Today we are going to continue to read chapter 1 of Night.
CONTENT/UNIT:
NIGHT: Memory and Social Justice
Anchor Text:
Night – Elie Wiesel
Additional Texts:
“Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” – Elie Wiesel
“Montgomery Boycott” – Coretta Scott King
“I Have A Dream” – Martin Luther King
From Farewell to Manzanar – Jeanne
Wakatsuki Houston
Unit Learning goal:Students will determine the author’s purpose
by citing specific evidence from the text and creating a project (video,
PowerPoint, spoken word presentation with visual aids) that connects Night to
other works that contain ideas of 1) social justice; 2) the use of memory as a
force of change; 3) the Holocaust.
Scale/Rubric relating to learning goal:
4 – The student can determine the author’s
purpose by citing specific evidence from the text and connect NIGHT to many
works, fiction and nonfiction, that contain ideas of social justice, memory as
a force of change, and the Holocaust.
3 – The student can determine author’s purpose
and cite evidence from the text and connect NIGHT to another work – either
fiction or nonfiction – by connecting one of the following ideas: social
justice, memory as a force of change, and/or the Holocaust.
2 – With some direction/help from the teacher
the student can determine author’s purpose and cite evidence from the text and
connect NIGHT to another work – either fiction or nonfiction – by connecting
one of the following ideas: social justice, memory as a force of change, and/or
the Holocaust.
1 – Even with help from the teacher the
student cannot determine author’s purpose and cite evidence from the text and
connect NIGHT to another work – either fiction or nonfiction
Objectives (smaller chunks of overall goal) and
suggested time periods
Students will be able to
Discuss the author’s purpose by
connecting it with a major theme in Night
Discuss how Night uses
elements of fiction to tell a story
Outline the plot
Discuss 2-3 motifs found in Night
Discuss the importance of various
characters in the story and how their roles reinforced a major idea
(theme)
Connect Night to the larger
picture of the Holocaust
Connect Night to the larger
picture of social injustice in the world
Discuss one major symbol in Night
and analyze its meaning in connection with a main idea (theme) of the book
Briefly discuss the following
questions:
·What does it mean to be human?
·Why do bad things happen to good people?
·How does one man’s experience represent the experience of
millions?
·How does one overcome difficult situations?
·How do perceptions of a situation make it more or less stressful?
·How can feelings of sadness or anger affect one’s life?
·How can stress affect individuals?
·What events can suddenly change the course of a person’s life?
·What does hopeless mean to you?
·How can hopelessness affect people’s lives?
·Do I realize there is an ongoing battle against the exploitation
of the weak by the strong?
·What is freedom?
·What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?
·Is liberty and justice for all attainable?
·How can an author’s personal experiences influence his/her work?
ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS:
Why do people
choose to write memoirs? What is the difference between a memoir and a
novel? How does a memoir utilize the techniques of fiction?What is the purpose of Elie Wiesel’s memoir?
Why did he write it?
NIGHT STUDY GUIDE
THEMES:
1.FAMILY: At the
beginning of the book, prisoners in the concentration camps hold on to their
family members. The most important thing is to stay with your family members as
long as possible. However, as the book progresses, a major conflict in the book
arise: self-preservation vs. love and
loyalty to family.
2.FAITH: Throughout
the book, Elie presents the Jewish faith during a time of extreme darkness. The
things Elie witnesses as a child cannot, in his mind, be reconciled alongside
the idea of God. Throughout the book, he “loses his faith”. Is man stronger than God?
3.DECEPTION:
Especially self-deception – is a powerful force in Night. Self-deception
has two primary results: boosting morale
and hope, but also deluding the Jews and leaving them vulnerable.
IDENTITY: In the
beginning of Night, Eliezer identity is that of an innocent child, a
student of Talmud, and a devout Jew. But the concentration camps experience
strips him (and his fellow Jewish prisoners) of his identity. Eliezer’s
identity upon entering the concentration camp is that of a child, a student of
Talmud. What is his identity when he
leaves?
Night Study Questions (pages 3-22)
Detail everything you
know about them (physical description, personality, etc.):
Moishe the Beadle:
Elie:
Elie’s Father:
SETTING:
Detail the time and
place the story begins:
When does the story begin?
What year is it at the end of Chapter
One?
Where does Elie live?
IN-TEXT
QUESTIONS:
Infer the answer from
the text (Minimum 1-2 sentences):
Describe where Moishe the Beadle is
taken and what happens to him.
Describe the treatment Moishe the
Beadle is given when he returns.
Describe the condition of the synagogue
when the Hungarian police brings the Jewish Community there.
LITERARY
ELEMENTS:
ALLUSIONS:
The Destruction of
the Temple (pg. 1):
The Kabbalah (pg. 4):
The Week of Passover
(pg. 10):
SIMILIES AND
METAPHORS: GIVE FOUR EXAMPLES
IRONY:
The celebrating of
Passover in their current situation (pg. 10):
SHORT
ANSWER QUESTION
Minimum 4-5 Sentences
Why don’t the Jews listen to the
warnings of the danger to come? What explains their ignorant optimism?
