30/06/2009 Elie Wiesel Photo Etc.

29/06/09 Night by Elie Wiesel Pages 1-20 Remarks

The first time I read this chapter (as a sophomore in high school) I
kept a pocket dictionary handy so that I could look up words new to
me. Most new vocabulary words can be understood through context
clues; some words though need definition or explanation. If you
paused to look up one of the words in this list (or another word that
is not on the list), feel free to provide the definition or
explanation you learned to save others the time :)
Hasidic
waiflike
cabbala
Maimonides
mysticism
Zohar
lorries
Fascist
Nyilas party
billeted
Passover
Pentecost
Talmud
avid
haggard
dregs
phylacteries
truncheons


If you like, add a question or comment on this blog on one of these questions related to the first chapter:
1. Why, in your opinion, did the people of Sighet choose to think Moshe a madman rather than believe the truth he
was telling? Offer examples of other situations people engage in this sort of denial.
2. Many students have wondered "how could people ‘let’ themselves be taken to the death camps." Comment on the Nazi’s methods of desensitization and dehumanization used to gain control of the Jewish people.
3. Wiesel writes in a straightforward style- clear, concise, direct.
Why does he choose this style? What effect would another style have on
the narrative’s impact on the reader? For example, if Wiesel chose to
write this narrative in a style similar to Dai Sajie’s style in Balzac
and the Little Chinese Seamstress, how would the effect on the reader
be different?
4. How can you explain the optimism which seems to appear at every turn?
5. On page 18 there is a short paragraph beginning “Night…dead eyes.”
Explain the importance of this short paragraph. What is it saying? How
does what it is saying inform your understanding of the title of the
book?

You may want to read this book in segments of approximately 20 pages
each; this will allow you to process and think about what you have
read. There are just over 100 pages, so 5 days would be ideal to
complete this summer reading. For each segment, feel free to comment
on this blog to help you clarify your thoughts and reactions.

Pages 21-43
Pages 45-62
Pages 63-92
Pages 93-109

26/06/09 Night by Elie Wiesel Forward Reflections

Forward by Francois Mauriac vii-xi

I believe that Francois Mauriac did an excellent job of preparing readers for Wiesel's disturbing subject; Mauriac provided a brief introduction to the author as a young
man; he then provided insight into the author’s choice of title for the
book; and finally he previewed several of the most troubling parts of
Wiesel’s narrative dealing with the chilling and unimaginable horrors
faced by innocent, unsuspecting children. Additionally, Mauriac raised
thought-provoking comments on the power of questions. As forwards go,
this forward effectively guides and prepares the reader without
undermining the visceral power of Wiesel’s narrative.
Agree? Disagree? Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Reactions?

25/06/09 Night by Elie Wiesel Preface Reflections

Preface by Robert McAfee Brown pages v –vi

Brown uses the phrase “such depressing subject matter” more than once
in the preface. He’s absolutely right- it is- in fact, I truly can’t
think of any subject matter that is more depressing, yet he goes on to
make such an important point, “Night remains a book we must read and
reread if we are to accept responsibility for our past and to learn
from that past for the sake of our future.” We are fortunate indeed
that Elie Wiesel broke his ten year silence after his liberation from
the concentration camps of World War II, as Brown concludes: “…between
us and the fiery furnaces where they burned babies alive stands the
presence of Elie Wiesel; his presence casts a shadow from within which
we can see, in dimmest outline, the reality he saw and touched and
tasted directly….with his help we can recapture enough of that reality
so that it will never be repeated.”
Thoughts? Reactions? Comments?

24/06/09 Night by Elie Wiesel Pre-Reading Reminiscences

I’m starting my summer reading today with Night by Elie Wiesel. The
first time I read Night was many years ago when I was a sophomore in
high school; my history teacher required the book as part of our study
of World War II. I honestly believe that Night was one of the most
influential books in my life- perhaps the single most influential book
in my life; it was shocking to me at the time and I know it will be
shocking to me again as I read it this week. As a sophomore in small
town Glencoe, Minnesota, I grew up in a relatively protected
environment with a concomitant predictably naïve view of the world and of the
power of evil. At age 16, reading the page by page horror so succinctly detailed
by Elie Wiesel quickly opened my eyes to the reality of the inhumanity
experienced by Wiesel-and millions of other people- at a time in his
life when he should have been enjoying life as a teenager. After
reading Night so many years ago, I turned immediately to other authors
who wrote about the holocaust. With a rabid desire I wanted to learn
more about how this genocide could have happened. Leon Uris, Joseph
Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Tim O’Brien and other great authors helped me
broaden my understanding of what happened in war. The why of war was
a different question.

Years after that eye-opening history lesson, I found myself teaching
sophomore English at Rosemount High School in Rosemount, Minnesota.
Included in the curriculum was the book Night. Each year that I
taught the book, I found a high percentage of my students having a
similar reaction to mine: shock that this genocide happened, shock
that they had not heard about the genocide, shock that some people
pretend the holocaust never happened, shock that genocides continue to
occur. We talked about and wrote about our reactions to the book and
to the lessons it can teach. I look forward to reading this important
book again and I look forward to my TAS students sharing their ideas
on this blog, but even more-so when school resumes in August.