1. Why do inmates take on the role of prisoner
guards?
2. What process did Elie and the other prisoners
undergo upon entering the camp?
3. Provide examples of how Elie is beginning to
change.
4. Turn to page 48: What happens to some of the
children among the guards?
5. Explain how Franek mirrors the behavioral
changes that can easily take place when
brutality is the norm?
• An author’s tone and mood can be
revealed through the choice of
words and details.
• Pay attention to the connotation of
words to decipher the tone of a text.
The policeman gave me a parking ticket.
Some bored cop tagged me with another
ticket.
Someone had slipped the ticket under my
windshield wiper like a blade slipped under a
rib.
A citation for violation of parking
regulations had been affixed to my car.
I got another &*%@# ticket!
“And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t
know why they died, they just died. Something wrong with
the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery
wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got
thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to
plant and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids
looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.”
The use of adjectives “dead” and “depressing”
sets a gloomy tone in the passage.
•
•
•
•
•
Robert Frost
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
difference.”
1. What crime did the youth of Warsaw commit?
2. Describe his physical features.
3. Describe the reactions of the youth of Warsaw
as he was being readied for his hanging.
4. What is the significance of Elie’s statement
right after the youth from Warsaw died?
5. Based on your answers above, what is the tone
of the section regarding the youth of Warsaw?
6. What words in the section helped you to
understand the overall tone?
1. What crime did the youth of Warsaw commit?
He stole during the alert.
2. Describe his physical features.
Strong built and tall
3. Describe the reactions of the youth of Warsaw as he was being readied for his
hanging.
Pale but more moved than afraid, he gazed coldly at the guards (He was not
afraid but angry)
4. What is the significance of Elie’s statement right after the youth from
Warsaw died?
The young man died with his pride still intact as he was not afraid. When he
screamed, “A curse upon Germany” right before he died, Elie himself was
moved. Elie felt like the Jews that day was a small victory as the Nazi’s
were unable to destroy the spirit of the Youth from Warsaw.
5. Based on your answers above, what is the tone of the section regarding the
youth of Warsaw? Awed, respectful, prideful
6. What words in the section helped you to understand the overall tone?
Solemn, coolly assessing, ,strong, calm,
7. Describe the angelic Pipel’s physical features.
8. What crime did he commit?
9. Describe the reactions of the Pipel as he was
being readied for his hanging.
10. What is the significance of the Elie’s statement
right after the youth from Warsaw died.
11. Based on your answers above, what is the tone
of the section regarding the youth of Warsaw?
12. What words in the section helped you to
understand the overall tone?
Quick Fact
A pipel is a child that a concentration
camp guard has taken
a special interest in,
mostly for homosexual reasons.
7. Describe the angelic Pipel’s physical features.
He had a beautiful face and a kind heart.
8. What crime did he commit?
Because of his associations with the Oberkapo, he too was charged for
having weapons.
9. Describe the reactions of the Pipel as he was being readied for his hanging.
Pale and biting his lips which means he was afraid and nervous.
10. What is the significance of the Elie’s statement right after the youth from
Warsaw died.
When the young child suffered unable to die because of his light weight,
Elie believed that God must be dead if He would allow such an atrocity to
take place. the child to die swiftly. This thought made even food, the sold
desire of the prisoners, take like death.
11. Based on your answers above, what is the tone of the section regarding the
youth of Warsaw? Troubled, sad, hopeless
12. What words in the section helped you to understand the overall tone?
Weeping, silence, corpses
9. Another symbol Wiesel uses takes the form of
a person and event. What does the hanging of
the young boy, the "angelic pipel," symbolize?
• The hanging of the young Pipel symbolizes the
death of God because when the young child
suffered unable to die because of his light
weight, Elie believed that God must be dead if
He would allow such an atrocity to take place.
• In what ways was the hanging of
the young Pipel the ultimate
challenge to young Elie’s spiritual
faith? How does the symbolism
of “night” compare to the
symbolism of the young Pipel?
•Complete the handout
for further practice.
•Read beginning of
Chapter 5