NIGHT
By Elie Wiesel
vo·cab·u·lar·y [voh-kab-yuh-ler-ee]
noun, plural vo·cab·u·lar·ies.
1.the stock of words used by or known to a particular people
or group of persons
Vocabulary Term: Vocabulary
Write the vocabulary word.
My Understanding:
In My Own Words:
Rate how well you know the word:
Draw:
+

X
= Know the word well
= Heard it, and know the meaning
= Heard it, but unsure of the meaning
= Never heardNew
the word
Information:

+

-
X
vo·cab·u·lar·y [voh-kab-yuh-ler-ee]
noun, plural vo·cab·u·lar·ies.
1.the stock of words used by or known to a particular people
or group of persons
Vocabulary Term: Vocabulary
Write a definition in your own words
My Understanding:

+

-
X
In My Own Words:
Vocabulary is the list of words that a person (or groups of people) know.
Draw a picture of
what the word
means to you.
Draw:
Connect the word to another
class, book, movie, song, etc.
My Connection(s):
On The Big Bang Theory, the characters have
quite large vocabularies that include many
scientific words that I don’t understand.
Many rappers, like 2Pac, have large
vocabularies and use them in order to make
their raps have greater flow and a deeper
meaning.
Night Vocabulary
List 1
List 2
1.
Penury
1.
Untenable
2.
Ghetto
2.
Dissipate
3.
Edict
3.
Benediction
4.
Antechamber
4.
Kaddish
5.
Liquidate
5.
Knell
6.
Synagogue
6.
Automaton
7.
Conflagration
7.
Dignity
8.
Anguish
8.
Interminable
9.
Tumult
9.
Indifference
10.
Convalescent
10.
Insidious
“Until September 14, 1939 my life
was typical of a young Jewish boy in
that part of the world in that period
of time.
I lived in a Jewish community
surrounded by gentiles. Aside from my
immediate family, I had many
relatives and knew all the town
people, both Jews and gentiles.
Almost two weeks after the outbreak
of the war and shortly after my Bar
Mitzvah, my world exploded.
In the course of the next five and a
half years I lost my entire family and
almost everyone I ever knew. Death,
violence and brutality became a
daily occurrence in my life while I was
still a young teenager.”
Leonard Lerer, 1991
Night Journal 1

Write candidly for 5 minutes regarding the following
prompt(s). Be honest with yourself.
What do you know about the Holocaust?
What do you think of when the Holocaust is mentioned?
The Holocaust (1941-1945)


Holocaust means “complete destruction by fire.”
The term is now associated with the murder of more
than six million Jewish people during World War II.
The Holocaust (1941-1945)


There have been many massacres during the course
of world history. And the Nazis murdered many nonJews in concentration camps.
What is unique about Hitler’s “Final Solution of the
Jewish Problem,” was the Nazi’s determination to
murder without exception every single Jew who came
within grasp, and the fanaticism, ingenuity, and
cruelty with which they pursued their goal.
CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND DEATH CAMPS USED BY THE NAZIS.
About the Author


Born September 30, 1928 in
Sighet, Romania.
Grew up in a small village
where his life revolved
around the following:




Family
Religious Study
Community
God
The Novel

Elie spent a year working on the 862 page manuscript
he called And the World Was Silent.


He gave it to his publisher who returned it as a 258 page book
called Night.
The book was published first in France in 1958 and then in the
U.S. in 1960.


The book is autobiographical and told of his experiences during the
Holocaust.
It also is his personal account of his loss of religious faith.
Dedication

Wiesel was outspoken about the suffering of all
people, not only Jews.



In the 1970s, he protested against South African apartheid.
In 1980, he delivered food to starving Cambodians
In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize as “a messenger to
mankind,” and “a human being dedicated to humanity.”

He explained his actions by saying the whole world knew what was
happening in the concentration camps, but did nothing.
Read 3-28 – Things to Watch





Night — Pay attention to what happens at night and what
that might symbolize
Bearing witnesses — Pay attention to which characters are
witnesses and to what they bear witness
Father son relationship — Pay attention to how Elie and his
father’s relationship develops; in addition, notice other
father-son relationships in the book
Loss of Faith — Notice how Elie’s faith in God changes as
the book progresses
Voice vs. Silence — who has a voice and who chooses to
remain silent, why did Wiesel originally title the novel And
the World Was Silent?
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human
beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always
take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.