Introduction to Night

D. Cifu

Preface and Foreword

• What is the significance of having these in our book?

• What do they contribute to our understanding of the novel?

Who?

• Elie Weisel was born in 1928 in what is now Hungary.• He was from an Orthodox Jewish family.• Weisel was known for his extensive studies of the

Torah, Talmud, and Kabbalah.

What?

• The Nazi party is taking power in Germany• Hitler’s armies are invading the surrounding

countries• Jews are being rounded up, relocated to ghettos,

forced to wear stars as identification.• They are being persecuted, and their rights are

being taken away.• Weisel’s family is among the many who were

rounded up and moved to concentration camps.

Where?

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/citizensoldier/conflicts/WWIIeto/images/europomap.gif

Why?

• The Jews are being used as scapegoats.• Germany is looking for someone to blame for

the damage done to their own country after they are forced to pay massive reparations for the damage caused in WWI.

• Adolf Hitler, who came to power in 1933, believed that the Jews were inferior to what he called the “Aryan Race.”

When?

• The persecution of the Jews began in 1933 • The novel takes place in 1944, one year before

the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of WWII.

Task

• Today, you will be working in groups of 4.• We will be working in literature circles.• Each student will be assigned one role.• Each person will receive a handout that

corresponds to their role.

Task

• There will be a fifth handout for the “Discussion Director.”

• This is to be completed by all four members of the group. You will work together to form a list of discussion questions that we can address in later discussions about the novel.

Literature Circle Roles

• Discussion Director: List questions that arise during the reading of the text.

Literature Circle Roles

• Vocabulary Enricher: List important words from the reading; list any words/language that are specific to the text. List words that you did not understand.

Literature Circle Roles

• Literary Luminary: list passages that you and your group would like to hear read aloud; the passages can be confusing, interesting, funny, or important. Find passages that you think exemplify the text’s theme/main idea.

Literature Circle Roles

• Travel Tracer: Take note of the setting(s) of the book. Be as detailed as possible.

Literature Circle Roles

• Summarizer: Write a brief summary of the reading (1-22). Make sure you cover main points and the main idea(s) of the selected reading.Keep track of where you are getting this info

from. Citations are important, right? Yes they are.

Questions?

• If you have a question, or you run into an issue…

KEEPCALM

AND

RAISE YOUR HAND

When you’re finished…

• Please make sure ALL of your names are on at least one of these papers. Staple ALL of these papers together. Have one person place your work on the desk in the back of the room.

• Return to your seat, and take out a sheet of paper so that you can complete the closing activity.

Ticket Out the Door

• On a sheet of paper, write a brief answer to one of the discussion questions that you and your group members came up with.

• Hand this to me on your way out the door, and make sure your name is on it.