The Perils of Indifference based on Night by Elie Wiesel

Getting Ready to Read The Perils of Indifference based on Night by Elie Wiesel To be prejudiced means to pre-judge a person or event before you really understand it. List events either from your personal life or your understanding of history that could be described as prejudiced. PREDICTING ABC s The Holocaust A-B annihilation C-D commemoration E-F G-H genocide fascism I-J K-L M-N O-P Q-R S-T U-V WXYZ war totalitarianism 1

KWL Chart K What do you KNOW? W What do you WANT to know? L What did you LEARN? Surveying the Text Based on the title, cover art, and quote on the back, what do you think this book will be about? Why? Making Predictions and Asking Questions Read the biographical sketch on page 192. Based on Wiesel s life experience, what do you think the novel will cover? 2

Introducing Key Vocabulary Part 1 - Sighet to Buna Italicized words relate to religious elements Underlined words relate to historical elements Hasidic: Synagogue: Cabbala: Talmud: Gestapo: Lorries: Rabbi: Zionism: Emigration: Billeted: Passover: Treatise: Expounding: Phylacteries: Truncheons: Compatriots: Boche: Guerrillas: Hermetically: Barometer: SS: Nocturnal: Bestial: Lucidity: Harangued: Kapos: Compulsory: Wizened: Blandishments: Aryan: Raucous: 3

Part 2- Buna to Buchenwald Functionaries: Benediction: Implored: Lamentation: Countenance: Interminable: Emaciated: Meager: Crucible: Inconsiderable: Dysentery: Annihilate: Mountebanks: Knell: Interminate: Stupefied: Privations: Encumbrance: Semblance: Vigilance: 4

Reading Log For every chapter of the novel, choose 2 quotes that you find interesting or important, and provide comments for each. Chapter 1 Quote 1: Quote 2: Chapter 2 Quote 1: Quote 2: 5

Chapter 3 Quote 1: Quote 2: Chapter 4 Quote 1: Quote 2: 6

Chapter 5 Quote 1: Quote 2: Chapter 6 Quote 1: Quote 2: 7

Chapter 7 Quote 1: Quote 2: Chapter 8 Quote 1: Quote 2: 8

Chapter 9 Quote 1: Quote 2: 9

First Reading Preview 1. What are the 10 core concepts; give a brief description of each? 2. What is totalitarianism? 3. What three policies did the Nazis implement as their plan to deal with the Jewish Question evolved? 4. What were the Nuremburg Laws? 5. What was Kristallnacht? 6. What are Einsatzgruppen? 7. Which two European countries were most successful at saving their Jewish populations? 8. How many Jews survived in Poland? 9. How many Jews were killed during the Holocaust? 10. What other groups did the Nazis persecute? (5) 11. What was the original title of the novel, Night? 12. What are the five motifs found in the novel? 13. What point of view is the novel written in? 10

Chapter 1 14. Write an example of a simile found on page 1. 15. What does Elie desire to study? 16. Who does he get to help him? 17. What happens to Moshe the Beadle? 18. What does Moshe say happened while he was away? 19. Why don t any of the townspeople believe Moshe? 20. What kind of position does Elie s father have in the community? 21. What kind of relationship do Elie and his father have at the beginning of the novel? 22. Where are the Jews sent first after the arrival of the German soldiers? 23. Provide an example of a simile and a metaphor from page 15. Chapter 2 24. What news do they then receive of where they are to be located? 25. How many people ride on each train car? 26. What does Madame Schachter imagine she sees? 11

27. Name the literary device Madame Schachter s vision is an example of. Chapter 3 28. What happens to Elie s family when they reach the camp? 29. What advice do Elie and his father receive from one of the camp prisoners? 30. What occupation does Elie say he is? 31. What happens to those who are skilled workers? 32. Write an example of a metaphor found on page 34. 33. What do Elie and the others recite as they are nearing the crematory? 34. What new name does Elie receive at the camp? Chapter 4 35. What happens to people with gold teeth or crowns? 36. What type of treatment do the men receive at the factory? 37. How does Elie manage to keep some of his teeth temporarily? 38. What happens to people who disobey the rules of the camp? 39. Why does the hanging of the pipel stay in Elie s mind? 12

Chapter 5 40. How do the prisoners celebrate Rosh Hashanah? 41. How do they celebrate Yom Kippur? 42. Why doesn t Elie celebrate? 43. What advice does the block head give the men before selection? 44. What does Elie s father give him when he thinks he has been selected? 45. What happens to Akiba Drumer? 46. What promise do Elie and his father make Akiba? Do they keep their promise? 47. Why does Elie go to the doctor? 48. Who does the prisoner next to Elie in the hospital think has kept the most promises? 49. Why do Elie and his father decide to leave with the evacuation? 50. Name the literary device that this decision is an example of. 51. Why does the head of the block order the men to clean the barracks before leaving? 13

Chapter 6 52. How do the men travel to Gleiwitz? 53. What happens to the men as they travel if they are slow? (2 answers) 55. What happens to the men who fall asleep in the caved-in brick factory where they pause to rest on the journey? 56. What do the men do to make up for the fact that they have nothing to drink? What do the SS do when they see this? Chapter 7 57. How do the men treat each other on the train ride to Buchenwald? 58. How many men arrive at Buchenwald? How many were originally on the train? Chapter 8 59. What does Elie s father choose for himself? 60. Why does Elie take his father to the doctor? 61. What is the last work that Elie s father says? 62. What are Elie s conflicting emotions with his father s death? Chapter 9 63. What does Elie s only concern become? 64. What do the prisoners never think of after being liberated? 14

65. What does Elie call himself after he looks in the mirror? Review 66. List 3 examples of father/son relationships in the story. 67. What does night symbolize in the novel? Refer back to page 32 for help. 68. Name at least two events in the story where Elie expresses his loss of faith. 69. Which characters are witnesses? How? 70. List at least 3 opportunities Elie s family had to escape. 15

Analyzing Stylistic Choices Part 1- Sighet to Birkenau (1-2) 1. The narrator mentions the Exile of Providence and destruction of the temple at the beginning of his account. These allude to the expulsion of the Jews from their homeland of Judah in the sixth century B.C. Explain how this allusion foreshadows events in this section of Night. 2. A motif is a word, character, object, image, metaphor, or idea that recurs throughout a literary work. Wiesel uses eyes as a motif. Compare and contrast the description of Moche the Beadle before and after his deportation. Explain how eyes symbolize his personality. 3. The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don t die of it... (Poor Father! Of what then did you die?) Explain how this passage is sadly ironic. 4. Identify one example of foreshadowing (other than question 1) that suggests what Eliezer and the other prisoners will discover at Birkenau. 5. Review this section for Wiesel s use of night as a motif. Give 3 examples and explain what night symbolizes in each. 16

Part 2- Birkenau to Buna (3-4) 1. The Kaddish is the Jewish prayer traditionally recited in theory of the dead. Explain how the prisoners recitation of the prayer as they walk through Auschwitz reflects the theme of the struggle to maintain faith. 2. How is the motif of eyes used by Wiesel to characterize the personalities of the people in the camp? 3. Identify two examples that reflect the theme of human dignity in the face of inhuman cruelty. What comment is Wiesel making about this theme? 4. Explain the irony of the prisoners reaction to the threat of death that the air raid brings. 5. Explain the change in Eliezer s faith. What symbolizes this transformation? 17

Part 3- Buna to Buchenwald (5-9) 1. Identify two examples that reflect the conflict of self-preservation versus family commitment. What comment is Wiesel making about this conflict? 2. Trace Wiesel s use of eyes as a motif in Eliezar s father. Find at least 4 quotes that show how his father s change is reflected in this symbolism. 3. Wiesel uses several metaphors and similes in his discussion of the dead during the forced march. Find three examples and explain each comparison. 4. Of what is Juliek s broken violin a symbol? 5. What does the break in the narrative on page 105 say about humanity? 18

Non-Fiction Connections Reading Rhetorically Getting Ready to Read The dictionary defines indifference as lack of interest or concern. (We were shocked by their indifference toward poverty.) Describe a moment in your life when your indifference or the indifference of another had severe repercussions. Looking back, do you wish you had done anything different in the situation? Explain. Making Predictions and Asking Questions Nobel and Perils 1. Read the first paragraph. Based on that, what is the occasion that spurred Wiesel to write this speech? 2. Read the last two paragraphs. Based on them, predict Wiesel s thesis. Nuremberg Laws and Bill of Rights 1. Looking at the titles of these documents, what do you think is the author s purpose of each? 2. How is each article structured? Do you think this will make it easier or more difficult to understand? Why? 19

Introducing Key Vocabulary Nobel Humility: Transcend: Multitudes: Presumptuous: Bewilderment: Neutrality: Irrelevant: Traumatized: Abhorrent: Interminable: Insidious: Dissident: Perils Infamy: Gratitude: Metaphysical: Conceivable: Abstraction: Anguish: Consolation: Illustrious: Valiant: Fascism: Gentile: Intervene: 20

First Reading Nobel 1. Explain how winning this award both frightens and pleases Wiesel. 2. What does he remember? 3. When lives are in jeopardy, what must be our priority? 4. What more modern event does he compare to the Holocaust? 5. What do people who are suffering need above all else? Perils 1. What word does he cherish? Why? 21

2. How does he define indifference? 3. What was worse than being punished by God? 4. Who knew about the existence of work and death camps? 5. How has the century changed since the Holocaust? Dedication 1. What is the purpose of this speech? Why is it being given? 2. What is the purpose of the museum? 3. Of what does the holocaust remind us? 22

4. What modern example does Clinton give of genocide? 5. Why might people be reluctant to visit the museum? Nuremburg and Bill of Rights 1. Define a Jew according the Nuremberg laws. 2. What rights do the Jews lose according to this document? 3. Who can release anyone from the constrictions of these laws? 4. List the rights granted in the Bill of Rights in the order they appear. 23

Looking Closely at Language Nobel 1. What root part of humility helps the reader figure out its meaning? 2. What is the difference between transcend and descend or ascend? How can you use the root and prefix to help you define the word? 3. What does multi mean and what does multitude mean based on that? 4. What word do you see in neutrality? What does that word mean? 5. Pick either insidious or dissident and write out how you could figure out the meaning of the word using roots and/or prefixes. Perils 1. The word illustrate can help define illustrious. How? What does illustrious probably mean? 24

2. What does abstract mean, and how can it help define abstraction? 3. What does meta mean and how does it help to define metaphysical? 25

Rereading the Text For each text, identify with textual support and explain how you know the following: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Clinton s dedication speech to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Subject/Thesis Statement: Occasion (why was the piece written): Audience: Purpose (to inform/persuade/describe/entertain, etc): Tone (start with a basic word like anger, fear, joy, etc.): and then use a thesaurus to come up with a more accurate word ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elie Wiesel s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech Subject/Thesis Statement: Occasion (why was the piece written): Audience: Purpose (to inform/persuade/describe/entertain, etc): Tone (start with a basic word like anger, fear, joy, etc.): and then use a thesaurus to come up with a more accurate word 26

Why Do They Visit Subject/Thesis Statement: Occasion (why was the piece written): Audience: Purpose (to inform/persuade/describe/entertain, etc): Tone (start with a basic word like anger, fear, joy, etc.): and then use a thesaurus to come up with a more accurate word ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Perils of Indifference Subject/Thesis Statement: Occasion (why was the piece written): Audience: Purpose (to inform/persuade/describe/entertain, etc): Tone (start with a basic word like anger, fear, joy, etc.): and then use a thesaurus to come up with a more accurate word 27

Analyzing Stylistic Choices Nobel: 1. How would you describe the tone of this speech? Give at least two examples from the text that reveal this emotion. 2. To what is Wiesel referencing when he says the kingdom of night in paragraph four? 3. In the fourth paragraph, Wiesel uses a series of sentence fragments. What is he trying to recall by using fragmented ideas? 4. In paragraph one, Wiesel says that being chosen to accept the Nobel Peace Prize both frightens and pleases him. How does he echo these ideas in successive paragraphs? What rhetorical device is he using? 5. In paragraph fifteen, he says that As long as one dissident ins in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our lives will be filled with anguish and shame What is the effect of the parallel structure on the audience? 6. What element does Wiesel use to connect the paragraphs of the essay together? 28

Perils 1. Wiesel uses several oxymorons to define indifference. How is this an effective way to define a word? 2. He spends several paragraphs explaining what indifference is. Identify all the elements that contribute to this word- all the ways he defines it. 3. Identify two examples of parallel structure. 4. Why does Wiesel reference several other countries in paragraph 5? 5. Who is the author s intended audience in this speech? How do you know? Dedication 1. Why cite Jefferson and Lincoln in paragraph 1? 2. What connotation does the word unleashed have in paragraph 5? 29

3. Find at least one example of parallel structure. 4. Identify the tone of the article and list 3-5 words or phrases that support that tone? 5. How does the word prey in paragraph 14 continue the symbolism of unleashed in paragraph 5? Nuremberg and Bill of Rights 1. What is the purpose of subheadings in these articles? 2. What tone does each article convey to the reader? Give examples of language that illustrates your determination. 3. Who is the intended audience for each article? How would that audience react to it? 4. What do you think was the author s intent in each document? Is there a stated intent that is different from the implied intent? 30

Post Reading Activity Summarizing and Responding Write a summary for one of the articles of your choosing. Use the following format. Read the text for its main points. Write out the text s thesis or main point: Identify the text s major divisions or chunks and identify their purpose. Summarize each part in one or two sentences. Now combine your summaries of the parts into a coherent whole, creating a condensed version of the text s main ideas in your own words. Example: In Who Cares If Johnny Can t Read? published in the online journal Slate on April 16, 1997, Larissa MacFarquhar informs readers that those who think that Americans no longer read books are mistaken. According to MacFarquhar, American are reading more than ever, although they are reading genre fiction and self-help books instead of the classics. This preference for popular books leads MacFarquhar to raise two related questions: Does it matter what people read or only if they read? Many persons today, says MacFarquhar, believe that reading in and of itself matters because reading is considered more intellectually stimulating and culturally valuable than watching television. MacFarquhar opposes this view by suggesting that watching television can sometimes be more stimulating and culturally valuable than reading. What matters, she believes, is the quality of what is being watched or read. 31

Thinking Critically 1. Why is Elie Wiesel uniquely qualified to talk about the holocaust? 2. Wiesel alludes to several other people in this speech. How do these people lend credibility to his argument? 3. What emotion does Wiesel s use of the young Jewish boy call upon? 4. How does his use of emotion help to persuade his audience? 5. What are the major claims of the article? 6. How does he support these claims? Give specific examples. For all three speeches, answer the following: 7. What similarities (beside the subject) do you see between the speeches? List at least two. Why are these ideas repeatedly? 8. Identify one element that Wiesel uses in The Perils of Indifference but NOT in the Nobel speech? Why does he add this element? 9. Authors write pieces with a specific audience in mind. List at least two assumptions that the author made when writing these speeches? Provide support from the texts that reveal these assumptions. 10. What details might the author add to his speech to make them more emotional? 32

Nuremberg and Bill of Rights 1. How does the language of the Nuremberg Laws differ from the Bill of Rights? How does that affect the reader s reaction to the text? 2. How does each article establish authority? What differences do you notice between the two articles in this area? 3. How far should a government go to protect its people? When does a government go too far? 4. What should citizens do when their consciences and/or code of ethics causes them to disagree so strongly with a law that they are tempted to disobey it? 5. What would be the costs and/or benefits of breaking a law a citizen did not agree with? 6. Based on these documents, what can you infer about the role of government and the rights of citizens? 33