Chunk #2: Stark Portrait of Truth
Chunk #2: Stark Portrait of Truth
Day 1
Anchor Quotation:
 “You’re not supposed to be so blind with
patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is
wrong, no matter who says it.” Malcolm X
 Night-Elie Wiesel
 Why should you not always believe what your
eyes see?
 How does this still relate to
appearance vs. reality?
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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EQs:
Analyze stereotypes and scapegoats.
Do forms of mass genocide exist today?
What is our civic responsibility as Americans to intervene in
other countries that are committing crimes against humanity?
In what ways can individuals bring social awareness to such
atrocities?
To what extent do individuals have control over their lives?
What role does chance, choice, or fate play?
What are the causes and/or the rationale behind events such as
the Holocaust or other instances of genocide?
What is the importance of memory and remembrance in
relation to genocide?
How does Silence perpetuate violence?
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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Intolerance
Inequality
Human rights
Dehumanization
Survival
Civil rights
Relationships
Genocide
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Faith
Questioning
Anti-Semitism
Memory
Social Awareness
Responsibility
Justice
Loss of Innocence
Write your reaction to the
following statement:
All young people are lazy and
irresponsible. They can’t be
trusted with anything serious
or important.
What does this have to do with
the Holocaust?
1) How do you feel when you hear people
say that all young people are irresponsible,
uncaring, unintelligent, and/or lazy?
 2) Do you think this attitude limits you as a
young person? Does it affect how people
treat you?
 3) Where do people get their ideas about
young people? How could we help change
their ideas?
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What are the dangers of hatred and the
resiliency of the human spirit?
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The novel Night by Elie Wiesel is unique in
its perspective of the Holocaust. Wiesel
recounts his actual experiences as a teenager
suffering the extreme conditions in the
concentration camps of World War II.
Wiesel and his family endure both physical
and emotional torture at the hands of
Hitler’s officers in the death camps. In the
end, Elie witnesses the death of his family,
as well as the death of his innocence.
Night Character List
Eliezer (Elie): the narrator of Night. He is a
Jewish boy of 12 at the end of 1941 and 15
when he enters the concentration camp.
 Chlomo: Elie’s father who is respected by the
entire Jewish community and by his son as
well.
 Moshe the Beadle: Elie’s teacher of Jewish
mysticism.
 Akiba Drumer: A Jewish Holocaust victim who
gradually loses his faith in God as a result of his
experiences in the concentration camp.
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Night Character List
Madame Schächter: A Jewish woman who
is deported along with her ten-year-old
son(Schächter)
 Juliek: A young musician whom Elie meets
in Auschwitz.
 Tibi and Yosi: Two brothers with whom Elie
becomes friendly in Buna.
 Dr. Josef Mengele: A cruel doctor who
presides over the selection of arrivals at
Auschwitz/Birkenau.
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Night Character List
Idek: Elie’s Kapo at the electrical equipment
warehouse in Buna.
 Franek: Eliezer’s cruel foreman at Buna.
 Rabbi Eliahou: A devout Jewish prisoner
whose son abandons him in the march to
Gleiwitz.
 Kapo: A prisoner who is assigned to
supervise other prisoners and carry out
administrative task in the camp
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Night Character List
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Zalman: Zalman is one of Elie’s fellow
prisoners.
Meir Katz: Meir Katz is Chlomo’s friend from
Buna.
Stein: Stein is Elie’s relative from Antwerp,
Belgium, whom he and his father encounter in
Auschwitz.
Hilda: Hilda is Eliezer’s oldest sister.
Béa: Béa is Eliezer’s middle sister.
Tzipora: Tzipora is Eliezer’s youngest sister
Write down the page number of
examples as you find them in
the book.
 THEMES
 SYMBOLS
 Silence
 Night
 Father/Son
 Fire
Bonds
 Silence
 Maintaining
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Faith
 Inhumanity
 Self- Deception
Day What events can suddenly change
the course of a persons life?
Read the UN Declaration on Human Rights
(1948):
 http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/humanrights-basics/universal-declaration-ofhuman-rights
 List anything you see as odd or curious
about the items enumerated here.
 Class Discussion
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
Define resilient
 How have you reacted when confronted
with danger either to you or someone else?
 How can some be irrevocable changed by
witnessing horrific events?
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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A. Read the Preface (Wiesel) and Chapter 1 of Night, and answer the following
questions:
Preface:
1. What conclusion does Wiesel draw about those who were silent before and
during the Holocaust?
2. Why did Wiesel write this book?
Chapter 1 (pp 3-22):
3. What is a beadle?
4. What is the Talmud? The Zohar? The Kabbalah?
5. What had Moishe the Beadle seen after his cattle train was taken over by the
Gestapo?
6. Why do people not act when they hear dire warnings of impending disaster?
7. What is ironic about the behavior of the non-Jews who watch all of this take
place?
8. Make a list of each step the Germans took to overthrow and imprison the
Jews of Sighet (their targets) with so little resistance. (Commit this to memory
and never forget it.)
Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
Read Chapter 2 (pp 23-29) and answer the
following questions:
 1. Why do the Germans demand all of the
Jews’ valuables?
 2. How do you think Mrs. Schachter could
foresee the fire burning at Birkenau, their
eventual destination?
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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Read Chapter 3 (pp 29-46) and answer the following questions:
4. Along with their possessions, the Jews could no longer keep
their illusions about what was happening (29). How can you tell
if you have illusions, and how can you know what they are?
5. Why does the veteran prisoner tell Elie and his father to lie
about their ages and professions?
6. What literary device does Wiesel use when he mentions the
“silent sky” (34)? What does he mean?
7. What are the two options each prisoner has at Auschwitz?
8. What is A-7713?
9. Why does Stein insist that Elie and his father eat all they
can? What if they don’t?
10. Who is Job, with whom Elie agrees concerning the justice
of God (45)? What had Job endured?
Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
Read the article at this address, and make
notes in your notebook:
 http://academics.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/10
0/mengle.htm
 Be ready to take a quiz over this article.
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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Read Chapter 4 (pp 47-65)
1. Why were the younger boys in Elie's block fed well?
2. "It was good to have a Jew as your leader" (51). What is Wiesel
saying about Jews in general? Why might they be good leaders?
3. What does the German government's focus on the jewelry and gold
fillings of the Jews tell you about the priorities of its leadership?
4. What, in your opinion, are some foci (plural of focus) of the
American government today, based on its actions?
5. What does the story about the two cauldrons of soup demonstrate
about the state of mind of the prisoners?
6. How do falling bombs make Elie and his fellow prisoners hopeful
and happy?
7. What is the effect of the young boy's hanging on the other
prisoners?
Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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Read Chapter 4 (pp 47-65)
1. Why were the younger boys in Elie's block fed well?
2. "It was good to have a Jew as your leader" (51). What is Wiesel
saying about Jews in general? Why might they be good leaders?
3. What does the German government's focus on the jewelry and gold
fillings of the Jews tell you about the priorities of its leadership?
4. What, in your opinion, are some foci (plural of focus) of the
American government today, based on its actions?
5. What does the story about the two cauldrons of soup demonstrate
about the state of mind of the prisoners?
6. How do falling bombs make Elie and his fellow prisoners hopeful
and happy?
7. What is the effect of the young boy's hanging on the other
prisoners?
Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel CH. 6-7
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Read Chapter 6 (pp 85-97)
1. What action caused the Buna evacuees to be shot
by the SS?
2. How far had the prisoners run overnight? How
many miles does this equate to?
3. What had Rabbi Eliahu's son done, and why?
What is Elie's reaction to this action?
4. What almost kills Elie when they arrive in
Gleiwitz?
5. Why is Juliek playing Beethoven? Why had the
Nazis forbidden Beethoven's music?
6. How does Elie save his father's life?
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How are the interlocking oppressions of
race, class, and gender at work in the lives
of the characters?
Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie WieselCH. 6-7
Chapter 7 (pp 98-103)
 7. How does Elie save his father's life again?
 8. What causes a stampede on the cattle
cars?
 9. Who dies as a result of the stampede?
 10. What is Elie's father's name?
 11. What percentage of the men on Elie's
cattle car had survived the ride to
Buchenwald?
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
Chapter 7 (pp 98-103)
 7. How does Elie save his father's life again?
 8. What causes a stampede on the cattle
cars?
 9. Who dies as a result of the stampede?
 10. What is Elie's father's name?
 11. What percentage of the men on Elie's
cattle car had survived the ride to
Buchenwald?
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Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech (pp 117-120)
8. On whose behalf does Elie accept the Nobel Peace
Prize?
9. What does he call those who forget the Holocaust?
10. "Neutrality helps the __________, never the victim."
EQ: Analyze how Wiesel uses rhetorical
11. Who is Andrei
Sakharov?
devices to
convince his hearers to act.
12. Who is Joseph Begun?
13. Who is Lech Walesa?
14. "__________ is the only nation in the whole world
whose existence is threatened."
15. "Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to
all those who ___ ___ ________."
Chunk #2:Stark Portrait of Truth
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
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EQ: Analyze how Wiesel uses rhetorical devices to convince his
hearers to act.
Reread Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize speech at the back of the
novel. On your own paper, identify examples of the following
rhetorical devices. Leave yourself some room, putting A through D on
the front of your paper and E through H on the back:
a. logos (a logical appeal)
b. ethos (an ethical appeal)
c. pathos (an emotional appeal)
d. rhetorical question (asking a questions the answer to which is
obvious)
e. repetition (using the same words to emphasize a point)
f. restatement (saying things in different ways to illustrate a point)
g. chargeds words (words that are heavy with emotional connotations)
h. parallel structure (repeating grammatical patterns to emphasize a
point)
Setting: A Major Effect on Tone
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Setting can be used to create a specific tone for a story. The author,
Elie Wiesel, uses setting to set a tone of depravity as well as horror and
despair. Using carefully chosen words enhances the emotional impact
you want your writing to have. Creating vivid images of a setting can
evoke particular emotions in the reader.
Directions:
After reading Section 4, circle the words in each quotation that
contribute to the tone underlined after the phrase. Note that two of the
tone words have been left blank for you to fill in.
1. “The camp looked as though it had suffered an epidemic: empty and
dead.”
Tone: Desolation
2. “I dragged myself to my corner. I ached all over. I felt a cool hand
wiping my blood- stained forehead. It was the French girl. She gave
me her mournful smile and slipped a bit of bread into my hand.”
Tone: ________________________
Setting: A Major Effect on Tone
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3. “Suddenly...a man appeared crawling, like a worm in the direction
of the cauldrons. Hundreds of eyes followed his movements. Hundreds
of men crawled with him, scraping their knees with his on the gravel.
Every heart trembled, but with envy above all. This man had dared.”
Tone: Depravity
4. “But his (Oberkapo) little servant had been left behind in the camp
in prison. Also put to torture, he too would not speak. Then the SS
sentenced him to death, with two other prisoners who had been
discovered with arms...all eyes were on the child. He was lividly pale,
almost calm, biting his lips. The gallows threw its shadow over
him...For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between
life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes...Behind me, I
heard the same man asking: ‘Where is God now?’ And I heard a voice
within me answer him: ‘Where is He? Here
He is — He is hanging here on this gallows...’ ”
Tone: ________________________
Irony at Work
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Irony is a literary device that shows a contrast between
appearance and reality, expectation and result, or meaning and
intention. In verbal irony, words are purposefully used to
suggest the opposite in meaning. In dramatic irony, there is a
difference between what the character thinks and what the
reader or audience knows. In situational irony, an event occurs
that is the opposite of what is expected.
Directions:
Determine whether the passages below are examples of verbal,
dramatic, or situational irony.
1. “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I
had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the
recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I
might perhaps have found something like — free at last!”
Type of irony:
Irony at Work
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2. “Saturday, the day of rest, was chosen for our expulsion.”
Type of irony:
3. “The Germans were already in the town, the Fascists were
already in power, the verdict had already been pronounced, yet
the Jews of Sighet continued to smile.”
Type of irony:
4. “We would be getting out here. There was a labor camp.
Conditions were good. Families would not be split up. Only the
young people would go to work in the factories. The old men
and invalids would be kept occupied in the fields. The
barometer of confidence soared. Here was a sudden release
from the terrors of the previous nights. We gave thanks to
God.”
Type of irony:
Themes Revisited
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Now that you have finished the novel, what messages do you believe the author wants you
to understand?
Directions:
Write a thematic statement for each of the examples given below.
1. “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me anymore.”
“But for the moment I was happy; I was near my father.”
“Were there still miracles on this earth? He was alive. He had escaped the second
selection.”
Theme:
2. “I was a body. Perhaps less than that even: a starved stomach.”
“And I had but one desire — to eat.”
“A piece fell into our wagon. I decided that I would not move. Anyway, I knew that I
would never have the strength to fight with a dozen savage men!”
Theme:
3. “Meir, Meir, my boy! Don’t you recognize me? I’m your father...you’re hurting
me...you’re killing your father! I’ve got some bread...for you too...for you too....”
“His son had seen him losing ground, limping, staggering back to the rear of the
column...He had continued to run on in front, letting the distance between them
grow greater.”
“My God, Lord of the Universe, give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahou’s son
has done.”
Theme:
Found Poems” about Elie
Wiesel’s Book Night
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After reading the book by Elie Wiesel in which he wrote about
experiencing the Holocaust, students wrote “Found Poems.” The
students selected words and phrases from different pages of the
book and put them together in their own order to write the poems
below.
http://silverinternational.mbhs.edu/v212.2/v21-2-04afoundpoems.html