SAM

//NIGHT// PREREADING ACTIVITY

Imagine yourself in the following situation: You and your family have been driven from your home. Now separated from them, you are suddenly alone. Shoved into a train like cattle, you are surrounded by screaming women, weeping children, silent old men, and ruthless soldiers. There is no food, no water, horror, and madness everywhere. Having arrived at your destination, you smell the stench of burning flesh: babies, children like yourself. Men and boys are hanged daily. There is only soup and perhaps a few morsels of stale bread to eat. You work until exhausted and are beaten for not marching in step. The gold in your teeth is extracted without anesthesia. Frozen and broken bodies surround you. Weekly you must run like a madman to escape being selected to die in the gas chambers or to burn in the crematory. You can’t even wonder if it will end, and you know that God has deserted you. You try to survive each day and lie through each night!

1. Do you believe something like this could ever happen to you? Why or why not? I do not believe someting like this could happen to me because i feel scince we live in america that nothing like this would happen in a country that has good politics and govornments unless we all get bad luck and another country takes over which could happen. I also think that we have all learnd from the Holocost that genocide is a bad thing so we would probley stop any evil uprisings from happening. In conclution i do not think that anything like this could happen to me or anywhere near chicago or the united states. 2. What would be your first reaction to this horrifying experience? If i ever get into a horrable experience like going to a concentration camp, my first act would be to try to surivive the ordeal. If i truley know i am getting a long and painful death then ill give myself a quick painless death like try to make the german stormtroopers shoot me instead of being trown into fire. 3. What means might you use to deal with what is happening (example: would you lie, cheat, steal)? If i had to try to surivive the happening what i would do is lie and cheat to get my way through time until some good countrys army gets to the camp i'm in and rescues me. And ill try to go with the flow but that probley wont be happening. 4. Do you think it would be better to give up and die or try to survive? i think it would be better to try to surivive but die if you know you are going to. like what i said in question 2. 5. Inhumanity means being inhumanly cruel and brutal. Do you think the world could ever allow this kind of inhumanity to happen again? It may happen again somewher, i hope not the united states. it is kind of happening right now already in many poor countrys like sudan which is pretty sad to see people who are very poor die today and have their whole lives be harrable. Though i think that the United Nations countrys are pretty safe from Genocide. 6. What kind of punishment do you feel would be suitable for this kind of inhumanity? The punishment should be a death. hanging the bad leader or shooting him would be the perfect soulution because if we send him to jail or anything else the bad guy may escape and get revenge. 7. Do you think this kind of inhumanity could exist in our day and age? The best answer that is for this question is that it is an unknown future and i don't know either. I cannot predict the future.

Reading Guide

The following questions are thought questions that relate to various themes and ideas in the reading. Use these questions to guide your reading and better understanding of the novel. Be prepared to share your responses in class discussion or in a writing assignment. Please answer all questions in COMPLETE SENTENCES.

__Chapter 1, pages 1-22__ 1. Why does Eliezer pray and why does he cry when he prays? Eliezer crys when he prays because he is sad about the destruction of the temple. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stores? The people don't believe in Moches stories because they don't think that millions of Jews would die in the Twentieth Century. 3. Site examples of how the Jews gradually lose their freedom. The Jewish people gradually loose their freedom by getting strict orders and laws like they were not aloud to go to synagogues and not aloud to keep valuables. Also they were forced to wear a yellow star. __Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madam Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow? Madam Shachter nightmares about a fire foreshadow because she knows that Jews were being killed and burnt to death and she can feel it happening from fire. 5. Where does the train finally stop? The train makes its final stop at the concentration camps called Birkenau where the Jews will be killed. __Chapter 3, pages 29-46__ 6. When questioned by the SS officer, why does Elie lie about his occupation and age? Elie lied about his occupation and age because the SS officer forced him to lie. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him? Elie disbelieved what his eyes showed him because he thought that the terror of the concentration camps was just a bad dream because he didn't think that babies poured into fire was actually happening. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Elie was now reluctant to pray because he thought he saw that the fire was the Angel of Death and that God was against him. __Chapter 4, pages 47-65__ 9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Elie is summoned by the dentist because the work camp wants to know Elie's health and going to the dentist is part of that. 10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Elie reacts to his fathers beating by being a bystander because he knows that if he helps he will get beaten too. 11. Why is the hanging of the “sad eyed angel” said to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel? Hanging the sad eye angel is one of the most profoundley moving events in the novel because it is one of the events where the jewish people get killed. __Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection? Selection is when you are going to be selected to work in the factory with Elie's father and you have to be perfect in order to be selected. __Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die? Elie cannot allow himself to die because his father doesn't want him to die. 14. Why does Juliek play the violin? Juliek plays the violin because he knows he will die and he wants to play it one more time 15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father. The other boys treat their fathers by not careing for them and not even likeing them. Some even beat their own fathers up. __Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Elizer weep at his father’s death? Elie cannot weep over his fathers death because he is too sad about what happend but he knows he is free also. 17. When he is finally free, Elie wishes to see himself in the mirror. Why can’t he ever forget the look in the eyes of the corpse that gazes back at him? When Elie looks through the mirror he never forgets the eyes of the corpse because he went through so much and he looked very different and ugly from when he last looked at himself. Literary Analysis Characterization/Author’s Purpose After page: 34

Elie is a Jewish child who is extremely strong in his faith. He often spent nights in the synagogue weeping and praying. He was preparing himself to be initiating into “eternity.” Then came night.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames, which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments, which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. What does “night’ symbolize to Elie? Why do you think he selected it as the title of his memoir? The word night says to Elie to remind him about his first night at the concentration camp where he saw deaths and pain. I think he selected it for his memoir because it was Elie's worst night of his life and this was his main part of the story which happend at the night. 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? He thinks that the fires were the angel of death that was killing all of the Jews so now Elie thinks that god is trying to kill him so he doesn't want to pray anymore. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? I find it hard to belive that there is a very religious boy and he all the sudden reluctant to pray because what I usually see is that the religious stay religous and never want to give up faith. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? Elie lost his desire to live because he already knew he was going to die so he wanted to get it over with. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? I do not think that as an adult this would change because probley the people would have the same feelings even when they are older. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? I suppose Elie wrote this novel because he wanted us to learn what it was like to live in a dreaded concentration camp nad wanted us to know all the horrers he faced. Literary Analysis: Characterization

Elie explicitly recounts events that describe his relationship with his father during imprisonment in the camps. He also describes events in the relationships of other fathers and sons in the camps.

In your book there are many examples of father-son relationships. Give examples, including the page number of a father son relationship and tell what you think about that relationship, tell why you might or might not have acted in a similar way. This does not have to be done on Elie and his father. There are many other examples of father-son relationships as well. An example has been done for you.

Example: Page 39:

Relationship shown: Elie’s father is struck, but Elie does not move to help him. His father whispers that the blow does not hurt. Although Elie does not move, he feels remorse and hatred toward the gypsy. He is angry and unforgiving.

What I think: Elie is a child and probably fears that if he helps his father, he too will be beaten. His father does not blame him and does not want to see him beaten or do something he might regret; thus, he tells Elie that the blow des not hurt.

I would’ve done: This seems to be a relationship where the father is protective of the son who is young and frightened. I would have acted in the same way if I were the father, thinking that I need to protect my child.

1. Page 43-44

Relationship shown: A father comes to the camp wondering if his sons are ok or alive. The man asks Elie about this and he lies that they are ok and fine. the man got happy and weeps to joy while elie was emberessed about himself lieing. What I think: I think that Elie was wrong to tell a lie because if the man found out that his sons were dead then he would hate Elie. I would’ve done: I would have told the truth which would be I don't know because Elie didn't actually know and the man would probley understand. 2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown: Elie wanted to be side by side with his father at work so he asked the foreman if he could do that and he agreed so Elie is now with his father. What I think: I think that Elie was lucky that the foreman said yes so it was a good choice to do that. You should always ask for choices. I think that Elie is a person who wants to be with someone he knows because if he doesn't then he would be alone and sad. I would’ve done: I would have done the same thing because even though it's risky there is still luck. 3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown: Elie's father has lots of trouble doing the military march while Elie was perfectley fine at it. Elie sees this problom and decides to help his father learn the march. They even practice together. What I think: I think that Elie was trying to make shure that his father was able to do all these things so that he can surivive with him in the camp so he was nice to give lessons and practice with his father. I would’ve done: I would have done the same thing because Elie was being nice and careing for his father. 4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown: A rabbi was looking for his son while Elie knows that his son was with him and he fell in the snow and died. When the rabbi came and asked where his son was Elie said he didn't see him which made the father very sad. The rabbi kept on looking for his son sadley. What I think: I think that Elie made a wrong choice in so many ways and I think he didn't say anything so he can just get out of it. I would’ve done: If i were Elie I would explain to the rabbi what has happend and give as much information as possable. 5. Page 101

Relationship shown: On the train ride to another camp the SS solders were making fun out of the strving prizonors by throwing bread in the train cars. This started chos and people started fighting over the bread. One father caught the bread and said he would share it with his son but the son killed kis father and took the bread to himself. What I think: That this kid was crazy and dumb to do that because a son killing his own father for bread is taking someone who loved's life away. But when you are starved to death then it can be possable that you have to do anything you have to in order to stay alive. I would’ve done: What I would have done was share the bread with bolth of us and both surivive and be happy. 6. Page 112

Relationship shown: Elies father had died and Elie was very sad but thogh he did not weep over his fathers death. Elie cared so long for his father but he will soon forget about him after his death. What I think: This this is usually what happens but Elie didn't weep because he knew it would lead him to revenge which was not aloud. I would’ve done: The same thing, I would not try to get into a revenge situation because it would lead to a more bigger and sader problom. __Night__ Irony

Read each passage below. Explain what is //ironic// about the meaning of the passage.

1. “but we had been marching for only a few moments when we saw the barbed wire of another camp. An iron door with this inscription on it: ‘Work is liberty!’ “ (page 40) What is ironic about this passage is that liberty is an american thing and bad German people who are against the United States are saying it.

2. “Some of the prominent members of the community came…to ask him what he thought of the situation. My father did not consider it so grim…’The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…’ ” (page 11) What is ironic about this saying is that the father said that you don't die of the star which is pretty weird because almost all the people who wore the star was killed at a death camp.

3. “On we went between the electric wires. At each step, a white placard with a death’s head on it stared us in the face. A caption: ‘Warning, Danger of Death.’ ” This is ironic because the people are walking past electrical wire while they are headed into a death zone so the signs are like a warning to them about them being killed. (page 40)

4. I’ve got more faith in Hitler than anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.” (page 51) This is Ironic because this is Hitler lieing and someone thinking that his promises are right is them thinking wrong.

Inhumanity //Night// is filled with thoughts and comments that reflect inhumanity of World War II. Explain what each of the following excerpts from the novel mean.

1. “The world? The world is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible, even these crematories.” (page 33) The inhumanity about this passage is that the other people don't know about the deaths in the concentration camps so why do they care. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) This is lying inhumanity because the Jewish people who are working at the camps are not free and are forced to work so that statement is false like all lies. 3. “we were not afraid. And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks, it alone would have claimed hundreds of victims on the spot. But we were not longer afraid of death; at any rate, not of that death. Every bomb that exploded filled us with joy and gave us new confidence in life.” (page 60) This inhumanity is that the prizoners are getting hope that the allies are coming and they will be saved from the camps and they do not care about the people who die when the bombs hit. 4. “I witnessed other hangings. I never saw a single one of the victims weep. For a long time those dried up bodies had forgotten the bitter taste of tears.” (page 63) This is inhumanity because Elie is saying that people would forget about the people who died by being hanged and no one would remember that person.