Night Study Guide Chapters 4-9



Night Study Guide

Directions: In this study guide there will be sections for taking notes on the text, for personally reflecting upon the text, and for asking questions about the text. You will be required to complete all of the question sections for each chapter. You will be able to work on this study guide as we read Night in class, but you are also responsible for working on the study guide at home and completing it by the end of this unit. You will be able to use this study guide as notes for written assignments and class activities, and for the take-home open book test at the end of this unit. When you answer each question in this study guide, list the page numbers from Night, where you found quotes, specific passages, or any other textual information you are referencing.

| |Character List |

|B|Eliezer Wiesel (identification number A-7713): The narrator of the book, Eliezer is taken to concentration camps in Czechoslovakia and |

|o|Germany at the age of fourteen. As a young boy in Sighet, Transylvania, he is very devout and interested in Jewish mysticism. |

|t|Eliezer's father (Chlomo Wiesel): Eliezer's father is very respected within the Jewish community of his hometown, and he spends most of |

|t|his time occupying himself with community affairs. He is a member of the Jewish Council, which is the first group to hear about |

|o|deportation, and he refuses to try to escape the country. In the concentration camps, he and Eliezer take care of one another. A |

|m|fifty-year-old man, he is becoming increasingly weak and dried up, and he finds it harder than Eliezer to escape the abuse of |

|o|concentration camp life. |

|f|Moché the Beadle: A poor, humble man who works at the Hasidic synagogue in Sighet, Moché is well-liked by all the townspeople. He helps |

|F|Eliezer to study the cabbala, and he teaches him that it is more important to ask God the right questions than to try to find the right |

|o|answers. Early in the war, Moché is deported to Nazi concentration camps because he is a foreigner. He manages to escape and tries to |

|r|warn the townspeople of the horrors of the Holocaust. |

|m|Eliezer's mother: Eliezer is separated from his mother upon arriving at Birkenau. She dies in the concentration camp. |

| |Tzipora: Eliezer's seven-year-old sister, Tzipora and her mother are separated from Eliezer and his father upon arriving at Birkenau. She|

| |also dies in the concentration camp. |

| |Martha: An old Gentile servant of the Wiesel family. When the Wiesels are moved into the smaller ghetto, she offers to hide the family in|

| |the country. Eliezer's father refuses to flee, and Eliezer decides to stay with the rest of his family. |

| |Madame Schaechter: Madame Schaechter is in the same train car as Eliezer during the initial deportation to Auschwitz. She had been |

| |separated from her husband and two older sons, and she is accompanied by another younger son. She loses her mind during the journey and |

| |screams hysterically and repeatedly about a flaming furnace that she apparently sees in the distance. She terrifies the other occupants |

| |of the train, and she is repeatedly beaten by young men trying to silence her. |

| |Dr. Mengele: The SS officer who decides who is to go to the crematories during selections. Eliezer sees him twice, once upon arrival at |

| |Birkenau and again at Buna. |

| |Stein of Antwerp: Stein of Antwerp is the husband of Reizel, who is the niece of Eliezer's mother. He finds Eliezer and his father at |

| |Auschwitz and is desperate to hear news of his family. Eliezer lies and tells him his family is doing fine, which keeps him alive for |

| |awhile. |

| |Juliek: A Polish violin player in the musician's block at Buna. He later reappears at Gleiwitz when Eliezer discovers that he is lying on|

| |top of him in the incredibly crowded barracks. He plays Beethoven soulfully in the night. |

| |Franek: The Polish foreman of the musician's block at Buna. He gets Eliezer's father to work in the same block as Eliezer, but he later |

| |forces Eliezer to give him his gold crown by repeatedly beating his father. |

| |Yossi and Tibi: Czech brothers who Eliezer befriends in the musician's block at Buna. Together they all sing Hasidic melodies, talk about|

| |Palestine, and plan to emigrate from Europe when freed. |

| |Alphonse: A German Jew who is head of the musician's block at Buna. He is very kindly and tries to give his charges extra soup whenever |

| |he can. |

| |Idek: The Kapo of the musician's block at Buna. He is prone to flying into violent rages at other prisoners. Eliezer catches him having |

| |sex with a young Polish girl, and Idek retaliates by having Eliezer lashed twenty-five times. |

| |Akiba Drumer: A fellow prisoner at Auschwitz and Buna, Akiba Drumer is a deeply devout mystic with a beautiful baritone voice. He loses |

| |his faith at Buna and, simultaneously, his will to live. He is sent to the crematories after the selection at Buna. |

| |Zalman: A young man who had worked with Eliezer in the warehouse at Buna. Eliezer later sees him in the run to Gleiwitz. Zalman has a |

| |stomach cramp, and when he tries to stop to go to the bathroom, he is trampled underfoot by the crowd behind him. |

| |Rabbi Eliahou: A very devout, pure, and well-liked rabbi who appears after the run to Gleiwitz. He is looking for his son, who had been |

| |with him for three years in the concentration camp, because they had gotten separated during the run. Eliezer realizes that the son had |

| |consciously tried to get away from his father because he no longer wanted the responsibility of looking out for another human being. |

| |Meir Katz: A friend of Eliezer's father who worked in the garden at Buna. He is better nourished and stronger than the other prisoners |

| |because he had had access to vegetables. In the train to Buchenwald, Meir Katz saves Eliezer's life when someone tries to strangle him, |

| |but he soon loses his will to live and dies. |

Themes:

1. Death: Both the fear of it, and the environment of it.

2. The Will to Survive

3. Companionship

4. Hope

5. Dehumanization

Chapter 1: (PP. 3-22)

Guided Quesitons:

1. Who is Moishe? Describe his relationship with Elie.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. Where did the Germans stay when they first came to Sighet? What were the first impressions of the Germans by the community?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

3. List two moments in which the Sighet residents think that the war will not affect them greatly, and that life will be just like normal.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Journal Response:

What does the saying, “ignorance is bliss” mean to you? Does that meaning apply to chapter 1 of Night at all? How so?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Double-Entry Journal

|Quotes & Page Numbers (2 Quotes) |Written Personal Response |

| | |

Chapter 2: (PP. 23-28)

Guided Questions:

1. List five adjectives to describe Mrs. Schachter, in your opinion.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. Relate Mrs. Schachter’s behavior to dehumanization and the theme of Death in 2-3 sentences.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Questions (Ask at least two)

I wonder….

I wonder….

Sketch To Stretch:

Directions: On the bottom of page 28, the train arrives at Birkenau. Use the information given, and your imagination, to draw the picture of the scene.

Double-Entry Journal

|Quotes & Page Numbers (2 Quotes) |Written Personal Response |

| | |

Chapter 3: (PP. 29-46)

Guided Questions:

1. When does Elie begin to question God? Write down the quote and page number that leads you to believe this.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. How did Elie react when his father was beaten for asking to use the bathroom? How did Elie feel about his new feelings toward his father being abused?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

3. Up until this point in Night, list four ways in which characters have been “dehumanized” or made seem less than human by other people.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Essay Prompt: Pretend you are a German citizen in good-standing, but you know what is really going on. The propaganda has not blinded you. OR pretend you are a prisoner along with Elie. Pick one or the other.

------------On a separate sheet of paper, write a persuasive essay to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt about why the U.S. should get involved in World War II (pre-Pearl Harbor) as a result of the inhumane activities of Hitler.

Chapter 4: (P. 47-65)

Literary Devices:

Theme(s):

Tone:

Mood:

Quote Identifications: (Name who said it and describe the events related to the quote)

1. “After your meal, you’ll have to go see the dentist.” (51)

2. “It was imprudent of me to say those few words to you, but I knew that you would not betray me…”

3. “We breathed in air filled with fire and smoke, and our eyes shone with hope.” (60)

Guided Questions

1. In this chapter Elie names two things that are “his entire life.” What are those two things that Elie values most? How do these two things contrast to the things he valued before entering into the concentration camp?

2. When Idek beats Elie’s father for working slowly when loading diesel motors onto freight cars, how does Elie react? Are his feelings for his father the same as they have been, or has their relationship changed? If so, what do you think has caused their relationship to change?

3. In this chapter, Elie is forced to witness numerous acts of violence. On pages 64 and 65, specifically, Elie must witness the hanging of a young boy. Why is this scene traumatic for Elie to witness? (Use sensory images as clues, and examine how Elie feels in this passage).

Setting/Imagery

1. Where is Elie in this chapter? What is his environment like?

2. Name at least three sensory images that Elie used to describe his surroundings, or the people in his surroundings.

Personal Reflections:

1. What do you remember most from this chapter? Why was it meaningful to you?

2. After reading this chapter, do you think Elie acts and thinks like an adolescent? Why/Why not?

Questions (Ask at least two)

I wonder….

I wonder….

Chapter 5: (P. 66-84)

Quote Identifications:

1. “In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger.” (68).

2. “Whenever I happened to dream of a better world, I imagined a universe without a bell.” (73)

3. “And three days after he left, we forgot to say the Kaddish.” (77)

Guided Questions

1. What happens to Elie’s foot in this chapter? Since Elie’s footed is wounded, what opportunity is he presented towards the end of this chapter?

2. In this chapter, Akiba Drummer loses his face, and as a result, loses his will to live. Does Elie still have faith, and does his faith give him a will to live? If not, what motivates Elie to live?

3. At the end of this chapter, Elie describes the march to the next camp as, “The death knell. The funeral,” (84). Why does Elie describe this march as a march towards death? Why do you think Elie doesn’t resist the march towards death?

Sketch to Stretch

On page 83, in paragraph five, Elie describes the physical characteristics of the prisoners. Draw what the prisoners look like based on Elie’s description and answer the questions below.

1. How does the image of the prisoners set the mood of this chapter?

2. How are the prisoners more dead than alive?

Questions

I wonder…

I wonder…

Chapter 6 & 7: (P. 85-103)

Sensory Images:

1. Describe the setting of the march from Buna to Gleiwitz using sensory images from the text (At least three). How does this march symbolize death?

Quote Identifications:

1. “He had felt his father growing weaker and, believing that the end was near, had thought by this separation to free himself of the burden that could diminish his own change for survival.” (91)

2. How does the scene above, from Ch.6, compare to Elie’s bond with his father in Ch. 6 & 7?

3. “A shadow had lain down beside him. And this shadow threw itself over him. Stunned by the blows, the old man was crying: “Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me…” (101).

4. How does the scene above, from Ch. 7, suggest that the march has dehumanized the prisoners?

Guided Questions:

1. In Ch.6 Juliek ends up being crushed under the prisoner’s bodies, collapsing after arriving, exhausted, in Gleiwitz. When Juliek is being crushed Juliek shouts, “You’re crushing me…mercy, have mercy!” (93). In Ch. 6 & 7 do the prisoner’s have mercy for one another, and feel compassion for one another?

2. How do the conditions of the march influence the prisoner’s behavior towards one another? List the negative conditions of the environment.

3. Do the negative conditions of the march from Buna to Gleiwitz break Elie’s spirits, or make him more encouraged to survive?

Questions:

I wonder…

I wonder…

Chapters 8 & 9: (P. 104-115)

Double-Entry Journal

|Quotes & Page Numbers (2 Quotes) |Written Personal Response |

| | |

Quote Identifications:

1. “I pointed to the corpses around him; they too had wanted to rest here.” (105)

2. “His eyes were watery, his face the color of dead leaves.”

3. “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.” (115).

Guided Questions:

1. How does Elie’s relationship with his father change after his father is hospitalized? How is Elie “just like Rabbi Eliahu’s son,” (107)?

2. After living through the trauma of being a prisoner of the German army, how is Elie like a “corpse,” (115)? What human feelings has he lost? (Examine Ch. 8 & 9)

Personal Response:

1. Why do you think Elie wanted to share his traumatic experiences with the world? – Author’s Purpose…

Questions:

I wonder…

I wonder….

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download