Social Conflict, Responsibility and Justice
Night by Elie Wiesel
●
Introduction: Students will read Elie Wiesel’s Night, a memoir about his experiences in
Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps during the Holocaust. This personal account of
intense hardship and tragedy explores morality and justice, while challenging students to think
outside of their own beliefs and experiences. Comparing and contrasting this novel with other texts
will allow students to investigate various voices and consider how these perspectives inform their
understanding of human nature.
●
Desired Results
● Essential Questions English 10:
■ What causes people to harm or do injustice to others? How do we distance ourselves from
political, religious, and social tragedy? Are people who stand by and stay silent when they
witness injustice equally responsible for its occurrence? What does this say about human
nature?
■ How does one voice inform our understanding of a historical event? How do the stories of
other, non-Jewish “victims” inform your understanding of the Holocaust? How can we use
this novel to challenge the idea of the “single story?”
■ What does tragedy do to familial relationships, beliefs, values, and morality?
■ What beliefs/values do you feel strongly about? How do these beliefs govern your actions?
●
Essential Questions Honors English 10:
■ What causes people to harm or do injustice to others? How do we distance ourselves from
political, religious, and social tragedy? Are people who stand by and stay silent when they
witness injustice equally responsible for its occurrence? What does this say about human
nature?
■ Is literature history? How does it function in a historical timeline and what role does it play
in the formation or reduction of history?
■ How does one voice inform our understanding of a historical event? How do the stories of
other, non-Jewish “victims” inform your understanding of the Holocaust? How can we use
this novel to challenge the idea of the “single story?”
■ What does tragedy do to familial relationships, beliefs, values, and morality?
■ What beliefs/values do you feel strongly about? How do these beliefs govern your actions?
●
Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that…
■ We distance ourselves from political, religious, and social tragedy by categorizing victims as
“others.”
■ Literature is only one account of history; it informs our understanding of history, but we
should be careful when trying to decipher truth from literature.
■ Understanding a historical event from only one point of view might create a “single story;”
therefore, it is best to synthesize understand perspectives of an event.
■ Tragedy can both harm and strengthen familial bonds.
●
Established Goals (State Standards)
● Standard - 1.1.10.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding before reading, during
reading, and after reading on a variety of literary works through strategies such as comparing and
contrasting text elements, assessing validity of text based upon content, and evaluating author’s
strategies.
● Standard - 1.6.10.A: Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group situations.
Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information or opinions.
● Standard - 1.1.10.E: Demonstrate an appropriate rate of silent reading based upon specific grade
level texts.
● Standard - 1.2.10.D: Analyze inferences and draw conclusions, citing textual support, based on
an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
o R11.A.2.3: Make inferences, draw conclusions, and make generalizations based on text.
o R11.A.2.4: Identify and explain main ideas and relevant details.
o R11.A.2.5: Summarize a nonfictional text as a whole.
 Standard - 1.1.10.C: Interpret the literal and figurative meanings of words to distinguish between
what words mean literally and what they imply as well as word origins to understand both
familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary.
 Standard - 1.1.10.E: Demonstrate an appropriate rate of silent reading based upon specific grade
level texts.
 Standard - 1.4.10.A:

o Write poems, short stories, and plays.
o Apply various organizational methods.
o Write with an awareness of tone, mood, and elements of style.
o Include literary elements and devices.
Standard - 1.4.10.B:
o
Write complex informational pieces (e.g. research papers, analytical essays, summaries,
descriptive pieces or literary analyses) that:
Gather evidence in support of a thesis.
Incorporate and document information and ideas from primary and secondary sources
accurately and coherently.
o Anticipate and address readers’ potential misunderstandings, biases, and expectations.
Standard - 1.4.10.C:
o
o

o
o
o
o
o
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Write persuasive pieces.
Organize ideas and appeals in a sustained and effective fashion.
Use specific rhetorical devices to support assertions, such as appealing to logic through
reasoning; appealing to emotion or ethical belief; or relating a personal anecdote, case
study, or analogy.
Clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence.
Address readers’ concerns, counterclaims, biases, and expectations.
Assessment Evidence
● Performance Tasks
■ Vocabulary Study
■ Journals
■ Class Discussion
■ Small Group Discussion and activities
■ SCoodle Posts
●
Final Assessment: Honors: 3-4 pages, English 10: 2-3 pages
● Application: Write a vignette or create a still-image documentary about an event(s) your
life that relates to one of the themes in Night. It can be positive or negative. If you choose to
create a documentary, please include a 2-3 page script.
● Synthesis: Write an essay that explains how this novel challenges or validates the “single
story” of Holocaust survivors and the Holocaust at large. Use 3 other texts to support your
position.
● Research/Thinking Imaginatively: Create a diary that represents a different perspective
than that of the “single story,” Jewish Holocaust victim. This may be a “victim” of another race,
ethnicity, etc., an S.S. guard, a driver of trains, or a doctor who helped sterilize the Jews. Do
some research and be creative.
● Research/Application: Do some more extensive research into the Holocaust. Create a
timeline of important events and decide where you might include important events that happen
in the novel. Then, write a 2-3 page paper about how the novel informs your understanding of
the Holocaust or how it detracts from your understanding.
● Analyzing/Thinking Imaginatively: Create a still-life image of the book. In other words,
take a picture of items that you believe represent the novel. You should include 4-5 items in your
image. Then, write a 3-page justification for your still-life image, including various literary
elements in your reasoning.
● Application: Write a “This I Believe” speech about that involves a specific theme in the
novel. Focus on one belief or value. This should be evident in your thesis statement. Be sure to
use vivid verbs, first-person voice, and avoid clichés. Explain why this belief is important to you,
how you came about this belief, etc. Also be sure to explain how you live or want to live by this
personal belief.
HONORS 10: Night Unit Calendar
Monday, 1/7
Pre-Reading
Activity
Hand out books
Assign Reading
Tuesday, 1/8
Hand out final
assessment sheet
and new vocab
Webquest and
reading day
Wednesday, 1/9
Shortened Periods
Thursday, 1/10
Shortened Periods
Night pages 3-22
DUE
Vocab sentences
due
Reading journal #1
(Leaving home)
Personal
histories podcast
with transcript
HW: Vocab
sentences
HW: Read pgs. 2346
HW: Read pgs. 4766 and Found
Vocab
Wednesday, 1/16
Night pages 6784 DUE
Thursday, 1/17
Vocabulary Quiz
Friday, 1/18
Records Day: No
School
Read through page
8
Monday, 1/14
Found Vocab
Due
Night pages 4766 DUE
HW: Read pgs. 822, work on vocab
sentences
Tuesday, 1/15
Reflections due
Other voices:
Jigsaw Day
Who is responsible?
HW: Reflection
AND
Sign up for a text
Monday, 1/21
Night pages 85115 DUE
HW: Study for
vocab quiz
HW: Read pgs. 85115
Tuesday, 1/22
Other genocide
video and
response
Wednesday, 1/23
Final
Assessments Due
at end of period
Thursday, 1/24
Share
HW: Work on final
assessment
Choice reading
assignment due
Reading journal # 2
respond to excerpt
Silent Reading
Time
HW: Read pgs. 6784
SCoodle online
discussion
HW: Final
Assessment, Found
Vocab due
Write a journal
entry from
character’s
perspective
Friday, 1/11
Night pages 2346 DUE
Friday, 1/25
ENGLISH 10: Night Unit Calendar
Monday, 1/7
Pre-Reading
Activity
Hand out books
Assign Reading
Hand out terms list
Tuesday, 1/8
Hand out final
assessment sheet
Assign new vocab
(and hand out premade definition list)
Wednesday, 1/9
Shortened Periods
Thursday, 1/10
Shortened Periods
Friday, 1/11
Read pgs 36- 46
Read through pg 22
Personal histories
podcasts and
transcript
Reading journal # 2
respond to excerpt
Reading journal #1
(Leaving home)
Webquest
Read through pg 8
Monday, 1/14
Excerpt pgs 5565
Who is responsible
activity
Read silently
HW: Read through
pg 14
HW: work on vocab
sentences
HW: Read through
pg 36
HW: Read pgs 4754
Tuesday, 1/15
Vocab sentences
due
Wednesday, 1/16
Read pgs 76-84
Thursday, 1/17
Vocabulary Quiz
Friday, 1/18
Records Day: No
School
Write a journal
entry from
character’s
perspective
Silent Reading
time
Other voices:
Jigsaw Day
Read pgs. 66-69
HW: Finish Vocab
sentences
HW: Read pgs.69top of 76
HW: Study for
vocab quiz
HW: Read through
pg. 104
Monday, 1/21
Read through
end of book
Tuesday, 1/22
Final Assessment
Work Period
Wednesday, 1/23
Final
Assessments due
at end of class
period
Thursday, 1/24
SCoodle post:
reflection
HW: Final
Assessment
HW: final
assessment
Friday, 1/25
IDEAS:
●
English 10: read 5 pages in class or maybe read 10 and then stop for discussion/activities
■ pay attention to something specific, sticky note, come back together and talk about it
■ bookmarks (1/2 questions, ½ notes)
■ free-write journal- resource for final assessment
●
INTRODUCTION:
■ Background info about the Holocaust
■ survey
■ webquest- Honors 10: find info, English 10: give websites
■ introductory presentations
● ask students what they know (mind mapping on the board)
● Holocaust Chronology (see printed papers)
● Article about German Occupation of Hungary:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005458http://www.ushmm.o
rg/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005458
● Article about Auschwitz:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189http://www.ushmm.o
rg/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189
■ Assign each student ID card name, have them tell the story from first person
■ What/Who would you leave behind?
●
Reading activities
■ reading journals
■ choose a passage that relates to essential question, personal experience
■ Who is most responsible?
●
OTHER VOICES- jigsaw activity: different voices, googledoc
● guards, videos, posters, diaries, non-survivors, etc.
● perspectives from other countries
● Personal History podcasts (bookmark)
● Non-Jewish Victim brochures:
http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/resource/http://www.ushmm.org/edu
cation/foreducators/resource/
● Survivor Writings (bookmark)
●
●
current examples of injustice in society (VIDEO)
Pick a character in the novel and create a journal or journal entry from their perspective
●
OTHER GENOCIDE
■ Comparisons to other genocide
● Darfur Video: http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/gallery/video/5 (see
printed papers)
●
OTHER TEXTS BY WIESEL- give them a choice: create SCoodle form and let them choose what
they’re interested in
■ This I believe speech
■ Elie Wiesel talk on Youtube/Pulitzer speech
■ Oprah interview
■ Nobel Prize Speech
●
●
Life After the Holocaust online exhibition (bookmark)
Roald Dahl Story about Genocide (see email from Leah)
●
Other Texts
● Movie Clips/Youtube videos
● Nonfiction
● Fiction
● Holocaust Poetry
●
Themes
● Invisibility
● Silence
● Choice
● Relationships
● Religion/Faith
● Guilt
Section 1: Leaving home
Section 2: Getting there
Section 3: Summer
Section 4: Living
Section 5: Winter
 (10 mins.) Define “family.” Whom do you consider your “family”? Are there limits as to what you
would do for them? Do you think there are limits as to what they would do for you? Are there
other contexts in which you have different “families”?