1. religion and spirituality
2. judaism

©Secondary NSolutions ight
All Rights Reserved. Elie Wiesel
SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. By
Literature Guide Developed by Kathleen Woken Rowley
for Secondary Solutions®
to accompany Night, the 2006 Marion Wiesel translation
and Night, the 1982 Stella Rodman translation
ISBN 10: 1-938913-66-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-938913-66-2
©2013 Secondary Solutions. All rights reserved.
A classroom teacher who has purchased this guide may photocopy the materials in this publication
for his/her classroom use only. Use or reproduction by a part of or an entire school or school system,
by for-profit tutoring centers and like institutions, or for commercial sale, is strictly prohibited. No
part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, translated or stored without the express
written permission of the publisher. Created and printed in the United States of America.
The First Solution for the Secondary Teacher®
www.4secondarysolutions.com
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Literature Guide
Table of Contents
About This Literature Guide ................................................................................................. 4 How to Use Our Literature Guides ....................................................................................... 5 Pre-Reading Ideas and Activities......................................................................................... 6 Historical Background—Hitler and Other Important Persons of the Holocaust ..................... 8 Exploring Expository Writing: Important Persons of the Holocaust .......................................... 10 Historical Background—Auschwitz Concentration Camp .................................................... 11 Exploring Expository Writing: Auschwitz ............................................................................. 12 Author Biography: Elie Wiesel ........................................................................................... 13 Exploring Expository Writing: Elie Wiesel ............................................................................ 14 Anticipation/Reaction Guide—Before Reading ................................................................... 15 Anticipation/Reaction Guide Reflection ................................................................................ 16 Holocaust Terminology ...................................................................................................... 17 Vocabulary List .................................................................................................................. 19 Vocabulary with Definitions .............................................................................................. 21 Note-Taking and Summarizing Sample .............................................................................. 25 Part One—(Sections One-Two, pp. 3-28) ........................................................................... 26 Note-Taking and Summarizing........................................................................................... 26 Comprehension Check ...................................................................................................... 27 Standards Focus: Figurative Language................................................................................ 28 Assessment Preparation: Synonyms ................................................................................... 30 Part Two—(Section Three, pp. 29-46) ............................................................................... 32 Note-Taking and Summarizing........................................................................................... 32 Comprehension Check ...................................................................................................... 33 Standards Focus: Response to Literature ............................................................................ 34 Finding Supporting Quotations ....................................................................................................... 34 Assessment Preparation: Vocabulary Extension ................................................................... 36 Part Three—(Section Four—pp. 47-65) .............................................................................. 38 Note-Taking and Summarizing........................................................................................... 38 Comprehension Check ...................................................................................................... 39 Standards Focus: Denotation and Connotation ..................................................................... 40 Assessment Preparation: Vocabulary in Context ................................................................... 42 Part Four—(Sections Five-Six, pp. 66-97) .......................................................................... 43 Note-Taking and Summarizing........................................................................................... 43 Comprehension Check ...................................................................................................... 44 Standards Focus: Response to Literature ............................................................................ 45 Using Supporting Quotations ......................................................................................................... 45 Assessment Preparation: Analogies .................................................................................... 46 Part Five—(Sections Seven-Nine, pp. 98-115) ................................................................... 48 Note-Taking and Summarizing........................................................................................... 48 Comprehension Check ...................................................................................................... 49 Standards Focus: Comprehension and Analysis .................................................................... 50 Compare and Contrast.................................................................................................................. 50 Assessment Preparation: Word Origins—Etymology .............................................................. 51 Anticipation/Reaction Guide Post-Reading ........................................................................ 53 Night Crosswords .............................................................................................................. 54 Vocabulary Review Sections 1-2 ........................................................................................ 54 Vocabulary Review Sections 3-4 ........................................................................................ 55 Vocabulary Review Sections 5-9 ........................................................................................ 56 Final Exam Review Crossword ........................................................................................... 58 Quiz: Part One (Sections 1-2) ............................................................................................ 59 ©2013 Secondary Solutions
-2-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Part One (Sections 1-2) Vocabulary Quiz ............................................................................ 60 Quiz: Part Two (Section 3) ................................................................................................ 61 Part Two (Section 3) Vocabulary Quiz ................................................................................. 62 Quiz: Part Three (Section 4) .............................................................................................. 63 Part Three (Section 4) Vocabulary Quiz............................................................................... 64 Quiz: Part Four (Sections 5-6) ........................................................................................... 65 Part Four (Sections 5-6) Vocabulary Quiz ............................................................................ 66 Quiz: Part Five (Sections 7-9) ........................................................................................... 67 Part Five Sections 7-9 Vocabulary Quiz ............................................................................... 68 Final Exam ......................................................................................................................... 69 Final Exam: Multiple Choice Version .................................................................................. 72 Post-Reading Ideas and Alternative Assessment ............................................................... 76 Essay/Writing Ideas.......................................................................................................... 78 Teacher Guide ................................................................................................................... 80 Notes for the Teacher ....................................................................................................... 80 Sample Agenda ............................................................................................................... 81 Summary of the Novel ..................................................................................................... 84 Sample Project Rubric ...................................................................................................... 87 Sample Response to Literature Rubric ................................................................................ 88 Answer Key .................................................................................................................... 90 ©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. ©2013 Secondary Solutions
-3-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
About This Literature Guide
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Secondary Solutions® is the endeavor of a high school English teacher who could not
seem to find appropriate materials to help her students master the necessary concepts at
the secondary level. She grew tired of spending countless hours researching, creating,
writing, and revising lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, tests and extension activities to
motivate and inspire her students, and at the same time, address those ominous content
standards! Materials that were available were either juvenile in nature, skimpy in content,
or were moderately engaging activities that did not come close to meeting the content
standards on which her students were being tested. Frustrated and tired of trying to get by
with inappropriate, inane lessons, she finally decided that if the right materials were going
to be available to her and other teachers, she was going to have to make them herself!
Mrs. Bowers set to work to create one of the most comprehensive and innovative Literature
Guide sets on the market. Joined by a middle school teacher with 21 years of secondary
school experience, Secondary Solutions® began, and has matured into a specialized
team of intermediate and secondary teachers who have developed for you a set of
materials unsurpassed by all others.
Before the innovation of Secondary Solutions®, materials that could be purchased offered
a reproducible student workbook and a separate set of teacher materials at an additional
cost. Other units provided the teacher with student materials only, and very often, the
content standards were ignored. Secondary Solutions® provides all of the necessary
materials for complete coverage of the literature units of study, including author
biographies, pre-reading activities, numerous and varied vocabulary and comprehension
activities, study-guide questions, graphic organizers, literary analysis and critical thinking
activities, essay-writing ideas, extension activities, quizzes, unit tests, alternative
assessment, online teacher assistance, and much, much more. Each guide is designed to
address the unique learning styles and comprehension levels of every student in your
classroom. All materials are written and presented at the grade level of the learner, and
include extensive coverage of the Common Core State Standards. As an added
bonus, all teacher materials are included!
As a busy teacher, you don’t have time to waste reinventing the wheel. You want to get
down to the business of teaching! With our professionally developed teacher-written
literature guides, Secondary Solutions® has provided you with the answer to your time
management problems, while saving you hours of tedious and exhausting work. Our
guides will allow you to focus on the most important aspects of teaching—the personal,
one-on-one, hands-on instruction you enjoy most—the reason you became a teacher in the
first place.
Secondary Solutions®—The First Solution for the Secondary Teacher!®
©2013 Secondary Solutions
-4-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
How to Use Our Literature Guides
Our Literature Guides are based upon the Common Core State Standards, the National Council of the
Teachers of English and the International Reading Association’s national English/Language Arts
Curriculum and Content Area Standards. The materials we offer allow you to teach the love and full
enjoyment of literature, while still addressing the concepts upon which your students are assessed.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. These Guides are designed to be used in their sequential entirety, or may be divided into separate
parts. Not all activities must be used, but to achieve full comprehension and mastery of the skills
involved, it is recommended that you utilize everything each Guide has to offer. Most importantly,
you now have a variety of valuable materials to choose from, and you are not forced into extra work!
There are several distinct categories within each Literature Guide:
• Exploring Expository Writing—Worksheets designed to address the exploration and
analysis of functional and/or informational materials. For example:
 Author Biography
 Biographies of non-fiction characters
 Relevant news and magazine articles, etc.
 Articles on historical context
• Comprehension Check—Similar to Exploring Expository Writing, but designed for
comprehension of narrative text—study questions designed to guide students as they read the
text.
• Standards Focus—Worksheets and activities that directly address the content standards and
allow students extensive practice in literary skills and analysis. Standards Focus activities are
found within every chapter or section. Some examples:
 Figurative Language
 Irony
 Flashback
• Assessment Preparation—Vocabulary activities which emulate the types of vocabulary/
grammar proficiency on which students are tested in state and national assessments.
Assessment Preparation activities are found within every chapter or section. Some examples:
 Context Clues
 Connotation/Denotation
 Word Roots
• Quizzes and Tests—Quizzes are included for each chapter or designated section; final tests
as well as alternative assessment are available at the end of each Guide. These include:
 Multiple Choice
 Matching
 Short Response
• Pre-Reading, Post-Reading Activities, Essay/Writing Ideas plus Sample Rubrics—
Each Guide also has its own unique pre-reading, post-reading, essay/writing ideas, and
alternative assessment activities.
Each Guide contains handouts and activities for varied levels of difficulty. We know that not all
students are alike—nor are all teachers! We hope you can effectively utilize every aspect our
Literature Guides have to offer—we want to make things easier on you! If you need additional
assistance, please email us at customerservice@4secondarysolutions.com.
Thank you for choosing Secondary Solutions—The First Solution for the Secondary Teacher®!
©2013 Secondary Solutions
-5-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Pre-Reading Ideas and Activities
1.
Complete the Anticipation/Reaction Activity on pages 15 and 16.
2.
Watch the film Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport.
This will help you begin to understand the story behind the Holocaust.
3.
Discuss/journal what life might be like if you were to live with either a physical,
mental, or some other “handicap.” Reflect upon how you would cope with the
realities of everyday life, educate others about your “handicap,” and/or use
your sense of humor to help others learn to accept you as you are and to treat
you with dignity.
4.
Journal/discuss a time when you felt as though you were being picked on or
ridiculed for something over which you had little or no control. How were you
treated? Did you try to convince others of your needs or feelings? How?
What means did you employ to try to persuade people that you were being
unjustly victimized? What was the outcome?
5.
Journal/discuss the characteristics of a good leader as well as those of a bad
leader. What would be the ideal characteristics of a good leader, specifically,
how would he/she act, lead, follow, set examples, etc.? What warning signs
might one look out for in a bad leader with respect to these characteristics?
6.
Journal/discuss a time when you witnessed another person or an animal being
placed in a dangerous situation beyond which he/she had no control. Did you
intervene and try to help? What did you do? What would you do differently
next time in order to be more effective in your effort to make the situation
better? Would you ever consider placing yourself in jeopardy to help another?
Under what circumstances?
7.
People often say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” What does this saying
mean? Discuss/journal a time when you were judged or when you judged
someone, based on outside appearance, name, location of home, etc. How did
your first impression of him/her change after you got to know them? If you
were the one who was misjudged, how did it make you feel? What did you do
to try to change their feelings about you?
8.
Discuss/journal what it might be like to be a member of a gang or clique. How
would you manage to maintain your own individual thoughts and act in
accordance with your own convictions, with all the pressure from the other
©2013 Secondary Solutions
-6-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
members? Would you blindly follow the crowd and its persuasion, even when
you didn’t completely agree with the actions or leanings of the group? Could
you be swayed to go against your own principles? Would you feel any internal
conflict, and how would you manage to block out your own true feelings so
that you wouldn’t look like an outsider?
9.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Sometimes the course of our lives can be changed instantaneously. Whether it
is an unexpected challenge, loss of a loved one, or a devastating failure,
sometimes things that are out of our control can change our lives. Discuss/
journal an experience that changed the course of your life.
10. Find information about Hitler and his rise to power. How was he able to
become such a powerful leader in Germany, and afterwards in nearly all of
both Western and Eastern Europe? See if you can pinpoint some of the
important reasons that he was able to persuade so many people to go against
the Jews and others who were persecuted during the period known as “The
Holocaust.” Present your findings to the rest of the students in your class to
help complete their understanding of Hitler’s influence.
©2013 Secondary Solutions
-7-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Historical Background—Hitler and Other Important Persons of
the Holocaust
Adolf Hitler - Adolf Hitler, founder and leader of the Nazi Party, Reich Chancellor and leader of the
Third Reich from 1933 to 1945, was also Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed
Forces.
In his book, Mein Kampf (1925), Hitler was able to publicize his belief that the German people,
whom he thought of as racially superior, were threatened by liberalism, Marxism, and Bolshevism,
which he felt were directed from behind the scenes by the Jews, blaming them for all of Germany’s
domestic problems. His book became the ideological basis for the Nazi Party's racist beliefs and
murderous practices.
With the onset of the Great Depression (1929) the middle classes in German society felt the
devastating effects of mass unemployment and social dissolution, which helped Hitler to win over all
those who felt their economic existence was threatened. A highly skilled orator, Hitler spoke at a
number of mass rallies, playing on the people’s desire for strong leadership, and was able to present
himself as Germany's redeemer. An ideal environment in which to deliver propaganda, these
meetings created a sense of community and strength, kept emotional levels high, and were the
perfect platform for generating a feeling of national unity. Hitler’s propaganda would convince the
German people that the Jews were a race whose goal was world domination, and therefore the Jews
were a direct threat to the German people. They believed that the Aryan race should triumph, and
therefore it was their duty to eliminate the Jews.
Hitler’s ultimate goal in launching World War II was to establish an Aryan empire to include all of
Europe and the Soviet Union. He believed that this land was the natural territory to which the
German people were rightly entitled, and sought to overtake these lands in order to preserve the
dominance of the Aryan race.
Adolf Eichmann - Adolf Eichmann was instrumental in the implementation of the “Final Solution.”
Although he visited Palestine in 1937 to explore the possibility of emigration of the Jews from Nazi
Germany to Palestine, he mainly worked behind the scenes. His “resettlement” department soon
began to create death camps, make improvements to the techniques used to gas their victims, and
develop a system of transportation that would take the Jews and other victims to their death. By
August, 1944, he was able to report to Himmler that approximately six million Jews had been
murdered in the death camps.
Heinrich Himmler - Heinrich Himmler, best known as organizer of the mass murder of the Jews,
was Reichsfuhrer of the SS, head of the Gestapo and the Waffen-SS, and Minister of the Interior. He
became head of the Schutzstaffel (SS) when it was a small group of only 200 men, but under his
leadership, it grew substantially to become a body of over 50,000. He was instrumental in setting
up the first concentration camp, Dachau, and in creating new guidelines for qualifications for
internment there and at the other camps. After witnessing the extermination of a hundred Jews, a
demonstration set up for his benefit, he ordered the use of poison gas as a “more humane means” of
execution. Himmler also introduced the principle of racial selection in order to ensure a society
populated with people of “high value.” He was especially pleased with Lebensborn, which he
established as a place where girls and women selected for their “perfect Nordic traits” could
procreate with SS men, thereby creating a race of “supermen.”
Rudolf Franz Höss - (not to be confused with Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy) - Rudolf Höss,
Kommandant of Auschwitz under the direct command of Heinrich Himmler, oversaw the conversion
of Auschwitz into an extermination camp, installing gas chambers and crematoria to carry out the
“Final Solution” of the Jewish question. He found that carbon monoxide, which had previously been
©2013 Secondary Solutions
-8-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
used in exterminations, was inefficient, and introduced Zyklon B as an alternative. Daily, he
watched as prisoners were beaten, tortured, gassed, and burned in the crematoria. His matter-offact attitude about what happened there was well-known to his peers.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Joseph Goebbels - Joseph Goebbels found his place in the Nazi Party as Hitler’s Propaganda Leader,
selling Hitler to the German public. He was instrumental in creating the image of Hitler as the savior
of the German people from fear and resentment, financial disaster, an the ultimate “enemy”—the
Jews. His own hatred of the Jews enabled him to develop a strategy to mobilize the masses against
them, based on the need to establish a common enemy. He was able, through manipulation, to
induce the public to give themselves over to Hitler. Goebbels’s lust for power, coupled with his
deeply rooted contempt for humanity and Jews in particular, and his expertise in the field of mass
persuasion, enabled him to gain control of the media – i.e. the press, publishing, radio, and movies.
An organizer of Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), he personally supervised the deportation of
the Jews from Berlin in 1942.
Hermann Göring - Hermann Göring (Goering, in English) held the rank of Reichsmarschall, the
highest military rank of the Greater German Reich. Reichsmarschall was a special rank intended for
Göring, which made him senior to all Army and Air Force Field Marshals. Göring was the highest
figure in the Nazi Hierarchy who had authorized the "Final Solution” of the Jewish question. Göring
was almost always the moving force, second only to Der Fuhrer. He was the leading war aggressor,
director of the slave labor program, and the creator of the oppressive program against the Jews and
other races. Near the end of the war, Göring proposed that he take over leadership of the Reich as
Hitler’s designated successor. Hitler had Göring arrested for high treason, dismissed him from all his
offices, and subsequently expelled him from the party.
Dr. Josef Mengele - Dr. Josef Mengele, commonly referred to as the “Angel of Death,” was known
for his role as the “selector” on the platform at Auschwitz. At his discretion, prisoners went either to
the gas chambers or to the camp. More importantly, Mengele was known for his “scientific”
experimentation on twins at Auschwitz. There, one twin could serve as a control, while the other
was used in his experiments on genetic abnormalities, which involved such atrocities as freezing
people to death, sewing two people together, starving a pregnant woman to see how long it would
take for her baby to die, and more.
Reinhard Heydrich - Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most heinous war criminals of the Holocaust,
stood out as one of the cruelest and most brutal mass murderers in Nazi Germany. Heydrich, known
as “The Hangman,” murdered thousands of Jews and other “enemies” of the Reich. He was
instrumental in creating the SD, a Nazi intelligence agency that watched for dissent within the party
and created files on all the Jews in Germany. By 1934, Heydrich ran the Gestapo, the German
Security Police. Although Göring told Heydrich to solve the "Jewish problem" by emigration and
evacuation, Heydrich decided that emigration alone could not take care of all the Jews, and that the
“Final Solution” was the only answer. A part of the “Final Solution” from the beginning when
Himmler assigned the job of mass murder to the Einstatzgruppen, the killing squads of the security
police, Heydrich forbade emigration of Jews from France and Belgium. As extermination camps were
built in Poland, Heydrich coordinated the deportation of the Jews to these camps. Heydrich was
assassinated in 1942.
Nazis (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) – The “Final Solution” was carried out by the
leaders of the Nazi Party, the SS, hundreds of thousands of members of the Gestapo, the
Einsatzgruppen and the police and armed forces. Without the German soldiers (commonly referred
to as SS) the camps could not have functioned. Organized into units of one hundred, the soldiers
were each equipped with a machine gun in case of resistance. The entire camp could be covered
from above with three towers, operating day and night. If anyone stepped into a forbidden area,
made an attempt to flee, behaved defiantly, or simply irritated an SS guard, he or she would be shot.
©2013 Secondary Solutions
-9-
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Exploring Expository Writing: Important Persons of the
Holocaust
Directions: After reading the article about the Important Persons of the Holocaust, match
the following names to the correct descriptions. Some names will be used more than once.
Hitler
Eichmann
Himmler
Höss
Goebbels
Göring
Mengele
Heydrich
Nazis
1. __________________ Second only to Der Fuhrer, he authorized the “Final Solution.”
2. __________________ Party members who enabled the camps to function.
3. __________________ “Angel of Death”
4. __________________ Coordinated the deportation of the Jews to the extermination
camps.
5. __________________ Increased the Schutzstaffel (SS) from 200 to 50,000 men.
6. __________________ An organizer of Kristallnacht.
7. __________________ Helped to develop a system of transportation that would take
the Jews and other victims to their death.
8. __________________ Founder of the Nazi Party.
9. __________________ Introduced Zyklon B as an alternative to carbon monoxide in
the killing of the prisoners.
10. _________________ Captivated those who felt their economic existence was
threatened.
11. _________________ Performed “scientific” experimentation on people at Auschwitz.
12. _________________ One of the cruelest and most brutal mass murderers in Nazi
Germany.
13. _________________ Expelled from the Party for treason.
14. _________________ Because he so despised the Jews, he was successful in
convincing the public to give themselves over to Hitler.
15. _________________ Established Lebensborn as a place where girls and women selected
for their “perfect Nordic traits” could procreate with SS men, thereby
creating a race of “supermen.”
©2013 Secondary Solutions
- 10 -
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Historical Background—Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Although Auschwitz is best known as a Death Camp for Holocaust victims, it was built
originally for a different purpose. As Hitler’s dream of the Nazi takeover of Europe began to
unfold, Auschwitz was to have been built to house Polish political prisoners, or anyone who was
considered a threat to the German occupation of Poland. The Nazis wanted to make the Poles a
nation of slaves. Rudolph Höss, Kommandant at Auschwitz who had worked in concentration
camps since 1934, knew he needed to build a “terror to the Poles.”
Because of the proximity to lime, water and coal, the main ingredients used in the
manufacture of synthetic rubber and fuel for the war effort, the IG Farbenin Company was
easily recruited to a location near the Auschwitz concentration camp. In addition, the camp
would provide slave labor for their factories. Heinrich Himmler had visions of ethnic Germans
living in the town of Auschwitz, a model German settlement, in accordance with the basic Nazi
principles of Lebensraum (living space). Hitler believed that Eastern Europe must be conquered
to give Germany more physical space which would allow for a greater population and new
territory to supply raw materials and food.
Hitler’s plan for Auschwitz was much further reaching. He had plans to invade Russia
and exterminate large sections of the Soviet population. Within nine months of the invasion,
three million Soviet prisoners were taken and two million were killed. One million were sent to
Auschwitz to work.
Hitler blamed the Jews for losing WWI, and by spreading propaganda in the daily news,
he encouraged the Germans to rise up against them. As the Jews began to arrive at Auschwitz,
the Nazis felt no qualms about killing them because they hated them and believed the Jews had
cheated the Germans and their families.
Himmler visited the Soviet Union, where he watched the Jews being executed—men,
women, and children—shot in cold blood. He wanted a better way to kill them—one that was
less traumatic for the murderers. A rather bizarre practice, the “euthanasia” of mentally and
physically disabled adults was soon brought to Auschwitz. This “gassing” was such an efficient
method of killing that it was soon used to dispose of unwanted prisoners. Because it was so
expensive, the carbon monoxide that was used for euthanasia was replaced with Zyklon, a
crystalline material also used to kill lice and vermin.
Adolf Eichmann, who organized the mass murder of the Jews, ordered a new rail built,
terminating inside of Auschwitz-Birkenau, for easy movement of the prisoners. There were four
crematoria with gas chambers attached to facilitate the extermination and disposal of great
numbers of victims. The stench of burning bodies permeated the air for months on end.
Kommandant Höss estimated that so many people would be exterminated that the crematoria
alone would not suffice, so crematory pits were also dug at the sides of the roads. Sadly, his
estimations were correct.
Also at Auschwitz were “standing cells,” where many prisoners were crammed into one
cell leaving only enough room to stand, and “starvation cells,” where they were locked up until
they died of starvation. The prisoners also knew that if they resisted or attempted to escape,
their entire family would be tortured or murdered, so they made no attempt to resist. They
often found themselves wishing, as they looked up at the aircraft overhead, that the planes
would drop their bombs.
Because of the escape of a few Auschwitz prisoners and the Polish Underground, the
Allies knew about the crematoria of Auschwitz and what they were used for. They would not,
however, step forward to destroy them or the railways that led there, claiming their planes
were needed elsewhere. The Americans did bomb the IG Farbenin factories nearby, however.
By the end of World War II, a total of ten million people had been murdered at Auschwitz
and the other concentration camps. Six million were Jews.
©2013 Secondary Solutions
- 11 -
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Exploring Expository Writing: Auschwitz
Directions: After reading the article about Auschwitz, answer the following questions in
complete sentences. If you need more room, write your answers on a separate sheet of
paper.
1. For what purpose was Auschwitz originally created?
2. How did IG Farbenin Company and Auschwitz cooperate together?
3. What happened at Auschwitz to the Soviet prisoners?
4. What was Himmler’s role at Auschwitz?
5. How did Eichmann assist him?
6. What other horrific methods of torture and death were used at Auschwitz?
7. Why did the allies do nothing about the killing at Auschwitz?
8. What do you believe was the real reason that the allies did not do anything about
what was happening to the Jews and all the other victims of the Holocaust?
©2013 Secondary Solutions
- 12 -
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Author Biography: Elie Wiesel
Eliezer Wiesel (We-ZELL) was born on September 30,
1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, which is now part of
Romania in Eastern Europe. He was the only son in a
family of four children, with two older sisters, Hilda and
Béa, and a younger sister, Tzipora. Having begun his
study of Hebrew at the age of three, his world revolved
around family, religious study, community, and God.
He was a profoundly religious young man, who spent
most of his time studying the Talmud and cabbala, with
his mother’s encouragement, and learning literature and
Hebrew in deference to his father.
All Jewish inhabitants of his village were deported when
Elie was just 15. Wiesel and his family were taken to
Auschwitz concentration camp, where he became known
simply as A-7713, the number tattooed on his arm. Elie
was separated from his mother and sisters immediately
on arrival at Auschwitz, but he was able to stay with his
father for a year until his father died of dysentery,
starvation, and exhaustion at Buchenwald—just months
before liberation. During his years in Nazi confinement, Wiesel spent time in the Auschwitz,
Buna, Gleiwitz, and Buchenwald concentration camps.
After the war, Wiesel moved to Paris, France, where he mastered the French language and
attended Sorbonne University, studying literature, psychology, and philosophy.
He later
became a reporter for the French newspaper, L’Arche, and spent the 1950’s traveling the world
as a reporter.
In 1955, Wiesel broke his self-imposed vow of silence, finally putting into words his experiences
from the Holocaust. His 900-page book, And the World Kept Silent, published in Argentina, was
later compressed into a 127-page book, La Nuit (Night) and published in both French and
English in 1958. He has since published over forty books, among them, Dawn (1961), The
Accident (1961), The Town Beyond the Wall (1962), The Jews of Silence (1966), A Beggar in
Jerusalem (1970), and All Rivers Run to the Sea: Memoirs, Vol. 1, 1928-1969 (1995).
Wiesel has held numerous teaching positions, and since 1976, he has been Andrew Mellon
Professor of Humanities at Boston University. He has received numerous awards for his literary
and human rights activities, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. Congressional
Gold Medal, and the Medal of Liberty Award. Wiesel also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986,
and soon afterward, he and his wife established the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, whose
mission is to counter intolerance and promote equality and acceptance through international
dialogue.
Wiesel became an American citizen in 1963, and in 1969, married Marion Erster Rose from
Austria, who has translated most of Wiesel’s books into English. They have one son together,
Elisha (Shlomo Elisha Wiesel), whom they named after Elie’s father. Marion has a daughter,
Jennifer, from a previous marriage. They make their home in New York City.
©2013 Secondary Solutions
- 13 -
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Exploring Expository Writing: Elie Wiesel
Directions: Using the biographical information about Elie Wiesel on page 13, answer the
following questions. Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
1. ________ What is the author’s purpose in writing this biography of Elie Wiesel?
a. To persuade the reader to read Wiesel’s books
b. To inform the reader about Wiesel’s life and works
c. To describe Wiesel’s life experiences
d. To entertain the reader before reading Wiesel’s novel
2. ________ Based on the information given in the biography, the reader can assume that:
a. Wiesel is very well-educated
b. Wiesel learned a lot from his experiences in the Holocaust
c. Wiesel really enjoys writing
d. All of the above
3. ________ Not much information was given in this biography about Wiesel’s childhood.
What would be your best guess as to why? (Be prepared to explain your answer.)
a. Not much is known about his childhood
b. He feels that kind of information is unimportant
c. He is ashamed of who he was
d. He wants his public to use their imaginations
4. ________ In which paragraph would it be most appropriate to insert information about
Wiesel’s experiences during the Holocaust?
a. In paragraph two
b. Between paragraphs one and two
c. Before paragraph one
d. After paragraph two
Directions: Answer the following questions using complete sentences.
5. The phrase literary and human rights activities is used in this biography. Using context
clues from the information given, what do you believe is the meaning of the phrase?
6. If you were given the opportunity to interview Elie Wiesel for an article to be published
on your school website, what three or four questions would you ask him?
©2013 Secondary Solutions
- 14 -
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Anticipation/Reaction Guide—Before Reading
Directions: For each of the following statements, compose one well-written sentence
giving your reaction to the statement in your response. An example has been done for you.
(Be prepared to read some of your responses aloud in a class discussion.) Teacher: Be
sure to save each student’s work for a future activity after reading the novel.
Ex. Everyone in every situation should always be treated equally.
Sometimes people have different needs and treating everyone the same in every situation
might even be unfair in certain situations.
1. It is always best to speak the truth, no matter what the consequences may be.
2. People tend to reveal their true selves in difficult situations. People don’t change.
3. Mankind is basically good.
4. Our basic human instincts dictate to us that we must protect ourselves first in times of trouble.
5. People of one race can be less important than or inferior to people of other races.
6. When someone is influenced by others to do something against their natural tendencies, it is
really their choice, not peer pressure.
7. When faced with something we disagree with, it is almost always best to stay quiet and accept it.
©2013 Secondary Solutions
- 15 -
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Anticipation/Reaction Guide Reflection
Pre-Reading Individual Reflection
Directions: After several students have shared their responses from page 15 with the entire
class, get into small groups and discuss your answers as well as your group members’
answers. Listen carefully to their responses, paying attention to their individual opinions.
After you have discussed your “Before Reading” responses, answer the following questions
on the lines below and/or on a separate piece of paper. Be sure to write in complete
sentences and number your answers.
1. Which statements triggered the most thought-provoking, interesting or emotional
discussion among your group members? Summarize the discussion/debate, putting
particular emphasis on those statements.
2. For any statements that you discussed, what were some of the most compelling or
significant points made by your group members? How did those statements affect
your opinion?
3. When you found that a member of your group disagreed with the way you feel about
an issue, what was your reaction? Were there any emotional outbreaks that had to be
dealt with as a group? What statement(s) triggered the emotional response? What
methods did your group use to deal with the problems?
4. Why do you think there might be so many differing opinions about the answers to
even the simplest questions?
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
16
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Holocaust Terminology
Directions: Learn the definitions of the following words found in Night that are related directly to the
Holocaust, Judaism, the Hebrew language, religion, or Nazi Germany. Your teacher will direct you to
learn their meanings either as you read each section, or before you begin reading the novel. Be sure
to keep this list of words and definitions to use in vocabulary activities and to study for quizzes and
tests. The number in parentheses is the page on which the word is found.
Part I (Sections One-Two, pp. 3-28)
1.
Hasidic (3) – A Jewish sect founded upon mysticism, prayer, ritual strictness, religious zeal,
and joy
2.
shtibl (3) – Jewish house of prayer
3.
Shekhinah in Exile (3) –the Shekhinah (presence of God) goes into exile (leaving one’s
home) with Israel and will return with them at the End of Days
4.
Kabbalah (3) – form of Jewish mysticism offering mystical insight into divine nature
5.
Talmud (3) – A record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and
history
6.
synagogue (3) – Jewish house of worship
7.
Temple (3) – reference to the First Temple (sanctuary of Jewish worship) which was
destroyed by the Babylonians
8.
Maimonides (4) – one of the major theologians of Judaism
9.
mysticism (4) – the study of how one can achieve divine communion with God
10. Zohar (5) – the most important text of Kabbalah; part of the Oral Torah
11. Galicia (6) – a region of southern Poland
12. Gestapo (6) – German secret police under Nazi rule
13. Kolomay (6) – town in Galicia
14. Rosh Hashanah (8) – Jewish High Holy Day marking the beginning of the New Year
15. Rebbe of Borsche (8) – (Rebbe) Yiddish word, meaning teacher, master, or mentor;
(Borsche) unclear, but probably a geographical region, such as a city or town
16. Red Army (80) – Russian Army
17. Zionism (8) – Jewish movement in response to anti-Semitism, seeking to reestablish a
Jewish homeland in Palestine
18. Fascist (9) – member of a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power,
forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and
emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
19. Passover (9) – Jewish festival that commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt
20. anti-Semitic (9) – prejudiced against or hostile towards Jews
21. death's head emblem (9) – a symbol for death or the dead
22. ghettos (11) – Jewish quarters within a city
23. Shavuot (12) – a religious feast held in commemoration of the revelation of the law on Mount Sinai
24. phylacteries (16) – small boxes which contain scripture, worn by Jewish men during weekday
prayers
25. Auschwitz (27) – site of a Nazi concentration camp in Poland
26. Birkenau (28) – a death camp—part of Auschwitz
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
17
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Part II (Section Three, pp. 29-46)
1. SS (29) – special police force in the Nazi army; Schutzstaffel
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 2. Kaddish (33) – prayer for the dead
3. Sonder-Kommando (35) – a prisoner slave labor group assigned to work in the killing area of a
concentration camp
4. rebbe (36) – teacher, master, or mentor
5. Gypsy (37) – a nomadic group of people
6. selection (41) – during the Holocaust, separating people into groups, as best or most suitable
according to their health, strength, physical appearance, sex, or age, etc.
7. liberation (41) – freeing of the people from the concentration camps
8. Blockälteste (44) – oldest member of the block
9. Buna (46) – a subcamp of Auschwitz
Part III (Section Four, pp. 47-65)
1. Kapo, (Kapos) (49) – camp prisoner given special privileges for overseeing other prisoners
2. Zionist (50) – member of a Jewish movement in response to anti-Semitism, seeking to
reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine
3. Hebrew (50) – language of Judaism
4. Haifa (51) – major seaport in NW Israel
5. Aryan (52) – non-jewish Caucasian
Part IV (Sections Five-Six, pp. 66-97)
1. Appelplatz (60) – assembly point
2. Lagerkapo (62) – encampment guard
3. Oberkapo (63) – main encampment guard in charge of Kapos
4. pipel (63) – young apprentice or assistant
5. Yom Kippur (69) – Jewish Day of Atonement
6. muselman (70) – someone who is very frail and weak
7. Achtung (71) – Attention!
8. Stubenälteste (72) – overseer of the camp due to seniority
Part V (Sections Seven-Nine, pp. 98-115)
1. Gleiwitz (92) – a city in southern Poland (A staged attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on August
31, 1939 served as a pretext for Nazi Germany to invade Poland, thus starting World War II.
2. Front (95) – the foremost (front) line of the approaching military
3. Buchenwald (103) – a concentration camp for slave labor near Weimar, Germany
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
18
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Vocabulary List
Directions: Use a dictionary to find the meanings of the following words from Night. Your teacher
will direct you to do this lesson either as you read each section, or as a pre-reading activity. Be sure
to keep this list and the definitions to use in vocabulary activities and to study for quizzes and tests.
The page number where the word is found in the novel is given in parentheses.
Part I (Sections One-Two, pp. 3-28)
Part II (Section Three, pp. 29-46)
1. surname (3)
1. hermetically (24)
2. penury (3)
2. pious (24)
3. rendering (3)
3. hysterical (24)
4. waiflike (3)
4. indifferent (28)
5. expelled (6)
5. illusions (29)
6. deportees (6)
6. interrogating (30)
7. insinuated (7)
7. invectives (30)
8. exterminate (8)
8. sages (31)
9. annihilate (8)
9. monocle (31)
10. dispersed (8)
10. crematoria (32)
11. emigration (8)
11. crematorium (32)
12. liquidate (9)
12. infernal (33)
13. billeted (9)
13. interspersed (35)
14. sublime (10)
14. lucidity (36)
15. henceforth (10)
15. oblivion (36)
16. lethal (11)
16. oppressive (38)
17. edicts (11)
17. harangued (38)
18. delusion (12)
18. concentration camp (38)
19. treatise (12)
19. graven (38)
20. antechamber (13)
20. colic (39)
21. rescinded (15)
21. irony (40)
22. surreptitiously (16)
22. compulsory (41)
23. convoy (16)
23. liberation (41)
24. surreal (17)
24. camaraderie (41)
25. hysteria (18)
25. wizened (43)
26. oppressors (19)
26. veritable (44)
27. chaos (20)
27. concurred (45)
28. conflagration (21)
29. extinguished (21)
Part III (Section Four, pp. 47-65)
30. evacuated (21)
1. altruistic (48)
31. farce (21)
2. pittance (48)
32. expulsion (21)
3. cynical (49)
33. familial (22)
4. cauldron (51)
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
19
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
5. famished (52)
22. knell (84)
6. untenable (56)
23. exodus (84)
7. copulate (56)
24. automatons (85)
8. dissipated (60)
25. emaciated (85)
9. gallows (61)
26. excruciating (86)
10. manacled (62)
27. parched (87)
11. air raid (62)
28. transcended (87)
12. sabotage (63)
29. kilometer (87)
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 30. deprivations (90)
Part IV (Sections Five-Six, pp. 66-97)
1. grandeur (66)
31. diminish (91)
2. cowardice (66)
32. disengage (93)
3. salvation (68)
33. melancholy (95)
4. lament (68)
34. poignant (95)
5. atonement (69)
35. infinitely (97)
6. reprieve (70)
7. crucible (74)
Part V (Sections Seven-Nine, pp. 98-115)
8. chinks (77)
1. apathy (99)
9. glacial (77)
2. inert (99)
10. infirmary (78)
3. dregs (100)
11. categorical (78)
4. mauling (101)
12. amputated (78)
5. jostle (105)
13. dysentery (78)
6. vulnerable (105)
14. displaced (79)
7. plaintive (106)
15. spunk (79)
8. grudgingly (107)
16. inflection (79)
9. prostrate (108)
17. prophecies (80)
10. unprecedented (113)
18. founded (80)
11. liquidation (114)
19. deluded (80)
12. underground resistance (114)
20. evacuation (81)
13. contemplating (115)
21. garb (83)
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
20
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Vocabulary with Definitions
Part I (Sections One-Two, pp. 3-28)
1.
surname (3) – family name; last name
2.
penury (3) – poverty; destitution
3.
rendering (3) – making; causing to be
4.
waiflike (3) – like a homeless child
5.
expelled (6) – forced to leave
6.
deportees (6) – persons being expelled from a country
7.
insinuated (7) – suggested by hints; implied
8.
exterminate (8) – wipe out, as an entire population
9.
annihilate (8) – to destroy completely
10. dispersed (8) – spread out over a wide area
11. emigration (8) – leaving one country and settling in another
12. liquidate (9) – clear out
13. billeted (9) – housed in civilian (non-military) lodging
14. sublime (10) – supreme; an ultimate example
15. henceforth (10) – from this point on; from now on
16. lethal (11) – deadly
17. edicts (11) – official orders
18. delusion (12) – false impression
19. treatise (12) – a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject
20. antechamber (13) – small room leading to a main room
21. rescinded (15) – revoked; canceled
22. surreptitiously (16) – secretly
23. convoy (16) – group traveling together, usually accompanied by armed guards
24. surreal (17) – bizarre; strangely unrealistic or fanciful
25. hysteria (18) – uncontrollable emotion or excitement
26. oppressors (19) – those who keep someone in subservience and hardship by unjust exercise
of authority
27. chaos (20) – complete disorder and confusion
28. conflagration (21) – huge raging fire
29. extinguished (21) – caused to cease to burn; put out
30. evacuated (21) – removed for safety reasons
31. farce (21) – absurdity; mockery; sham
32. expulsion (21) – process of forcing out
33. familial (22) – relating to the family
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
21
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Part II (Section Three, pp. 29-46)
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 1. hermetically (24) – water- and air-tight
2. pious (24) – devoutly religious
3. hysterical (24) – afflicted by uncontrolled extreme emotion
4. indifferent (28) – showing no interest or concern
5. illusions (29) – false ideas or beliefs
6. interrogating (30) – questioning
7. invectives (30) – insulting, abusive or highly critical language
8. sages (31) – wise persons; mentors
9. monocle (31) – spectacle for one eye
10. crematoria (32) – pl. of crematorium
11. crematorium (32) – furnace for cremating (burning) of human bodies
12. infernal (33) – relating to the heat of hell
13. interspersed (35) – scattered; spread around
14. lucidity (36) – awareness; clearness of thought
15. oblivion (36) – being unaware or unconscious of what is happening
16. oppressive (38) – unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint
17. harangued (38) – harassed; bothered; criticized
18. concentration camp (38) – place for imprisonment of people without due process of law or trial
19. graven (38) – engraved; carved
20. colic (39) – sudden violent outburst of pain in the abdomen or bowels
21. irony (40) – expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally means the opposite
22. compulsory (41) – mandatory; required
23. liberation (41) – setting free from imprisonment
24. camaraderie (41) – mutual trust and friendship
25. wizened (43) withered; shriveled
26. veritable (44) – (word used as an intensifier, often to qualify a metaphor, such as: the early
1970s witnessed a veritable price explosion.)
27. concurred (45) – agreed; approved
Part III (Section Four, pp. 47-65)
1. altruistic (48) – selfless concern for the well-being of others
2. pittance (48) – a very small sum
3. cynical (49) – distrustful of human sincerity
4. cauldron (51) – large pot or kettle
5. famished (52) – extremely hungry
6. untenable (56) – unable to be defended against attack or objection
7. copulate (57) – have sexual intercourse
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
22
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
8. dissipated (60) – dispersed or scattered
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 9. gallows (61) – wooden frame for hanging people, usually criminals
10. manacled (62) – handcuffed; shackled
11. air raid (62) – signal that attack by air is about to happen
12. sabotage (63) – subversion; destructive action or interference by an enemy
Part IV (Sections Five-Six, pp. 66-97)
1. grandeur (66) – splendor; impressiveness
2. cowardice (66) – lack of bravery
3. salvation (68) – deliverance from sin and its consequences
4. lament (68) – express grief
5. atonement (69) – reparation for a wrong
6. reprieve (70) – cancellation or postponement of punishment
7. crucible (74) – severe test or trial
8. chinks (77) – weak points
9. glacial (77) – icy
10. infirmary (78) – sick room; hospital
11. categorical (78) – clear and direct
12. amputated (78) – surgically removed
13. dysentery (78) – severe diarrhea caused by infection
14. displaced (79) – moved from the proper or usual place
15. spunk (79) – courage and determination
16. inflection (79) – change of intonation or pitch in the voice
17. prophecies (80) – predictions
18. founded (80) – having a firm basis; based upon a principle
19. deluded (80) – deceived; fooled
20. evacuation (81) – mass departure or retreat from an area
21. garb (83) – clothing or dress
22. knell (84) – sound of a bell (used figuratively here)
23. exodus (84) – mass departure of people, especially emigrants
24. automatons (85) – those who behave or respond in a mechanical way, like robots
25. emaciated (85) – thin; gaunt; haggard
26. excruciating (86) – marked by unbearable pain
27. parched (87) – extremely thirsty
28. transcended (87) – went beyond the limits; surpassed
29. kilometer (87) – approximately 2/3 of a mile
30. deprivations (90) – lack of basic necessities or comforts of life
31. diminish (91) – make or become less
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
23
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
32. disengage (93) – detach, free, loosen, or separate
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 33. melancholy (95) – sadness; depression
34. poignant (95) – evoking a keen sense of sadness; emotionally moving
35. infinitely (97) – limitlessly; endlessly
Part V (Sections Seven-Nine, pp. 98-115)
1. apathy (99) – lack of emotion or passion
2. inert (99) – lacking the ability or strength to move
3. dregs (100) – remnants; leftovers
4. mauling (101) – wounding by scratching or tearing
5. jostle (105) – push, elbow, or bump against; struggle for room
6. vulnerable (105) – capable of being hurt physically or emotionally
7. plaintive (106) – begging; pleading
8. grudgingly (107) – reluctantly
9. prostrate (108) – lying stretched out, often face down, overcome with distress or exhaustion
10. unprecedented (113) – never heard of or done before
11. liquidation (114) – clearing out
12. underground resistance (114) – armed or violent opposition
13. contemplating (115) – looking thoughtfully for a long time
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
24
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Note-Taking and Summarizing Sample
For some students, reading can be a difficult, tedious task. Part of the problem is that many students
do not have the tools to read for meaning, and become disinterested because they cannot follow the
action or do not understand, or cannot relate to, the events or the characters. To develop good
reading habits, there are a few steps that you can take which will help you to understand and
appreciate what you are reading. As you read each section of Night:
•
•
•
•
•
Question—Ask yourself, where is this story or scene, etc. taking place? What has happened
before this? Who are the people involved? What do I not understand? What do I need to re-read?
What do I need my teacher to clarify?
Predict—Try to make a guess or prediction as to what may happen next in the novel. This will
help you to stay focused on what you read next, as you try to unravel the story. What will happen
next? What effect will this event have on those involved?
Connect—Try to relate to the events or characters in what you are reading. Has this or
something like this ever happened to you? How did you handle this situation? Have you ever
known a person like any of the characters? What other situations come to mind when reading?
Why? Are there any lessons or themes you have seen before?
Summarize—Break down the most important information, details, or events of the story. Retell
the events of the story in your own words.
Reflect—Think about why you are reading the story. What do you think is the theme? What have
you learned so far? Why are you reading this particular text in school? Do you like the story?
Why or why not? Would you want to read or learn more about this author/ genre/topic? Why or
why not?
To help you become a more successful reader, you will be completing an activity for each section of
Night. Each activity is designed to help you understand the action, conflict, and those involved in the
story, and to eventually appreciate the author’s reasons for writing the novel. Below is a sample of
the chart you will be completing. Use this page for reference when completing the Note-Taking and
Summarizing chart for each section of Night.
Question
In this space, write the names of the people involved, as well as where and when the story is
taking place. Next, write down questions you have about the novel, and any questions about
the reading that you do not understand and/or would like your teacher to clarify.
Predict
In this space, write your prediction of what you think will happen next.
Connect
In this space, write down anything that you find familiar: either a situation you have
experienced, a character that reminds you of someone, or an event from
the story that is similar to something you have already read.
Summarize
Retell, in your own words, the action and important details of your reading. Your summary
should not be more than about one paragraph, or 5-7 sentences long.
Reflect
In this space, write down any quotes, sayings, or moments that affect you in some way.
So far, what do you think is the reason the author wrote this novel? Are there any
themes you recognize? Do you like the novel so far? Why or why not? What
changes could be made so that you understand or connect with the novel better?
What else would you like to learn about this author/genre/topic?
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
25
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Part One—(Sections One-Two, pp. 3-28)
Note-Taking and Summarizing
Directions: Refer to the chart on page 25, “Note-Taking and Summarizing Sample.” Use it
to complete the following chart as you read Sections One-Two of the novel.
Question
Predict
Connect
Summarize
Reflect
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
26
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Part One—(Sections One-Two, pp. 3-28)
Comprehension Check
Directions: As you read and take notes using the note-taking technique described on page
25, use the Comprehension Check questions below to help guide your understanding of all
aspects of the novel. You may want to use these questions to help you take notes. After
reading the given sections, answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper.
Section One (pp. 3-22)
1. Who was Moishe the Beadle? Why was he an important figure in Mr. Wiesel’s life?
2. Discuss the importance of religion in Mr. Wiesel’s young life.
3. What significant event happened to Moishe the Beadle? Why? What story did he tell upon
his return? How did Moishe escape this wretchedness?
4. Why did people refuse to listen to his stories of what had happened?
5. Moishe said, “I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you my death so that you might
ready yourselves while there is still time.” What did he mean by this?
6. Why did Elie’s father refuse to sell everything and move to Palestine? What is your
opinion of his decision? Why?
7. What were the Fascists doing to the Jews in Budapest? Why did the others refuse to take
this action seriously?
8. After the leaders of the Jewish community were arrested, what were the orders to the
other Jews?
9. What was the ghetto? At first, why were the Jews unconcerned about being placed in the
ghettos? Soon afterwards, what happened to make them change their minds?
10. The inspector from the Hungarian police knocked on the window, but by the time someone
went to see who it was, he was gone. What is the significance of this?
11. How did the Hungarian police treat the Jews as they told them the time had come?
12. Why did the Jews leave their valuables behind?
13. Explain why Elie and his older sisters refused to go to Maria’s village with her.
14. What were the conditions in the cattle car?
Section Two (pp. 23-28)
1. What had happened to Mrs. Schächter to make her behave as she did? What did she
continually shout about to the Jews?
2. How did the men finally subdue her?
3. When they reached a station, where were they? What would they do there?
4. What did Mrs. Schächter’s cries foreshadow?
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
27
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Standards Focus: Figurative Language
One of the most captivating aspects of good literature is the use of figurative language, or ideas
communicated beyond their literal meaning to create an image in the reader’s or audience’s mind.
There are several types of figurative language, also called figures of speech. In this exercise, you
will use the following figures of speech:
• metaphor - a comparison made between two unlike objects: “The pillow was a cloud.”
• simile - a comparison made between two unlike objects, using the words “like” or “as” in the
comparison: “The pillow was like a marshmallow.”
• personification - giving human qualities or characteristics to non-human objects: “The wind
sang its sad song.”
• imagery - using words to create pictures for the senses: “…a tall frosty glass of lemonade.”
• hyperbole - truth is exaggerated for humor or emphasis: “I died when the boy I like finally
talked to me.”
Directions: Read each quote from Sections One and Two. Look at the underlined figure of speech
in the sentence, then decide what type of figure of speech it is. Finally, identify the comparison
being made, the object being personified or exaggerated, or the image being created. An example
has been done for you.
Ex. “A calm, reassuring wind blew through our homes.” (p. 6)
Figure of Speech:
metaphor
Analysis: We were calm and comfortable in our homes.
1. “The shadows around me roused themselves as if from a deep sleep and left silently in every
direction.” (p. 14)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
2. “…a man with a gray beard and the gaze of a dreamer.” (p. 14)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
3. “On everyone’s back there was a sack. In everyone’s eyes tears and distress.” (p. 17)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
4. “There they went, defeated, their bundles, their lives in tow, having left behind their homes,
a
their childhood. bThey passed me by, like beaten dogs, with never a glance in my direction.”
(p. 17)
a
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
b
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
5. “Open rooms everywhere. … An open tomb.” (p. 17)
Figure of Speech:
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
28
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Analysis:
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 6. “They were the first faces of hell and death.” (p. 19)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
Directions: Now identify and underline the figure(s) of speech in the sentence, then decide what
type of figure of speech it is. Finally, identify the comparison being made or the object being
personified or exaggerated.
7. “Monday went by like a small summer cloud, like a dream in the first hours of dawn.” (p. 18)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
8. “The stars were but sparks of the immense conflagration that was consuming us.” (p. 21)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
9. “Our terror could no longer be contained. Our nerves had reached a breaking point. Our very
skin was aching.” (pp. 25-26)
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
10. “Yet all that was nothing compared to her screams, which tore us apart.” (p. 26)
Figures of Speech:
Analysis:
Directions: Now, find two other examples of figures of speech from Sections One and Two and
write them on the lines. Identify the type of figure of speech and write an analysis.
11.
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
12.
Figure of Speech:
Analysis:
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
29
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Part Four: Short Response (3-7 Sentences each)
Period
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Directions: For each of the following quotes, answer each question below with as much insight as
possible. Use a sheet of lined paper for your answers and staple it to the back page of your test. (a)
To what incident is the quote referring? (b) What happened? (c) What was the result? (d) How was
it important to the story overall?
41. “I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you my death so that you might ready yourselves
while there is still time.”
42. “…if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father. Why couldn’t
he have avoided Idek’s wrath? That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me….”
43. “Why, but why would I bless him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of
children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working night and day,
including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz,
Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou,
Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to
watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy Name,
for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine alter?”
Part Five: Vocabulary Matching
Directions: Match the following vocabulary words with the correct definition or synonym(s).
44.
compulsory
a. poverty; destitution
45.
altruistic
b. express or cry from grief
46.
rescinded
c. mandatory; required; obligatory
47.
billeted
d. never heard of or done before
48.
edicts
e. scattered; spread around
49.
farce
f.
50.
penury
g. exhibiting selfless concern for the well-being of others
51.
liquidate
h. took back; withdrew; canceled
52.
lucidity
i.
clear out
53.
oppressive
j.
clearness of thought; clairvoyance
54.
indifferent
k. huge raging fire
55.
surreptitiously
l.
56.
unprecedented
m. unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint
57.
sabotage
n. lacking interest or concern
58.
lament
o. decrees or proclamations; official orders
59.
interspersed
p. subversion; destructive action or interference by an enemy
60.
conflagration
q. housed; quartered; lodged
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
slyly; secretly
absurdity; mockery; sham
71
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Final Exam: Multiple Choice Version
Directions: On your answer sheet, fill in the bubble of the correct response.
1. Tried unsuccessfully to warn the Wiesel family to leave:
a. the Hungarian policeman
c.
Moishe, the Beadle
b. Rabbi Eliahu
d.
both a and b
e. both a and c
f.
both b and c
2. Elie saw him in bed with a young woman so he punished him publicly for it:
a. Dr. Mengele
c.
Franek
b. Juliek
d.
Idek
3. Chosen for their strength, these people worked in the crematoria:
a. pipel
c.
SS
b. Sonder-Kommando
d.
Kapos
4. Played his violin for the prisoners until he was killed:
a. Franek
c.
Juliek
b. Idek
d.
Yossi
5. Told Elie he could return later when he felt better, as long as he did not have to send for him:
a. the dentist
c.
Dr. Mengele
b. the SS officer
d.
Franek
6. A young boy who was tortured and murdered for information he did not have:
a. Yossi
c.
Tibi
b. Tzipora
d.
the pipel
7. The Jews were no longer allowed this luxury:
a. sugar
c.
b. Beethoven
d.
coffee
music
8. His son wanted to leave him behind because he had become a burden to him:
a. Moishe the Beadle
c.
Rabbi Eliahu
b. Oberkapo
d.
Juliek
9. Died, along with Elie’s mother:
a. Tzipora
b. Béa
c.
d.
Mrs. Schächter
Hilda
10. Ultimately died of a clout to the head—a smashed skull:
a. Juliek
c.
Rabbi Eliahu
b. Franek
d.
Elie’s father
11. Jewish caretaker who lived to tell the story of his death:
a. Rabbi Eliahu
c.
Yossi
b. Moishe the Beadle
d.
Tibi
12. “Selected” men, women, and children, deciding their ultimate fate:
c.
the dentist
a. Dr. Mengele
b. the Hungarian policemen
d.
none of these choices
13. On the train, screamed about the smoke and flames, making everyone think she had gone
mad:
a. Elie’s mother
c.
Mrs. Schächter
b. Tzipora
d.
the French girl
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
72
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
14. Passed for Aryan, but was really Jewish:
a. Elie’s mother
b. Tzipora
c.
d.
Mrs. Schächter
the French girl
15. Became Elie’s friend at Buna:
a. Franek
b. Yossi
c.
d.
Idek
Juliek
16. Guarded the inmates at the camps:
a. SS
b. Sonder-Kommando
c.
d.
the pipel
Dr. Mengele
17. Survived the concentration camps:
a. Idek
b. Juliek
c.
d.
Elie
none of these choices
18. Took Elie’s gold crown:
a. Franek
b. Idek
c.
d.
the dentist
Juliek
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 19. Moishe the Beadle escaped certain death by:
a. hiding in a ditch near Galicia
b. pretending to be dead
c.
d.
hiding out behind a brick building
telling a lie to the Gestapo
20. The people of Sighet were not afraid because they felt that the Fascists would:
a. let them stay in the ghettos
c.
be captured and imprisoned by the Allies
b. let them escape to Palestine
d.
get no closer than Budapest
21. When the Jews were moved into the ghettos, Elie and his family:
a. stayed in their own house
c.
were crowded into a small apartment
b. had nothing to eat
d.
were among the first to leave for Auschwitz
22. As they arrived at Auschwitz, a prisoner warned Elie and his father to:
a. eat as much as they could get
c.
stay as quiet as possible
b. work hard
d.
lie about their ages
23. The job of the Sonder-Kommando was to:
a. stand guard over the prisoners
b. assist Dr. Mengele in the “selection”
c. work in the crematoria
d. beat the Jews when they got out of line
24. The hanging of the pipel was an atrocity and especially disturbing because:
a. he was so young
c.
he had done nothing wrong
b. he took such a long time to die
d.
all of these choices
25. Elie was surprised when the French girl he worked with at the warehouse:
a. told him she loved him
c.
spoke French to him
b. spoke German to him
d.
told him she could pass for Aryan
26. Elie went into the hospital to have surgery for:
a. an infection of the knee
b. dysentery
c.
d.
an infected foot
pneumonia
27. As a young man, perhaps the most important thing in Elie’s life was:
a. community service
c.
family
b. education
d.
his religion
28. After a while in the camps, Elie’s thoughts and actions began to show that:
a. he had forgotten about his mother
c.
he was losing faith in God
b. his friends were more important than family
d.
he was not a good son
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
73
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
29. In the selection in which Elie’s father was sent to the left, to his death, Elie:
a. paid a guard to free his father
c.
nearly escaped
b. created a confusion in which some died
d.
was glad to be free of him
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 30. Elie’s father ultimately died as a result of:
a. pneumonia
c.
b. a blow to the head
d.
food poisoning
freezing to death
Directions: Choose the letter of the correct vocabulary word to complete the analogy.
31. apathy : indifference :: required : _______
a. insinuated
c.
b. chaos
d.
compulsory
infernal
32. mockery : farce :: agreed : _______
a. untenable
b. concurred
c.
d.
dissipated
rescinded
33. brave : timid :: free: _______
a. manacled
b. exodus
c.
d.
harangued
oblivion
34. expelled : deportees :: billeted : _______
a. penury
c.
b. conflagration
d.
officers
unprecedented
35. crucible : trial :: liquidation : _______
a. delusion
b. inflection
salvation
evacuation
c.
d.
Directions: Choose the letter of the correct vocabulary word according to the definition given.
36. Find the word that best fits the definition, “poverty; destitution”.
a. sages
c.
deprivations
b. penury
d.
prophecies
37. Which word best expresses, “sadness; grief; depression”?
a. deluded
c.
melancholy
b. cynical
d.
oppressors
38. Which word is in NO WAY related to illness?
a. colic
c.
b. lethal
d.
dysentery
illusions
39. Find a word that has a positive connotation.
c.
a. reprieve
b. chinks
d.
poignant
surreptitiously
40. Which word best fits the definition, “from this point forward”?
a. unprecedented
c.
contemplating
b. henceforth
d.
compulsory
Directions: Choose the letter of the best vocabulary word to complete the sentence.
41. Rabbi Eliahu’s son felt
a. atonement
b. transcended
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
c.
d.
74
from his father as they ran to Gleiwitz.
disengaged
vulnerable
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
42. As the prisoners entered the concentration camps, tattooing was
a. crucible
c.
cowardice
b. compulsory
d.
expelled
.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 43. To save themselves from harm and discomfort in the cattle cars, some may have had to
for more room.
a. annihilate
c.
jostle
b. prostrate
d.
treatise
44. After the thirst, starvation, and lack of dignity suffered by the prisoners, they had become
used to living with
as a part of their lives.
a. oblivion
c.
delusion
b. deprivations
d.
contemplating
45. For many of them, the
survive.
a. oppressive
b. familial
conditions of the camps took away their will to
c.
d.
surreal
pious
46. In one moment of
, Elie was able to think clearly about how they were all
going through the motions like so many automatons.
a. mauling
c.
lucidity
b. expulsion
d.
infirmary
47. An act of
a. contemplating
b. dregs
by a prisoner would most certainly get him killed.
c.
sabotage
d.
indifference
48. After seeing so many of their friends and relatives murdered, the prisoners began to lose hope
and were overcome with
when they should have cared.
a. hysteria
c.
lucidity
b. inert
d.
apathy
49. By the time of liberation, most of the prisoners were
and psychological damage.
a. categorical
c.
excruciating
b. emaciated
d.
diminish
and ravaged with poor health
50. Following the
of Elie and his family, it is easy to understand why he waited ten
years to commit his story to writing.
a. crucible
c.
pittance
b. convoy
d.
evacuation
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
75
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Post-Reading Ideas and Alternative Assessment
1.
Revisit the Anticipation/Reaction Guide on pages 15 and 16. Complete the
follow-up exercise found on page 52.
2.
Watch the film, Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State. This film tells in detail of the
history of the creation of Auschwitz, and speaks of the people involved,
including some of the prisoners as well as SS. Since this film is Not Rated, you
will probably need parent permission. Plan to discuss the film with your class
as the film progresses.
3.
Research in greater depth World War II, the Holocaust, Hitler, Rudolf Höss, Dr.
Mengele or any other important person or topic from the time period dealt with
in Night. Write your information using words other students in your class can
understand. Create a PowerPoint or other presentation to share your findings
with the rest of the class. Be sure to discuss how your topic is similar to and
different from the way it was depicted in the novel.
4.
Research heroes from the Holocaust who are often overlooked, including Oskar
Schindler, Irena Sendler, Raoul Wallenberg, Nicholas Winton, Chlune Sugihara,
or many others, noting their accomplishments and sacrifices. Present your
findings in class, in a PowerPoint or other presentation.
5.
Research Saddam Hussein’s treatment of the Kurds of Northern Iraq in the late
1980’s. Compare what happened to them with the treatment of the Jews
during the Holocaust. How are the two situations alike? How were these
events treated by the rest of the world? Relate what you have learned from
your research that helps you to understand why we study history. Why do you
believe it is said that “History repeats itself,” or “Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it.”
6.
People deal with death and loss in many different ways. In Night, you have
seen many different personality types, each of whom had their own way of
facing death, either the possibility of their own death, or the death of a loved
one. Create a poster or brochure on the different ways of dealing with death
and the stages of grief that all of us go through. Include a section on your
poster that will inform students of the kinds of support groups and help that
are available for teens today.
7.
Create a series of newspaper articles about the deportation of the Jews,
including their time in the ghettos. Include as many details of the events as
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
76
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
possible in the articles. Keep in mind that the Jews were deported beginning in
1939. (Remember, after the Jews began to be deported, you know very little
about what has taken place until the time of Liberation when some of them
return to tell their story. You can only speculate.) Create a journal, using the
“newspaper clippings” you have taken from the paper. Keep in mind as you
write that newspapers are not hand written, so type your articles. Make them
look and sound as realistic as possible.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 8.
You are a psychologist and your patient is a character of your choice from
Night. He has come to you seeking advice. What questions would you ask your
patient? What advice would you give? Compose notes and/or a tape recording
of your thoughts from at least 5 “sessions.” Also consider dream analysis and
role-playing exercises. You must have at least five complete entries, including
your advice to your patient.
9.
Conduct an interview with Elie Wiesel’s father, Shlomo. Write at least 10
questions that will give him a chance to tell the story of his own experiences in
the Holocaust from his point of view. You may ask questions, challenge a
situation, express a complaint or make a suggestion. Create a multimedia
presentation or storybook presenting Shlomo’s story.
10.
Visit www.holocaustsurvivors.org. Research the stories of other survivors of
the Holocaust. Present one survivor’s story to the class, either in a multimedia
presentation or in a “live presentation” using posters, photographs, and other
illustrations.
11.
Visit iwitness.usc.edu. Explore the site, including full life histories and
testimonies of survivors and other witnesses to the Holocaust. Decide on a
group or individual project and create a presentation of your findings using
some of the methods offered on the site. The iWitness video editor can be
used to integrate testimony clips, photos and maps, voiceover audio, music,
and text for a presentation that will help you connect your learning with
technology.
12.
Compose an original poem about the Holocaust or from the view of a Holocaust
victim, or use a poem you have already written. Find images to illustrate your
poem, and music that creates the mood you are trying to convey. Combine
your poem, the images you have chosen, and your music, to create a slide
show using PowerPoint or similar multimedia software.
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
77
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Essay/Writing Ideas
1. Explain what you believe were Wiesel’s reasons for choosing the title Night for the
novel.
2. Write a more complete biography of Elie Wiesel by researching his life and works.
Create a poster or brochure, or put together a multimedia presentation detailing
the information you have found. Include facts about major events in his life, his
major works, and how his life is related to his works. (Keep in mind that he is still
alive. How might you best be able to get some interesting and new information
about him?)
3. Differentiate between the ghettos in the novel and the ghettos of today.
4. The prisoners of the Holocaust were not known to revolt against their captors.
Even when they became aware of their probable fate, they did not gather together
to start a revolution or try to escape en masse. What do you believe was their
reasoning?
5. As the Jews were deported from their homes and taken to the concentration
camps, they were put through the selection process. Some were sent to the left
and some were sent to the right. Certain death would follow for the elderly, the
very young and the infirm, and those who were deemed healthy enough to work
would be given a place in the camps. Some people who study the Holocaust have
said that it didn’t matter which line the Jew was sent to, his fate was the same.
What do you think this means? Which line would you have wanted to be in, and
why?
6. Throughout the novel, we hear of people who are losing their connections with
friends and relatives, even their fathers, because they are thinking only of
themselves and their own survival. “No one paid attention [to the men crushed,
trampled underfoot, dying]…. Sons abandoned the remains of their fathers
without a tear.” How is it possible that these people could live with themselves
and the hopelessness of this situation? How would you justify your actions if you
had conducted yourself in this way? How would you have been able to absolve
yourself of the guilt you would ultimately have felt?
7. Place yourself in Elie’s position. From early on, he knew there was a possibility
that he would not live to adulthood. If you knew you might die young, how would
you cope with knowing that you were going to die and never experience living on
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
78
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
your own, going to college, being married and having your own children, etc.?
What “coping mechanisms” would you employ if you found yourself in this
situation?
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. 8. Watch the documentary Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State. Using the form on page
49, take notes on the movie, adding to it notes from your reading of Night.
Referring to your notes, write an essay, comparing and contrasting the novel with
the movie. Note similarities and differences, writing your reaction to the persons
involved and the action in both the novel and the movie. Do you have a
preference for either the novel or the movie? Why? Explain in detail, citing
examples from each.
9. Analyze the cynicism of the expression “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes [You]
Free) above the gates at the entrance to Auschwitz. Is the expression truly ironic,
or is there truth in the statement for those at Auschwitz?
10. Write about what you would have done in the same situation if you had been
one of the characters in Night. Specifically, how would you have handled Idek or
Franek or the Kapos carrying clubs and sticks? What do you believe you might
have said or done to make your experience at Auschwitz a little less problematic
than the life experienced by Elie?
11. Write a journal from Elie’s father’s point of view about what happened in the
novel. A minimum of ten entries should be included in your journal. Entries
should focus on major events from the novel and how he responds to each event.
Remember, you are Elie’s father while you are writing in this journal, so keep your
writing in character. Since he dies, you must decide how you are going to finish
the journal after his death. You will need to be creative. Finally, design a unique
cover for the journal depicting one of the most memorable scenes from the novel.
12. Explain how the statement, “It isn’t how long you’ve got that matters, it’s what
you do with the time you have,” relates to the novel, Night. In your opinion, how
could the prisoners have made best use of this maxim?
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
79
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Teacher Guide
Notes for the Teacher
As mentioned on page 5, not all activities and worksheets in this guide must be used. They are
here to help you, so you do not have to do all the work. A few notes about this guide:
•
Page numbers listed in this Literature Guide refer to Night, by Elie Wiesel, published by Hill and
Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2006 Marion Wiesel translation.
•
Elie Wiesel does not number his chapters in the novel, Night. For the sake of efficiency, I have
taken the liberty of assigning a number to each new “section”—where the writing starts to what
looks like the end of a chapter. A look at the Table of Contents should help you understand what I
have done. There are five Parts in this Literature Guide. Each part is either a section or a group
of sections. The Literature Guide is broken up into parts in an attempt to make the number of
pages in each “cluster of study” more uniform. Part One includes Sections 1-2. Part Two includes
only Section 3. Part Three includes only Section 4. Part Four includes Sections 5-6. Lastly, Part
Five includes Sections 7-9. All materials are clearly marked by Part and Section, and page
numbers are also included for clarity.
•
Wiesel speaks of his father, whose name was Shlomo. Night, (the 1982 Stella Rodway translation)
is the only publication I found in which his name was spelled with a “C.” Throughout my research
for this Literature Guide, every resource available spelled his name “Shlomo.” This 2006 Marion
Wiesel translation of Night has spelled his name Shlomo, as well. Because in my research I found
his son’s name spelled only with the “S,” on the biography page, page 9, his son’s name is spelled
“Shlomo.”
•
In Part Four, Section 5, Wiesel speaks of having an infection in his foot for which he goes into
surgery. Other sources have documented his injury as a knee injury. Some have said that he
may have deliberately misrepresented the injury to distance himself somewhat from the reality of
the situation.
•
Do not feel that you must adhere too strictly to the directions. For example, in Standards Focus:
Figurative Language, on pages 28-29, in questions 11 and 12, the students are directed to find
two examples on their own of any of the given types of figurative language. If they are having
trouble finding examples, or if you would just like to give them more freedom, you may certainly
have them find examples from other sections in the novel. Similarly, on pages 34-35 and 44, the
directions tell the students to find quotations from Section 3 to complete the activity. You do not
have to adhere strictly to this; you may want to let them look in other parts of the book for their
quotes, or you may even wish to do the exercise during a different section. You will find that Part
IV (Sections 5-6) has several good examples that students can use to “find and use” supporting
quotations for the activities on pp. 34-35 and 44.
•
On page 41 of the novel, there is mention of an iron door with the inscription over it, “Work is
Liberty.” It is actually inscribed with the German words, “Arbeit Macht Frei,” (ar-bite mockt fry)
which means literally, “work makes free.” The cover of your Literature Guide has a picture of the
gates of Auschwitz with the inscription overhead. It is important that the students see this image
and understand the phrase.
•
Two versions of the Final Exam are provided for your convenience. Choose the one that fits your
style and/or the style of your students. It is not necessary to administer both exams. The
Multiple Choice Version is suitable to use with an answer sheet such as Scantron.
•
Visit http://www.tolerance.org/kit/one-survivor-remembers to download the free educational kit
for teachers, entitled “One Survivor Remembers.” Consider using the film you will receive in the
compare/contrast activity on page 49 of this Literature Guide.
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
80
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Sample Agenda
Week One
Day One: Begin to introduce the themes of the novel by choosing an activity or activities
from the Pre-Reading Ideas and Activities on pages 6-7 to be completed prior to, or in the
early stages of, reading the novel. Read one or both: Historical Background: Hitler and other
Important Persons of the Holocaust, pp. 8-10 and/or Auschwitz Concentration Camp, pp. 1112.
Day Two: Read Author Biography: Elie Wiesel and answer the corresponding questions, pp.
13-14. Pass out Anticipation/Reaction Guide—Before Reading, pp. 15-16, and have students
work individually on p. 15. After everyone is finished, begin a class discussion. After about
five minutes, have students get into small groups and continue the discussion, paying
attention to what others feel and think. After everyone has had a chance to share, have
students return to their seats and finish page 16 on their own.
Day Three: Go over Anticipation/Reaction Guide Reflection as a class. Introduce Holocaust
Terminology and Vocabulary List, pp. 17-20. If students are to find their own definitions for
the Vocabulary, decide if you want them to find the definitions for all words now, or for each
section as you get to it. Give students time in class to begin. Assign a due date.
Day Four: Go over Standards Focus: Note-Taking and Summarizing Sample, p. 25. Begin
reading Part One of the novel, (Night, pp.3-28). Allow students a little extra time to practice
using Note-Taking and Summarizing, p. 26 to help them familiarize themselves with the
organizer.
Day Five: Introduce Comprehension Check, p. 27. Explain to students how they should be
answering the questions. Continue reading Part One of the novel. Give students time at the
end of the period to work on Comprehension Check.
Week Two
Day One: If students did not finish reading Part One and doing Comprehension Check, allow
time now. Teach and assign Figurative Language, pp. 28-29. If time allows, teach and
assign Assessment Preparation: Synonyms, pp. 30-31. Remind students of tomorrow’s quiz
on Part One and associated vocabulary. Assign Night Crossword: Vocabulary Review,
Sections 1-2, p. 54 for homework, if desired.
Day Two: Administer Quiz: Part One (Sections 1-2), p. 59, and Vocabulary Quiz, p. 60. As
students finish, have them finish Synonyms, pp. 30-31. Begin reading Part Two of the novel,
(Night, pp. 29-46), completing Standards Focus: Note-Taking and Summarizing, p. 32, as
you read.
Day Three: Finish reading Part Two. Distribute Comprehension Check, p. 33 and give
students time to work. Have students finish at home.
Day Four: Explain and assign Standards Focus: Response to Literature, Finding Supporting
Quotations, pp. 34-35. Allow students the entire period to work on this.
Day Five: Introduce Assessment Preparation: Vocabulary Extension, pp. 36-37. As students
finish, have them complete Standards Focus: Response to Literature, Finding Supporting
Quotations, pp. 34-35. Tell them to keep their work in a safe place for future use, or collect
their papers to be used during the reading of Part Four. Remind students of next day’s quiz
on Part Two and associated vocabulary. Assign Night Crossword: Vocabulary Review,
Sections 3-4, p. 55 for homework, if desired.
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
81
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Week Three
Day One: Administer Quiz: Part Two (Section 3), p. 61, and Vocabulary Quiz, p. 62. When
all students have finished the Quiz, begin reading Part Three, (Night, pp. 47-65) providing
Note-Taking and Summarizing sheets, p. 38, for use during reading.
Day Two: Finish reading Part Three, and complete Comprehension Check, p. 39. If time
allows, explain and assign Standards Focus: Denotation and Connotation, p. 40.
Day Three: Finish any work from Day Two, and then assign Assessment Preparation:
Vocabulary in Context, p. 42.
Day Four: Administer Quiz: Part Three (Section 4), p. 63, and Vocabulary Quiz, p. 64.
When all students have finished, hand out Note-Taking and Summarizing sheets, p. 43, to be
used as you begin reading Part Four, (Night, pp. 66-97).
Day Five: Continue reading Part Four of Night. Distribute Comprehension Check, p. 44.
Allow students about ten minutes near the end of the period to begin working on it.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Week Four
Day One: (If you need to order in advance to receive a movie for the Compare/Contrast
activity, p. 50, now is the time to do that. You will need it in about one week. You will also
need dictionaries with etymology information in them, so if you don’t have them, make
arrangements to have one available for each student next week.) Finish reading Part Four.
Finish Comprehension Check questions, p. 44.
Day Two: Explain and assign Response to Literature: Using Supporting Quotations, p. 45.
Return or have students get out Response to Literature: Finding Supporting Quotations, pp.
34-35, which was completed during the reading of Part Two. Allow students the rest of the
period to work on their paragraphs.
Day Three: Finish Response to Literature: Using Supporting Quotations, p. 45. About
fifteen minutes before the end of class or when all students have finished their paragraphs,
explain and assign Assessment Preparation: Analogies, pp. 46-47. Remind students of
tomorrow’s quiz on Part Four and associated vocabulary. Assign Night Crossword:
Vocabulary Review, Sections 5-9, pp. 56-57 for homework, if desired.
Day Four: Administer Quiz: Part Four (Sections 5-6), p. 65, and Vocabulary Quiz, p. 66.
When all students have finished the quiz, distribute Note-Taking and Summarizing sheets, p.
48, and begin reading Part Five, (Night, pp. 98-115).
Day Five: Continue reading Part Five, working on Note-Taking and Summarizing sheets, p.
48, as you read. Assign Comprehension Check questions, p. 49.
Week Five
Day One: Finish reading the novel. When you have finished the Comprehension Check
questions, p. 49, supply each student with an appropriate dictionary, and then teach and
assign Assessment Preparation: Word Origins—Etymology, pp. 51-52, to be completed in
class. Remind students of tomorrow’s quiz on Part Five and related vocabulary.
Day Two: Administer Quiz: Part Five (Sections 7-9), p. 67, and Vocabulary Quiz, p. 68).
When all students have finished, explain and assign an activity from Post-Reading Ideas and
Alternative Assessment, pp. 76-77, and/or a writing activity from Essay/Writing Ideas, pp.
78-79. Assign students a due date. Assign Night Crossword: Final Exam Review, p. 58 for
homework, if desired. Remind students of tomorrow’s Final Exam. As a reminder, there are
two different versions of the Final Exam from which to choose. You may want to give some
of your students a challenge, while allowing others more choices. You decide which version
each student should take, but you will only need to administer one Final to each student.
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
82
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Day Three: Administer Final Exam, pp. 69-71, or Final Exam: Multiple Choice Version, pp.
72-75. Allow students the entire period to work on the Exam, but if you like, when a student
finishes early, allow him/her to work quietly on his/her Post-Reading or Essay/Writing
activities for the rest of the period.
Day Four: Distribute and explain Standards Focus: Comprehension and Analysis, Compare
and Contrast, p. 50. View the movie you have chosen as your example for follow-up, and
have students take notes as appropriate, while watching the movie in class.
Day Five: Give students time to prepare their Compare and Contrast essays during class. If
students finish early, give them time in class to work on their Post-Reading activities or
Essay/Writing activities.
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Week Six
Day One: Give students time in class to work on their Post-Reading activities or
Essay/Writing activities, if needed. If students are finished with their projects, have them
begin their classroom presentations.
Day Two: Continue class presentations.
Day Three: Finish class presentations.
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
83
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Night
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Summary of the Novel
Section I
(Pp. 3-22) Wiesel relates the story of Moishe the Beadle, the caretaker at the
Hasidic Synagogue. He became Wiesel’s mentor, and under him he studied the Talmud
and delved into the world of Jewish mysticism through the Cabbala. Then one day, all
foreign Jews were expelled, and Moishe the Beadle was among them. The Jews had been
taken to Polish territory, where the Gestapo had murdered all of them, except Moishe. He
had miraculously escaped the mass murder by pretending he was dead, after only having
been shot in the leg. He returned to Sighet to tell his story, but no one wanted to believe
him, thinking he was just trying to get sympathy or that he had gone mad. [Perhaps it is
because of the reaction of the people of Sighet to the story told by Moishe the Beadle that
Wiesel refused to tell his story for over ten years after liberation.] Wiesel asked his father
to sell out and move to Palestine. He refused, saying he was too old to start all over again.
The people of Sighet didn’t believe that Hitler would get as far as their town, figuring the
Nazis would stay in Budapest. They seemed to be living in denial. Rights were taken
away from the Jews under pain of death, and soon they were moved into the ghettos,
living in deplorable conditions. Wiesel describes the suffering of the Jews as they are
deported from the ghetto to the concentration camp.
Section II (Pp. 23-28) Elie and his family are taken away in a cattle car among eighty
people, with little water, a few loaves of bread, and no room to sit down. They are told to
give up all valuables or be shot. Mrs. Schächter is aboard and has gone mad. She was
separated from her husband and two eldest sons by accident. She continually calls out
about fire and flames and smoke, screaming and wailing, upsetting everyone in the cattle
car. To silence her, some of the deportees begin to strike her with blows that could have
killed her. They arrive at Auschwitz where they will stay. As the train stops, Mrs.
Schächter screams once again to look out the windows. This time, there truly are flames
and smoke coming out of a chimney into a black sky, and an abominable odor to
accompany it. Her vision was foretelling.
Section III (Pp. 29-46) They depart the train, leaving all their possessions behind.
Immediately, selection begins, “Men to the left! Women to the right!” Elie is able to stay
with his father, and a prisoner tells him to say he is eighteen, rather than his real age of
fifteen, and his father is told to say he is forty, not fifty years old. Some of the prisoners
begin to expound the realities of the camp, telling them that they are about to be burned,
frizzled away, turned to ashes. They want to revolt, but do not. Dr. Mengele does further
selection, choosing those who are strong enough to work, and disposing of the others. To
his ultimate horror, Elie witnesses babies being taken to a ditch, used for target practice,
and burned. There is a larger ditch for adults nearby. The prisoners are forced to march
past the ditches, and Elie believes he will be forced into the ditch to burn to death, so he
tells his father that he will go for the electric wires, rather than suffer in that way. They
get within two steps of the pits, and they are ordered to turn left away from them and are
safe. They are taken to their barracks where they are processed, going to the barber,
disinfection, showering, receiving ill-fitting clothing, getting tattooed, all at breakneck
speeds, and while being beaten at the whim of those in charge. Already they are
tormented by hunger and thirst. A friend of the family comes looking for them to seek
information about his wife and children. Elie lies to him, saying that they are alive and
well. Then he receives real news, and he is not heard from again. Elie and his father
speculate about the condition of Elie’s mother and sister, and each tries to assuage the
worries of the other.
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
84
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Section IV (Pp. 47-65) They move on to Buna, another Concentration Camp. Elie is asked
to give up his shoes in exchange for a good unit or an extra ration of bread. He refuses,
but loses his shoes anyway, in exchange for nothing. They are sent for medical exams
and to the dentist who is looking, not for teeth in need of repair, but for gold crowns. Elie
befriends Yossi and Tibi, two brothers attached to their group and whose parents were
exterminated at Birkenau. Again, Elie is summoned to the dentist for extraction of his
gold crown. He makes up a story to hold the dentist off from taking his tooth, and is given
permission to leave. Elie is given a job at a warehouse, where he befriends a French girl
who speaks no German—Elie speaks no French. Idek, a Kapo, is taken with a bout of
frenzy, and takes to beating Elie. The French girl then speaks to Elie in near-perfect
German. [Years later, he meets her in the Metro and they spend the whole evening
reminiscing. She was Jewish, but passed for Aryan, and that is how she survived.] The
foreman, Franek, tells Elie to give him his gold crown. Elie refuses, so Franek begins to
torment Elie’s father. Elie tells him that if he will leave his father alone, he will give him
the tooth. Because he made Franek wait, Franek made him give him a ration of bread as
well as his tooth. Elie accidentally sees Idek in a compromising position with a girl, and
Idek makes an example of him, beating him with a whip in front of everyone. One Sunday,
air raid sirens begin to wail, and a man takes advantage of it by trying to steal some soup.
He ends up dead. A week later the gallows is set up in the assembly place to punish a
young man who stole during the alert. Everyone is forced to march past his newly hanged
body, looking him full in the face. Three other prisoners are sentenced to hang, one of
them a 13-year-old pipel. The child dies slowly, not weighing enough to bring about his
quick demise. “That night the soup tasted like corpses.”
Section V (Pp. 66-84) The eve of Rosh Hashanah, the last night of the year…. Would it be
their last day? Elie begins to strongly reject his God, believing that He would protect them
from this Hell if He really cared. At the service, everyone recites the Kaddish, the prayer
for the dead. Yom Kippur—should they fast? They fast every day! And as a “New Year’s
gift” the SS treats them to another selection. How would Elie’s father survive? He had
aged so much. The selection begins, and it is a race for life. The boys run around to help
the color return to their cheeks, and check with each other to see if they have been
written down by Dr. Mengele. Everyone is told not to worry, that all of them are safe.
Several days later, those whose numbers had been taken are told to stay behind at the
camp when the others move out. Elie’s father is among them. He gives his knife and
spoon to Elie, telling him he no longer will need it. Elie will not take “his inheritance.”
They march outside the gates, leaving his father behind. He worries all day about him,
and when they return that afternoon, somehow he is still alive! In January, Elie’s foot
swells, and he goes to the hospital, where they tell him he needs surgery. He is warned
by a patient there, “the faceless one,” that he should not stay there, that they will just
exterminate him if he is not well. Elie doesn’t trust the man, but heeds his message.
Meanwhile, Elie undergoes minor surgery for infection in his foot. Just two days later, they
are forced to evacuate because the Red Army is on their heels. “The faceless one” tells
him to get out, that all the patients in the hospital will be finished off on the spot and sent
to the crematory. Elie decides to go along with those evacuating. [Elie learns after the
war that those who stayed behind in the hospital were quite simply liberated by the
Russians two days after the evacuation.]
Section VI (Pp. 85-97) The march begins, and the prisoners are forced to run as fast as
their legs can carry them. Those who could not keep up were to be shot. Men fall down,
crying, some are shot, and Elie’s foot is a spurt of red flame. He wills himself not to feel
anything. Their legs move mechanically as they pass the 42-mile mark. They are allowed
to rest, and go to an old dilapidated brick factory, where hundreds of prisoners try to
crowd in the door. Men are crushed, trampled underfoot, dying, and no one pays any
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. © 2013 Secondary Solutions
85
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
attention. Elie imagines himself a corpse in just a matter of hours. To sleep would mean
to die. Rabbi Eliahu comes in looking for his son, whom he lost track of on the run. Elie
remembers seeing him run to the front away from his father, letting the distance between
them grow. A terrible thought occurs to Elie—he had wanted to get rid of his father to
improve his chances of survival. Elie is horrified! How could he do that? On their arrival
at Gleiwitz, they are installed in barracks, where they are just a mass of bodies. Men are
lying atop one another, and again, crushing and suffocating each other. Juliek and his
violin are at the bottom of the heap and somehow manage to get out. Juliek plays his
violin to the dying men, and in the morning, Elie finds the violin smashed and Juliek dead.
Another selection, and Elie’s father is sent to the left! Elie runs to his father and an SS
guard shouts after him, and in the confusion, he is able to bring his father back to the
right, saving him once again. They are forced to leave the camp and forbidden to even
bend down as they wait for the train to take them away. Hours later a train of cattle
wagons with no roofs arrives and embarkation complete, the journey begins.
Section VII (Pp. 98-103) On the train again, bodies are slumped against one another, as
Elie tries to distinguish those who are still alive from those who are gone. The train stops
in a deserted field, and the prisoners are ordered to throw out all the corpses. Elie’s father
is mistaken for dead, and as Elie tries to waken him, he has to fight the others so he will
not be expelled from the train. Some Germans take pleasure in throwing bits of bread into
the train and there is a stampede for it, with men fighting each other to the death for a
mouthful. One man manages to get some bread for himself and his son, but his son
throws himself upon his father to take it from him. The father dies, the son gets the bread,
and soon two others take the bread from him, killing him. Elie is nearly strangled to death,
but Meir Katz helps his father rescue him. Moaning is everywhere. Hundreds of cries rise
up simultaneously, feeling the end is upon them. Only a dozen of the one hundred on the
train make it out alive.
Section VIII (Pp. 104-112) Buchenwald. A hot shower and some rest. But hundreds of
prisoners crowd around there. Elie’s father begs him to leave him to rest in the snow; he
can’t go on. There are corpses lying about who also wanted just to rest. An alert—
everyone is moved into the barracks. To sleep is all that matters, and when Elie awakens,
he thinks of his father, on the brink of death, as he has abandoned him. He goes to look
for him, hoping he will not find him, so that he can save his strength to struggle for his
own survival. Immediately, he feels ashamed of himself—ashamed forever. When he
finds him he brings him some coffee, but he has had nothing to eat, because they “should
die soon anyway.” His father grows weaker day by day, until Elie finally asks for a doctor
to help him. He will not. Some others hit his father and take his bread. He begs for some
water, and an officer quiets him with a violent blow to the head. Next morning, his father
has been removed, having died during the night.
Section IX (Pp. 113-115) After his father’s death, Elie is transferred to the children’s block,
and he has but one desire—to eat. An order is sent over the loudspeakers—All Jews to the
assembly place. Ten blocks of deportees would be evacuated each day. Every day several
thousand prisoners left the camp never to return. By April 10, there were still about
20,000 left in camp, who were all going to be evacuated at once. Afterward, they would
blow up the camp. The sirens went off and they returned to the blocks. The “resistance”
took charge of running the camp, and at 6:00 p.m. the first American tank stood at the
gates of Buchenwald. [Just after liberation, Elie, stricken with food poisoning, spent two
weeks in the hospital, hovering between life and death.]
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. © 2013 Secondary Solutions
86
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation
Name
Period
Sample Project Rubric
©Secondary Solutions All Rights Reserved. SAMPLE ONLY. NOT FOR USE OR SALE. PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION FOR ACCESS. Category
Required
Elements
Score of 4
Score of 3
Score of 2
Score of 1
Includes all required
elements as stated in
the directions/
instructions.
Includes all but
one of the
required elements
as stated in the
directions/
instructions.
Missing more than
one of the required
elements, as stated
in the directions/
instructions.
Several
required elements
are missing from the
project.
All pictures,
photographs,
drawings, diagrams,
graphs, etc. are
related to the topic
and enhance the
understanding and
enjoyment.
Some graphics/
illustrations are
used and are
relevant,
enhancing the
project.
Few, if any
graphics/
illustrations are
used, and/or
detract from the
project and/or are
not relevant to the
topic.
No graphics/
illustrations are
used, and/or are
unrelated, distracting
and/or inappropriate.
Exceptionally clever
and unique; approach
and presentation
enhance the
project.
Clever at times;
thoughtfully and
uniquely
presented.
A few original
touches enhance
the project.
Shows little
creativity, originality,
and/or effort.
Exceptionally attractive
and particularly neat in
design and layout.
Attractive and neat
in design and
layout.
Acceptably
attractive, but may
be messy at times
and/or show lack of
organization.
Distractingly messy
or very poorly
designed. It is not
attractive and does
not show pride in
work.
No grammatical/
mechanical mistakes
in the project.
A few
grammatical/
mechanical
mistakes.
Mistakes are not
distracting.
Several
grammatical/
mechanical
mistakes. Mistakes
are distracting.
Many grammatical/
mechanical mistakes
throughout the
project. Project was
clearly not proofread.
All sources are
properly and
thoroughly cited; the
maximum number/
types of sources are
used to complete the
project.
The minimum
number/types of
sources are
present and are
cited properly.
Number/types of
sources are below
the minimum and/or
citations are not
formatted properly.
Project does not cite
sources.
Engaging, provocative,
and captures the
interest of the
audience. Work clearly
shows sense of pride
and exceptional effort.
Well done and
interesting; is
presented in a
unique manner
and is well
organized. Work
shows pride and
good effort.
At times interesting
and clever, and
organized in a
logical manner.
Work shows some
pride and effort.
Not organized
effectively, not easy
to follow, and does
not keep the reader/
audience interested.
Shows little or no
pride or effort in
work.
SCORE _____
Graphics/
Illustrations
SCORE _____
Creativity
SCORE _____
Neatness/
Attractiveness
SCORE _____
Grammar
SCORE _____
Citation of
Sources
SCORE _____
Overall
Effectiveness
SCORE _____
© 2013 Secondary Solutions
87
Night Literature Guide
2006 Marion Wiesel Translation