Name ______Date ______Core ______
Literature Circles – HONORS
Night
The Berlin Boxing Club
- Answer the following open ended questions on a separate sheet of paper.
- Answer each question in at least 1-2 paragraphs. Each paragraph must be 7 or more sentences.
- Create1-2 open-ended questions you’d like to discuss with your group.
Night
LITERATURE CIRCLE #1- Read the entire book, and answer the below questions.
DUE: 4/17/15.
1.What are some incidents that suggest or foreshadow the coming danger to the Sighet
Jews? Why doesn’t the community believe it is in danger?
- When he arrives at Auschwitz and then at Buna, Wiesel describes scenes he will never forget. What scenes, ideas, or feelings from the memoir do you find unforgettable?
- What events lead to the two hangings Wiesel describes? How does Wiesel feel about hisevening meal after each hanging? What do his reactions suggest about how he ischanging?
4. At the end of the book, Wiesel describes himself in the mirror as "a corpse"
gazing back at himself. In what ways did Wiesel “die” during the Holocaust?
Does the memoir give you any hope that Wiesel ever started living again?
5. Why do you think Wiesel titled the book "Night?" What are the literal and
symbolic meanings of "night" in the book?
6. Why do some prisoners give up hope? What kinds of events impact
their loss of hope? What, if any, inner or outer forces, help the survivors to
endure?
The Berlin Boxing Club
- Answer the following open ended questions on a separate sheet of paper.
- Answer each question in at least 1-2 paragraphs. Each paragraph must be 7 or more sentences.
- Create1-2 open-ended questions you’d like to discuss with your group.
LITERATURE CIRCLE #2 – Read pgs. 1-205, and answer the below questions.
DUE: 4/24/15.
1. At the beginning of the novel, “Hitler and the Nazis” rank only fifth on Karl’s list of “biggest
concerns in life” (page 21). Why are other matters more pressing for Karl? How does Hitler’s
regime become a more significant problem in Karl’s life as the story progresses?
2. Do you, like Karl, think boxing is “a noble sport,” or are you more of Greta’s mind that
it’s “pretty dumb” (page 115)? Explain.
3. Describe Karl and Hildy’s relationship. How do you know they care for each other?
How does each experience Nazi Germany differently, particularly because of their
looks?
4. What afflicts Karl’s mother? Though often shown as weak, how does she demonstrate
strength?
LITERATURE CIRCLE #3- Read pgs. 206-400, and answer the below questions.
DUE: 5/1/15.
1. How does Karl’s understanding of his father change over the course of the novel?
How does Karl’s opinion of Max Schmeling change?
2. Max Schmeling says, “As long as you fight back, there’s no shame” (page 36). How
does this statement act as a motif for the novel? Which characters fight back and
which do not? Does Max Schmeling always live by his own words?
3.Why is it sometimes difficult—or even impossible—to fight back? Is there necessarily
shame in being passive—or feinting—instead of fighting? Explain.
4. How do the illustrations and comics interspersed throughout contribute to your reading
of the novel? How can you “read” art?
5. Karl’s mother tells her son, “One of your father’s modern ideas about parenting is to
leave you alone and let you become the man you want to be, not the man he wants
you to be” (page 302). What kind of man does Karl want to be? What kind of man
does he become by the novel’s end? How does his father help Karl become this man?