Reading
Night by Elie Wiesel pg. 11 — 22
Focus (Comment here)
On page 12, Wiesel writes, “Night fell.” What might “night” symbolize based on this section of text (pages 12–14)? Support your answer with at least two pieces of evidence from these pages.
Extension: Find other references to night and darkness in today’s reading and explain what the impact is of this repeated symbol.
Questions (Blog Post)
Answer any two of these questions in a blog post on this site.
- Why does Wiesel use quotation marks around the word “normal” on page 11? What impact does this punctuation have on the reader’s understanding of the passage?
- What does Wiesel mean when he writes, on page 12, “The ghetto was ruled by neither German not Jew; it was ruled by delusion”? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
- On page 21, Wiesel writes, “…so much easier to do when the owners are on vacation…” “On vacation!” Why does Wiesel repeat this word and punctuate it with an exclamation point?
Discussion (THINK)
How does our modern understanding of a “ghetto” compare to the ghettos described in today’s reading? How has the meaning of this word changed? How has its meaning stayed the same?
Creative Writing
Using words and phrases from this lesson’s reading, write a poem that conveys the mood at this point in the book. Play with punctuation, placement, words, and phrases. Try to use at least 35 different words and phrases
“On page 12, Wiesel writes, “Night fell.” What might “night” symbolize based on this section of text (pages 12–14)? Support your answer with at least two pieces of evidence from these pages.”
During pages 12-14, when “night fell”, everything seemed to intensify. On page 13, Wiesel’s father said, “The news is terrible…Transports.” Which seemed to terrify everyone listening, but even before that, on page 12, Wiesel’s mother says, “I have a bad feeling.”
With those two quotes, it would make sense that “night” represents sadness and pain, and possibly fear.
> During pages 12-14, when “night fell”, everything seemed to intensify. On page 13, Wiesel’s father said, “The news is terrible…Transports.” Which seemed to terrify everyone listening, but even before that, on page 12, Wiesel’s mother says, “I have a bad feeling.” With those two quotes, it would make sense that “night” represents sadness and pain, and possibly fear.
OK. Good start. By why is it fear? What else could it be? What do you mean by “everything seemed to intensify”?
I feel like I am saying this a log- Dig Deeper!