TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Night

Elie Wiesel

About the Author

Elie Wiesel (el´ ē wi zel´) was born in 1928 in Sighet, Romania, the son of a shopkeeper. He was raised in the town’s devout Hasidic Jewish community, where he studied not only the Bible and Talmud (Jewish law) but also the cabala, mystical Jewish teachings gathered in a book called the Zohar. During World War II (1939–1945), when the Nazis overran Romania and made Sighet part of Hungary, Wiesel and the rest of Sighet’s Jews were shipped to concentration camps in Poland. There, he lost both parents and his younger sister. After the war, Wiesel joined other Jewish orphans in France, found work as a journalist, and eventually immigrated to the United States. In 1958, wanting to bear witness to the horrors that Jews had experienced in the war, Wiesel published his autobiographical Night. Since then, he has been an ardent spokesperson against persecution the world over. In 1986, his efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Background

During the 1930s, a group called the Nazis took power in Germany and began a policy of military expansion. According to the Nazi philosophy, northern and western Europeans, whom they called Aryans, were a superior race, while groups like the Slavs were born to serve and non-Europeans like Jews and Gypsies should be wiped out. The Nazis put their racist ideas into practice, first in Germany and then in other countries they conquered. Jews and other “enemies” were rounded up and shot or sent to concentration camps, where they were killed and burned in buildings called crematories or forced to work under horrendous conditions, often dying of starvation or disease. By the end of World War II, the Nazis had killed about 12 million people in this way, including 6 million Jews—nearly two thirds of Europe’s Jewish population. This massive crime against humanity is known as the Holocaust, a term Wiesel himself is said to have coined.

Quick Guide
As you read Night, keep the following literary elements in mind:
•Characterization is the way or ways in which an author reveals information about a character. In direct characterization, the author makes direct statements about a character's appearance, personality, and actions. In indirect characterization, a writer suggests information about a character through what the character says and does, what other characters say about him or her, or how other characters behave toward him or her. Notice how young Elie and the other characters are characterized.
•An external conflict is a struggle between a main character and an outside force, such as another character, society in general, or an aspect of nature. An internal conflict is a mental struggle within a character. Consider the conflicts that young Elie faces.
•Setting is the time and place in which a work occurs. Night is set in eastern Europe during World War II. Consider the atmosphere or mood of the setting.
•Foreshadowing is the use of clues to suggest events that have not happened yet. Notice how Wiesel, writing as an adult about his youth, foreshadows events.
•Figurative language is language not meant to be taken literally. For example, Wiesel describes life in a concentration camp as a dark and horrible night. Look for other examples of figurative language as you read.
•Irony results from a contrast between what is expected or seems true and what actually turns out to be true. Notice the irony in many aspects of concentration camp life.
•An allusion is a reference within a work to something outside it, such as a well-known person, place, event, or other work. Wiesel makes many allusions to Jewish religious practices and to the Bible.

TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Vocabulary

1.deporteesn. people officially ordered to leave a place

2.billetedadj. assigned lodging

3.firmamentn. sky; heavens

4.premonitionn. feeling that something
will happen; advance warning

5.infernaladj. of hell; hellish

6.pillage v. violently steal from; loot

7.pestilentialadj. like an infectious disease; harmful; deadly

8.paternaladj. fatherly

9.lucidityn. clear thinking; clarity

10.blandishmentsadj. flattering or encouraging remarks

11.benedictionn. blessing

12.tempestn. storm

13.countenancen. face

14.cruciblen. severe test

15.mountebanksn. fakers; quacks; ineffective persons

16.privationsn. acts taking away the necessities of life; great losses

17.contagionn. spreading disease or something else one person catches from another

18.spasmodicallyadv. in spasms; in bursts; convulsively

19.liquidated v. got rid of; killed

20.innumerable adj. more than can
be counted; a great many

Chapter 1

Discussion Questions

1.Describe the character of Elie Wiesel in 1941, when Night opens.

2.Based on his characterization, what is Elie’s father like?

3.Why do you think Sighet’s Jews fail to heed the warnings of Moshe the Beadle?

4.Why do you think Elie’s father doesn’t leave for Palestine or accept Martha’s offer?

5.What early actions on the part of the Germans suggest greater danger to come?

Writing Activity In a paragraph, explain why you think more Jews did not flee when the Nazis started to appear in Sighet.

Chapter 2

Discussion Questions

1.What does the opening of the chapter show about the Jews’ understanding of their future destination?

2.Identify two examples of foreshadowing in the chapter. At what future developments do you think they hint?

3.What does Madame Schächter have in common with Moshe the Beadle in the first chapter?

4.Why do the other passengers hit Madame Schächter and tie her up?

5.What is the “abominable odor in the air” at Auschwitz?

Writing Activity In one or two paragraphs, describe the feelings of the passengers as they take the train to Auschwitz.

Chapter 3

Discussion Questions

1.Why are the words “Men to the left! Women to the right!” significant to Wiesel? Why is it advisable for him to pretend he is older and for his father to pretend he is younger?

2.What examples of figurative language describe what happens to Wiesel’s life and faith on his first night at the camps? List several phrases as examples.

3.Why is Elie angry with himself for failing to act when the gypsy strikes his father? Do you think his self-criticism is valid? Explain.

4.Why do you think the camp policy was
to tattoo numbers on prisoners instead
of using their names?

5.What news do you think Stein gets from the transport that comes from Antwerp?

TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Writing Activity Explain what is ironic or contradictory about the sign over the gate at Auschwitz. How do you think the prisoners felt when they saw that sign each day?

Chapter 4

Discussion Questions

1.Explain the irony behind the incident involving Elie’s shoes. What is ironic about the behavior of the Jewish dentist?

2.Why do you think the Nazis allow music in the concentration camps?

3.How does Elie seem to feel about the Jewish French woman who pretends to be Aryan?

4.What is ironic about the prisoners’ attitude toward the Allied bombing of Buna?

5.Why do you think Elie was more disturbed by the hanging of the pipel than by the other hangings he witnessed?

Writing Activity Write a one-paragraph summary of life in the concentration camps based on what you’ve read thus far.

Chapter 5

Discussion Questions

1.As the Jews celebrate Jewish New Year, what happens to Elie Wiesel’s faith? Why?

2.Identify three biblical allusions on page 50. How does Elie contrast God’s acts in these biblical references with the events taking place in the concentration camp?

3.What happens in the “selections”?

4.Why does Chlomo give Elie his knife and spoon? Why does Elie call them “the inheritance”? How do you think Elie feels when he gives them back to his father?

5.What does the other hospital patient mean when he says that he has more faith in Hitler than in anyone else?

Writing Activity Discuss the effect that being in the camp has had on Elie. How has
he changed so far?

Chapter 6

Discussion Questions

1.What details help bring to life the setting through which the prisoners travel?

2.How do Elie and his father keep each other alive on the forced march across
the snow?

3.How does Elie’s behavior toward his father contrast with that of Rabbi Eliahou’s son?

4.How would you describe the atmosphere of the setting in which Juliek plays his violin? Why do you think Juliek takes care to hold on to his violin all the way to Gleiwitz?

5.What effect does the Allied approach seem to have on the Nazis’ efficiency? Cite details to support your answer.

Writing Activity Based on the details in Chapters 5 and 6, evaluate the decision that Elie and his father make to leave the hospital.

Chapters 7–9

Discussion Questions

1.Why do you think the German workman throws the crust of bread to the prisoners?

2.What does the death of Meir and his father reveal about human nature?

3.What internal conflict deeply troubles Elie after his father grows ill? Why do you think Elie fails to go to his father when Chlomo Wiesel calls his son at the end?

4.What is the resolution, or outcome, of the external conflict with Nazi society that Elie and his father face?

5.Why do you think Elie will always remember the face he sees in the mirror?

Writing Activity Evaluate the Nazis’ behavior as the Allied victory draws near. Why do you think they behave as they do?

TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Pulling It All Together
WritingImagine that you are an Allied soldier who liberated Elie and interviewed him about his experiences. Write an account of what you learn about life and death in the camps. Also, describe Elie’s mental, physical, and emotional state.
InterviewWith another student, take on the role of Elie Wiesel or the American official who interviews him after the camp is liberated.
Sensitive Issues
The book chronicles anti-Semitism and the enslavement, oppression, and genocide of European Jews during World War II, as well as the author’s temporary loss of faith. Sexual abuse is also touched on, and offensive language is used.

TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Answers

TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Chapter 1

1.He is devout, thoughtful, curious, and bright, with strong ties to his family and heritage.

2.He is cultured, unsentimental, successful, respected, pious, old-fashioned, and stubborn, with strong ties to his family and heritage.

3.Moshe the Beadle is poor, foreign, and a bit odd, so people don’t take him seriously. The Jews also do not want to believe the worst.

4.He is a respected member of the community and does not want to start over. He does not believe the Nazis present the danger they do.

5.Actions include shipping foreigners away, closing the synagogues, herding the Jews into two ghetto areas, and forcing them to wear yellow Stars of David.

Writing Activity Students should recognize that leaving a place where you have always lived is not easy, especially when you are not wealthy.

Chapter 2

1.Most have no idea of the horrors that await them.

2.Madam Schächter’s dream visions hint at the fiery devastation that the Jews on the train will face. The line “Our eyes were opened, but too late” hints at the dangers. Most readers know the station name Auschwitz, which will be a place of genocide.

3.Both recognize the dangers facing the Jews, but they are viewed as crazy and are not believed.

4.Her hysterical screams add to the terror and tension of the situation. Her loud rantings might bring the guards, who will punish everyone.

5.the smell of the dead being burned in the crematories

Writing Activity Students should recognize the terror and tension of the trip, the physical discomforts and dangers, and the ignorance of the destination and danger to come.

Chapter 3

1.Although he does not know it, this will be the last time he ever sees his mother and younger sister Tzipora. Only those fit for work are spared death, so if Elie seems too young or his father too old to work, they will be killed immediately.

2.Examples include “turned my life into one long night,” “those flames . . . consumed my faith forever,” “murdered my God,” and “turned my dreams to dust.”

3.He views himself as inhuman and cowardly after only a short time in the camp. Students may find it understandable that Elie was too frightened to act.

4.It is efficient and impersonal. It is another way of treating the prisoners as if they are not human beings.

5.His family is not alive.

TRADEBOOK LESSON PLAN: Night

Writing Activity Students should recognize that while there is plenty of work, there is no liberty, and that the threat of death hangs over the inmates.

Chapter 4

1.He refuses to give them up in exchange for a favor and finally gives them up for nothing. Elie expects the dentist to be good to fellow Jews; instead, the dentist steals from them to add to his own comfort.

2.Its contrast with the camp conditions may puzzle or upset inmates and add to their psychological torment. Some kinds of music, such as marches, may also control the pace of work and other activities.

3.She is brave and compassionate to risk discovery by being kind to Elie.

4.One would expect them to be frightened because they could be killed, but instead they cheer because it punishes the Germans and may lead to liberation.

5.The youth’s death is long and tortured,
and Elie may identify with someone close to his own age.

Writing Activity Summaries should recognize the dehumanization as well as the details of camp life and death.

Chapter 5

1.He has lost faith and is filled with anger and bewilderment at God for allowing the evils he has witnessed.

2.Allusions are made to Adam and Eve, Noah’s flood, and Sodom. The allusions stress God’s just intervention, and Elie tries in vain to find some similar justice or reason in what is happening at the camps.

3.Dr. Mengele and the SS officers select the weak prisoners who will be put to death.

4.He thinks he has been selected to die and wants his son to have them. They are the only thing of value his father can bequeath to him. He feels very relieved and joyful that his father was not selected to perish.

5.Hitler has thus far kept his terrible promises to destroy the Jews; in contrast, it seems that neither God nor anyone else has kept any promise to save them.

Writing Activity Students should recognize that Elie has lost faith but remains a loyal son.

Chapter 6

1.Students may mention the details about the snow and cold and the details about the dead and dying.

2.When Elie is tempted to give in to death, he remembers that he needs to stay alive for his father. The two wake each other up to save each other from dying.

3.The rabbi’s son seems to abandon his father because he fears that the burden of supporting his weakening father will destroy them both.

4.The atmosphere is suffocating, bleak, gruesome, and dark. He loves music, and it has helped him survive, for it is his one bit of hope and beauty.

5.They seem thrown into some confusion. Details include the chaos of the forced march and Elie’s ability to create a distraction and allow his father to escape the selection process.

Writing Activity Students should recognize that it was the wrong decision. Those who remained did not become victims of the Nazi slaughter and were soon liberated by the Allies. By leaving, Elie and his father endured great hardship.

Chapters 7–9

1.He may feel pity. He may want to show contempt. He may wish to create a spectacle for other workers.

2.When treated with such brutality, many people will lose their humanity in the struggle to survive.

3.He is torn between the will to survive and the love he feels for his father; he feels guilty for leaving his father temporarily and for thinking of his father as a burden.

4.Elie survives, but his father dies.

5.It reflects the horror of his experiences, which will always haunt him.

Writing Activity Some students may feel that the Nazis’ continued running of the camps is a waste of manpower, which was needed at the front, or that the Nazi emphasis on duty above all else suggests great fear or brainwashing.