Who were the first ones to beat the author and the others?b. How was everyone “disinfected”?c. Why did the author thank God for mud?d. What did the SS officer say would happen to those who could not work?e. Why did the gypsy strike the author’s father?f. What advice did the Polish prisoner in charge of the block give?g. What was tattooed on each prisoner’s left arm?h. How did the author lie to his relation from Antwerp?i. What motto was inscribed on the plaque at Auschwitz? What was ironic about this motto?j. To what new camp were Elie and his father sent?

E. Read pages 44-62 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. Why was special attention paid to the children at Buna?b. Name one “job” the author had at Buna.c. What did Yossi, Tibi, and the author plan to do after liberation?d. Why was the author sent to the dentist?e. How did the French girl comfort the author?f. Where did Wiesel and the French girl meet again years later?g. How did Franek get Wiesel to give up his gold crown?h. Why was Wiesel given 25 lashes?i. How were the two cauldrons of soup like “two lambs with a hundred wolves lying in wait for them”? What is being

compared to what in this simile and why is it a significant comparison?j. Why were the prisoners filled with joy instead of frightened by the bombs?k. Why was the youth from Warsaw hanged? What did this hanging symbolize?l. Why were the Dutchman and the pipel hanged?

F. Read pages 63-80 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. How many men came to the Rosh Hashanah service?b. How was New Year’s Day different for Wiesel?c. Why didn’t Wiesel fast on Yom Kippur?d. What “fine New Year’s gift” did the SS give the Jews?e. What did Wiesel do to avoid selection by Mengele?f. What “inheritance” did Wiesel’s father give his son when he was “selected”?g. How did Wiesel’s father avoid the second selection?h. What did Akiba Drumer and the rabbi from Poland have in common?i. How did Elie end up in the hospital? Why did Wiesel leave the hospital only two days after his surgery?j. What did the head of the block have the prisoners do before moving out?

G. Read pages 81-92 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. What made the move to Glewitz so hard?b. How did Zalma die?c. What happened to the prisoners who stopped running?d. Why did Eliezar’s father make him wake up when he slept in the shed?e. What didn’t Eliezar tell Rabbi Eliahou?f. How did Eliezar almost die in the barracks?g. What did Juliek do before he died? What was symbolic or significant about this?h. How did Eliezar save his father even after his father had been “sent to the left”?

H. Read pages 93-109 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. Why was Elie’s father almost thrown from the train?b. How did the German workmen amuse themselves?c. Years later, how was the Parisenne’s treatment of the “natives” like the Germans’ treatment of the starving Jews?d. How did the old man and his son die?e. How did Meir Katz save Elie?f. Why did only a dozen of the original 100 prisoners get off the cattle car Elie was on when the train arrived in

Buchenwald?g. Why didn’t Elie want his father to rest while he himself had a hot bath?h. Why did Elie hesitate to give his father water?i. Why did Elie hate the doctor’s?j. How did the other patients treat Elie’s father?k. How did Elie’s father die?l. How much longer was Elie in the camp after his father died?m. What happened when the camp resistance movement acted?n. What was the prisoners’ first concern after liberation?o. How did Elie nearly die three days after liberation?

Night Reference Sheet

This is a list of terms, characters, and places associated with and used in Night. Give a brief definition or explanation of each word so that you can use this form as a reference

as you read the novel.

Holocaust and Jewish Vocabulary

Term Definition or ExplanationAnti-SemitismAryan RaceBeadleConcentration CampDeath CampGenocideGestapoGhettosHolocaustKabbalah (or Cabbalah)KapoKommandoNaziPassoverPersecutionRosh HashanahSelectionSchutzstaffel (SS)Star of DavidTalmudThe Final SolutionThird ReichTorahYom Kippur

Night Characters

Characters DescriptionElie Wiesel “Elizer”Chlomo WieselMoishe the BeadleHilda and Bea WieselTzipora WieselIdekRabbi EliahousHeinrich HimmlerAdolf HitlerDr. MengeleMadame ShachterAkiba DrumerJuliekTibi and YosiMeir KatzStein

Important Places in Night

Place DescriptionSighet, Hungary (Transylvania)Kaschau, CzechoslavakiaAuschwitz, PolandBirkenau, PolandBuchenwald, GermanyPalestineIsraelKolomay

Night Pages 1-20 (Chapters 1-2)

Post Reading Activities

1. Vocabulary Exercise: Use each vocabulary word correctly in an original sentence. Highlight the context clues in the sentence that identify the word’s meaning.

2. Read Pages 1-12 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. When and where were the author’s early boyhood spent?b. Who was Moshe the Beadle and how was he “different”?c. What did the author and Moshe talk about? Why was this important to the author?d. Why did Moshe disappear for a few months?e. How did people respond to Moshe’s stories about the Gestapo? Why do you think they responded in this manner?f. What does Moshe’s experience foreshadow?g. Why did the author’s father say he was “too old to start a new life”?h. What happened to Sighet on the seventh day of Passover?i. What was the ghetto? How was it used?j. List three rights the Jews of Sighet lost by decree.

3. Pages 12-20a. Why was someone knocking on the window? b. Why did everyone prepare to leave Sighet?c. What did the Jews think might be the reason for their deportation?d. List three ways the deportees were abused.e. Where were the deportees told they were going?

4. Read pages 21-32 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. Who was Madame Schacter and what had “broken” her?b. What did Mme. Schacter scream about? What mood did this set on the train? How did the prisoners react to this?c. What is ironic about Mme. Schacter’s experience on the train?d. To what station were the deportees brought?e. How did Mme. Schacter’s dream come true?f. How did the author get separated from his mother?g. Why didn’t the deportees throw themselves on the guards?h. What did the author see the Germans do to a truckload of children?i. How did the author’s faith change when he saw the children killed?j. Why did the author plan to kill himself- then change his mind?

Night Pages 32-80 (Chapters 3-5)

Post Reading Assignments:

1. Vocabulary Exercise: Use each vocabulary word correctly in an original sentence. Highlight the context clues in the sentence that identify the word’s meaning.

2. Reading and discussion questions:A. Read pages 32-43 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.

a. Who were the first ones to beat the author and the others?b. How was everyone “disinfected”?c. Why did the author thank God for mud?d. What did the SS officer say would happen to those who could not work?e. Why did the gypsy strike the author’s father?f. What advice did the Polish prisoner in charge of the block give?g. What was tattooed on each prisoner’s left arm?h. How did the author lie to his relation from Antwerp?i. What motto was inscribed on the plaque at Auschwitz? What was ironic about this motto?j. To what new camp were Elie and his father sent?

B. Read pages 44-62 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. Why was special attention paid to the children at Buna?b. Name one “job” the author had at Buna.c. What did Yossi, Tibi, and the author plan to do after liberation?d. Why was the author sent to the dentist?e. How did the French girl comfort the author?f. Where did Wiesel and the French girl meet again years later?g. How did Franek get Wiesel to give up his gold crown?h. Why was Wiesel given 25 lashes?i. How were the two cauldrons of soup like “two lambs with a hundred wolves lying in wait for them”? What is being

compared to what in this simile and why is it a significant comparison?j. Why were the prisoners filled with joy instead of frightened by the bombs?k. Why was the youth from Warsaw hanged? What did this hanging symbolize?l. Why were the Dutchman and the pipel hanged?

C. Read pages 63-80 then discuss and answer the following questions within your group.a. How many men came to the Rosh Hashanah service?b. How was New Year’s Day different for Wiesel?c. Why didn’t Wiesel fast on Yom Kippur?d. What “fine New Year’s gift” did the SS give the Jews?e. What did Wiesel do to avoid selection by Mengele?f. What “inheritance” did Wiesel’s father give his son when he was “selected”?g. How did Wiesel’s father avoid the second selection?h. What did Akiba Drumer and the rabbi from Poland have in common?i. How did Elie end up in the hospital? Why did Wiesel leave the hospital only two days after his surgery?j. What did the head of the block have the prisoners do before moving out?

3. CharacterizationNight Characterization Analysis

Characterization: the act of creating and developing a characterDirect Characterization: the writer actually states a character’s traits, or characteristicsIndirect Characterization: the writer allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions based on the information presented by the authorDynamic Character: in literature or drama, a character who undergoes a permanent change in outlook or character during the storyStatic Character: a literary character who remains basically unchanged throughout a work

Identify how Elie Wiesel uses characterization in the novel, Night, by filling out the characterization chart below.

Examples of Direct Characterization

Examples of Indirect Characterization and what can be inferred

Dynamic Character?

How did they change or why did they not change?

Static Character?

Why did they remain the same?

Overall description of character and their role in the story.

Elie Wiesel

Moshe

Examples of Direct Characterization

Examples of Indirect Characterization and what can be inferred

Dynamic Character?

How did they change or why did they not change?

Static Character?

Why did they remain the same?

Overall description of character and their role in the story.

Elie’s Father

Franek

Akiba Drumer

4. Worksheets:

Night Pages 81-109 (Chapters 6-9)

Post Reading Activities:

1. Vocabulary Exercise: Use each vocabulary word correctly in an original sentence. Highlight the context clues in the sentence that identify the word’s meaning.

2. Reading and discussion questions:

Pages 81-92

1. What made the move to Glewitz so hard?2. How did Zalma die?3. What happened to the prisoners who stopped running?4. Why did Eliezar’s father make him wake up when he slept in the shed?5. What didn’t Eliezar tell Rabbi Eliahou?6. How did Eliezar almost die in the barracks?7. What did Juliek do before he died? What was symbolic or significant about this?8. How did Eliezar save his father even after his father had been “sent to the left”?

Pages 93-109

1. Why was Elie’s father almost thrown from the train?2. How did the German workmen amuse themselves?3. Years later, how was the Parisenne’s treatment of the “natives” like the Germans’ treatment of the starving Jews?4. How did the old man and his son die?5. How did Meir Katz save Elie?6. Why did only a dozen of the original 100 prisoners get off the cattle car Elie was on when the train arrived in Buchenwald?7. Why didn’t Elie want his father to rest while he himself had a hot bath?8. Why did Elie hesitate to give his father water?9. Why did Elie hate the doctor’s?10. How did the other patients treat Elie’s father?11. How did Elie’s father die?12. How much longer was Elie in the camp after his father died?13. What happened when the camp resistance movement acted?14. What was the prisoners’ first concern after liberation?15. How did Elie nearly die three days after liberation?

3. Similes and MetaphorsElie Wiesel uses a number of similes and metaphors as descriptive tools in this chapter. Some of their functions are to help establish mood and reveal Wiesel’s tone towards his experiences. Review chapters 6-9 and list all of the similes and metaphors used by the author and explain his purpose in including them in his writing.

I. MetaphorThe comparison of one thing to another without the use of like  or as : “A man is but a weak reed”; “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.” Metaphors are common in literature and expansive speech.

Similea figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”

Identify Simile or Metaphor

Item Being Compared What it is being compared to

Explain the significance of the comparison

4. Worksheets:

Post Novel Completion Activities:

Elie Wiesel as a Dynamic Character

Dynamic Character: in literature or drama, a character who undergoes a permanent change (emotional, psychological, personal) in outlook or character during the story (death or physical changes do not make a character dynamic).

Cause: a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect: You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident?

Effect: something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence: Exposure to the sun had the effect of toughening his skin.

Elie Wiesel in Night

Cause/Event

(historical or personal)

Effect Dynamic Significance

(Elie changed from _______to _______.)

Cause/Event

(historical or personal)

Effect Dynamic Significance

(Elie changed from _______to _______.)