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This lesson plan/worksheet is part of a larger unit. It can be used as a stand alone, or if you choose to acquire the
entire unit, integrated with the other lessons.
Lesson Plan:
CCSS: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7 CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.9-10.1 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How does an author develop theme and message through diction and figurative language?
2. How is a common theme developed in a variety of different mediums?
ACADEMIC OBJECTIVES (All Students Will Be Able To):
1. Evaluate a passage from Night for its use of diction and figurative language
2. Evaluate a poem for its use of diction and figurative language
3. Evaluate an image for it’s emotional effect and impact.
4. Determine and evaluate a common theme across artistic mediums
SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO RUN THE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY:
 PROCESS #1: Assign each of these exercises as classroom activity or homework when you are at this specific point in the memoir
 PROCESS #2: Assign the entire activity to each student at the end of the memoir as a culminating summative activity.
 PROCESS #3: As a classroom activity, divide the class into groups, give each group a different passage/poem/image, after the groups
have completed the activity have them present their passage/poem/image and findings to the class
 PROCESS #4: Have the students choose one of the passages/poems/images and complete the exercise. Have them expand on the
activity and create a poster board presentation and present it to the class.
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Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: PASSAGE ANALYSIS
GHETTO PASSAGE
By eight o'clock in the morning, weariness had settled into our veins, our limbs, our brains, like
molten lead. I was in the midst of prayer when suddenly there was shouting in the streets. I
quickly unwound my phylacteries and ran to the window. Hungarian police had entered the
ghetto and were yelling in the street nearby. "All Jews, outside! Hurry!" They were followed by
Jewish police, who, their voices breaking, told us: "The time has c o m e … y o u must leave all
t h i s … " The Hungarian police used their rifle butts, their clubs to indiscriminately strike old
men and women, children and cripples. One by one, the houses emptied and the streets filled
with people carrying bundles. By ten o'clock, everyone was outside. The police were taking roll
calls, once, twice, twenty times. The heat was oppressive. Sweat streamed from people's faces
and bodies. Children were crying for water. Water! There was water close by inside the houses,
the backyards, but it was forbidden to break rank. "Water, Mother, I am thirsty!" Some of the
Jewish police surreptitiously went to fill a few jugs. My sisters and I were still allowed to move
about, as we were destined for the last convoy, and so we helped as best we could…And there
I was, on the sidewalk, watching them file past, unable to move. Here came the Chief Rabbi,
hunched over, his face strange looking without a beard, a bundle on his back. His very presence
in the procession was enough to make the scene seem surreal. It was like a page torn from a
book, a historical novel, perhaps, dealing with the captivity in Babylon or the Spanish
Inquisition. They passed me by, one after the other, my teachers, my friends, the others, some
of whom I had once feared, some of whom I had found ridiculous, all those whose lives I had
shared for years. There they went, defeated, their bundles, their lives in tow, having left behind
their homes, their childhood. They passed me by, like beaten dogs, with never a glance in my
direction. They must have envied me. The procession disappeared around the corner. A few
steps more and they were beyond the ghetto walls. The street resembled fairgrounds deserted
in haste. There was a little of everything: suitcases, briefcases, bags, knives, dishes,
banknotes, papers, faded portraits. All the things one planned to take along and finally left
behind. They had ceased to matter. Open rooms everywhere. Gaping doors and windows looked
out into the void. It all belonged to everyone since it no longer belonged to anyone. It was
there for the taking. An open tomb. A summer sun.
LITERARY ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, circle any words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, underline any use of figurative
language and/or imagery. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite Strong Textual Evidence/Determine Theme – As you read the text, bracket 2 primary sections of the
text that support a major theme of the memoir. In the margin explain how these passages help reveal the message of Night.
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Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: POEM ANALYSIS
THE ACTION IN THE GHETTO OF ROHATYN, MARCH 1942.
by Alexander Kimel- Holocaust Survivor.
Do I want to remember?
The peaceful ghetto, before the raid:
Children shaking like leaves in the wind.
Mothers searching for a piece of bread.
Shadows, on swollen legs, moving with fear.
No, I don't want to remember, but how can I forget?
Do I want to remember, the creation of hell?
The shouts of the Raiders, enjoying the hunt.
Cries of the wounded, begging for life.
Faces of mothers carved with pain.
Hiding Children, dripping with fear.
No, I don't want to remember, but how can I forget?
Do I want to remember, my fearful return?
Families vanished in the midst of the day.
The mass grave steaming with vapor of blood.
Mothers searching for children in vain.
The pain of the ghetto, cuts like a knife.
No, I don't want to remember, but how can I forget?
Do I want to remember, the wailing of the night?
The doors kicked ajar, ripped feathers floating the air.
The night scented with snow-melting blood.
While the compassionate moon, is showing the way.
For the faceless shadows, searching for kin.
No, I don't want to remember, but I cannot forget.
Do I want to remember this world upside down?
Where the departed are blessed with an instant death.
While the living condemned to a short wretched life,
And a long tortuous journey into unnamed place,
Converting Living Souls, into ashes and gas.
No. I Have to Remember and Never Let You Forget.
Itzhak Katzenelson
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LITERARY ANALYSIS
ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the poem, circle any
words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the
margin explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem.
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the text, underline any
use of figurative language
and/or imagery. In the margin
explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite
Strong Textual
Evidence/Determine Theme
– As you read the text, bracket
2 primary sections of the text
that develop the theme of the
poem. In the margin explain
how these passages help
reveal the theme of the poem.
Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: ART ANALYSIS
GRAPHIC ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
TASK 1: Consider the picture above. Circle at least 2 specific images or scenes within the picture and in the margin explain how
these images reveal the tone and/or establish the mood of the picture.
TASK 2: As you look at the individual images within the big picture, evaluate and write in the margins how these images work
together to establish the theme or message of the work of art.
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Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: MULTI-MEDIUM ANALYLSIS PARAGRAPH
RL.9-10.7, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.4, W.9-10.9, W.9-10.2
Instructions: Review you annotations from each source concerning the ghettos. Write a paragraph that analyzes the
representation of the common subject and theme that is present in each of the sources. Explain how each medium uniquely
presents that theme. Use evidence and examples from each source to support your claim.
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Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: PASSAGE ANALYSIS
CATTLE CAR PASSAGE
The next morning, we walked toward the station, where a convoy of cattle cars
was waiting. The Hungarian police made us climb into the cars, eighty persons
in each one. They handed us some bread, a few pails of water. They checked
the bars on the windows to make sure they would not come loose. The cars
were sealed. One person was placed in charge of every car: if someone
managed to escape, that person would be shot… "There are eighty of you in the
car," the German officer added. "If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot,
like dogs." The two disappeared. The doors clanked shut. We had fallen into the
trap, up to our necks. The doors were nailed, the way back irrevocably cut off.
The world had become a hermetically sealed cattle car.
LITERARY ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, circle any words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, underline any use of figurative
language and/or imagery. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite Strong Textual Evidence/Determine Theme – As you read the text, bracket 2 primary sections of the
text that support a major theme of the memoir. In the margin explain how these passages help reveal the message of Night.
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Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: POEM ANALYSIS
STILL Wislawa Szymborska
In sealed box cars travel
names across the land,
and how far they will travel so,
and will they ever get out,
don't ask, I won't say, I don't know.
The name Nathan strikes fist against wall,
the name Isaac, demented, sings,
the name Sarah calls out for water
for the name Aaron that's dying of thirst.
Don't jump while it's moving, name David.
You're a name that dooms to defeat,
given to no one, and homeless,
too heavy to bear in this land.
Let your son have a Slavic name,
for here they count hairs on the head,
for here they tell good from evil
by names and by eyelids' shape.
Don't jump while it's moving. Your son will be Lech.
Don't jump while it's moving. Not time yet.
Don't jump. The night echoes like laughter
mocking clatter of wheels upon tracks.
A cloud made of people moved over the land,
a big cloud gives a small rain, one tear,
a small rain-one tear, a dry season.
Tracks lead off into black forest.
Cor-rect, cor-rect clicks the wheel. Gladeless forest.
Cor-rect, cor-rect. Through the forest a convoy of clamors.
Cor-rect, cor-rect. Awakened in the night I hear
cor-rect, cor-rect, crash of silence on silence.
Top Writing Academy™ © 2015
LITERARY ANALYSIS
ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the poem, circle any
words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the
margin explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem.
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the text, underline any
use of figurative language
and/or imagery. In the margin
explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite
Strong Textual
Evidence/Determine Theme
– As you read the text, bracket
2 primary sections of the text
that develop the theme of the
poem. In the margin explain
how these passages help
reveal the theme of the poem.
Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: ART ANALYSIS
GRAPHIC ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
TASK 1: Consider the picture above. Circle at least 2 specific images or scenes within the picture and in the margin explain how
these images reveal the tone and/or establish the mood of the picture.
TASK 2: As you look at the individual images within the big picture, evaluate and write in the margins how these images work
together to establish the theme or message of the work of art.
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Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: MULTI-MEDIUM ANALYLSIS PARAGRAPH
RL.9-10.7, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.4, W.9-10.9, W.9-10.2
Instructions: Review you annotations from each source concerning the cattle cars. Write a paragraph that analyzes the
representation of the common subject and theme that is present in each of the sources. Explain how each medium uniquely
presents that theme. Use evidence and examples from each source to support your claim.
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Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: PASSAGE ANALYSIS
CREMATORIUM PASSAGE
We did not know, as yet, which was the better side, right or left, which road led to prison and
which to the crematoria. Still, I was happy, I was near my father. Our procession continued
slowly to move forward. Another inmate came over to us: "Satisfied?" "Yes," someone
answered. "Poor devils, you are heading for the crematorium." He seemed to be telling the
truth. Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being
burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see
this, with my own e y e s … c h i l - dren thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that ever
since then, sleep tends to elude me?) So that was where we were going. A little farther on,
there was another, larger pit for adults. I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How
was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept
silent? No. All this could not be real. A nightmare perhaps…Soo n I would wake up with a start,
my heart pounding, and find that I was back in the room of my childhood, with my books…My
forehead was covered with cold sweat. Still, I told him that I could not believe that human
beings were being burned in our times; the world would never tolerate such crimes… "The
world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the
crematoria…His voice broke. "Father," I said. "If that is true, then I don't want to wait. I'll run
into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames."…
NEVER SHALL I FORGET that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long
night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces
of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I
forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence
that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that
murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those
things,
even
were
I
condemned
to
live
as
long
as
God
Himself.
Never
LITERARY ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, circle any words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, underline any use of figurative
language and/or imagery. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite Strong Textual Evidence/Determine Theme – As you read the text, bracket 2 primary sections of the
text that support a major theme of the memoir. In the margin explain how these passages help reveal the message of Night.
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Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: POEM ANALYSIS
Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek
We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future.
We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers.
We had dreams, then we had no hope.
We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars,
no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying.
Separated from the world to be no more.
From the ashes, hear our plea.
This atrocity to mankind can not happen again.
Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.
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LITERARY ANALYSIS
ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the poem, circle any
words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the
margin explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem.
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the text, underline any
use of figurative language
and/or imagery. In the margin
explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite
Strong Textual
Evidence/Determine Theme
– As you read the text, bracket
2 primary sections of the text
that develop the theme of the
poem. In the margin explain
how these passages help
reveal the theme of the poem.
Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: ART ANALYSIS
GRAPHIC ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
TASK 1: Consider the picture above. Circle at least 2 specific images or scenes within the picture and in the margin explain how
these images reveal the tone and/or establish the mood of the picture.
TASK 2: As you look at the individual images within the big picture, evaluate and write in the margins how these images work
together to establish the theme or message of the work of art.
Top Writing Academy™ © 2015
Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: MULTI-MEDIUM ANALYLSIS PARAGRAPH
RL.9-10.7, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.4, W.9-10.9, W.9-10.2
Instructions: Review you annotations from each source concerning the crematoriums. Write a paragraph that analyzes
the representation of the common subject and theme that is present in each of the sources. Explain how each medium
uniquely presents that theme. Use evidence and examples from each source to support your claim.
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Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: PASSAGE ANALYSIS
DEATH MARCH PASSAGE
By now, I moved like a sleepwalker. I sometimes closed my eyes and it was
like running while asleep. Now and then, someone kicked me violently from
behind and I would wake up. The man in back of me was screaming, "Run
faster. If you don't want to move, let us pass you." But all I had to do was close
my eyes to see a whole world pass before me, to dream of another life. The
road was endless. To allow oneself to be carried by the mob, to be swept away
by blind fate. When the SS were tired, they were replaced. But no one replaced
us. Chilled to the bone, our throats parched, famished, out of breath, we
pressed on. We were the masters of nature, the masters of the world. We had
transcended everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger
than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed
and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth. At last, the
morning star appeared in the gray sky. A hesitant light began to hover on the
horizon. We were exhausted, we had lost all strength, all illusion. The
Kommandant announced that we had already covered twenty kilometers since
we left. Long since, we had exceeded the limits of fatigue. Our legs moved
mechanically, in spite of us, without us.
LITERARY ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, circle any words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze Diction and Connotative Meanings of Words – As you read the text, underline any use of figurative
language and/or imagery. In the margin explain how these words/phrases develop the tone and mood of this section of Night
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite Strong Textual Evidence/Determine Theme – As you read the text, bracket 2 primary sections of the
text that support a major theme of the memoir. In the margin explain how these passages help reveal the message of Night.
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Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: POEM ANALYSIS
Forced March
He’s foolish who, once down resumes his weary beat,
A moving mass of cramps on restless human feet,
Who rises from the ground as if on borrowed wings,
Untempted by the mire to which he dare not cling,
Who, when you ask him why flings back at you a word,
Of how the thought of love makes dying less absurd.
Poor deluded fool, the man’s a simpleton,
About his home by now only the scorched winds run,
His broken walls lie flat, his orchard yields no fruit,
His familiar nights go clad in terror’s rumpled suit.
Oh could I but believe that such dreams had a base,
Other than in my heart, some native resting place,
If only once again I heard the quiet hum
Of bees on the verandah, the jar of orchard plums
Cooling with late summer, the gardens half asleep,
Voluptuous fruit lolling on branches dipping deep,
And she before the hedgegrow stood with sunbleached hair
The lazy morning scrawling vague shadows on the air…
Why not? The moon is full, her circle is complete.
Don’t leave me, friend, shout out, and see! I’m on my feet!
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LITERARY ANALYSIS
ANNOTATION TASKS:
1st Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the poem, circle any
words/phrases that carry
strong connotations. In the
margin explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem.
2nd Read: RL.9-10.4 Analyze
Diction and Connotative
Meanings of Words – As you
read the text, underline any
use of figurative language
and/or imagery. In the margin
explain how these
words/phrases develop the
tone and mood of the poem
3rd Read: RL.9-10.1 & 2 Cite
Strong Textual
Evidence/Determine Theme
– As you read the text, bracket
2 primary sections of the text
that develop the theme of the
poem. In the margin explain
how these passages help
reveal the theme of the poem.
Name: __________________________ Period: ____
NIGHT: ART ANALYSIS
GRAPHIC ANALYSIS ANNOTATION TASKS:
TASK 1: Consider the picture above. Circle at least 2 specific images or scenes within the picture and in the margin explain how
these images reveal the tone and/or establish the mood of the picture.
TASK 2: As you look at the individual images within the big picture, evaluate and write in the margins how these images work
together to establish the theme or message of the work of art.
Top Writing Academy™ © 2015
Name: ____________________________ Period: ______
NIGHT: MULTI-MEDIUM ANALYLSIS PARAGRAPH
RL.9-10.7, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.4, W.9-10.9, W.9-10.2
Instructions: Review you annotations from each source concerning the “death march”. Write a paragraph that analyzes
the representation of the common subject and theme that is present in each of the sources. Explain how each medium
uniquely presents that theme. Use evidence and examples from each source to support your claim.
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Top Writing Academy™ © 2015