1. Do Now: How do you escape the realities you face and ‘ not feel the blows ’ that harm you?

2. Two Circles Discussion (pages 72-92) Form the two concentric circles. Each pair will have 5 minutes to share their 1st selected passage with their partner and ask their three questions. Record each person’s responses to your questions in your scrapbook Repeat the process with new partners, new passages, new questions. (the inner circle will move)

3. …to mix it up… Make a connection between Nietzche ’ s quote “ He who has a why to live, can bear almost any how, ” and Elie ’ s description of Akiba Drummer: “… as soon as he felt the first cracks forming in his faith, he had lost his reason for struggling and had begun to die. ” What other examples of this idea in the text have you come across?

4. …to mix it up… At the beginning of Night, Eliezer describes himself as someone who believes “ profoundly. ” How have his experiences at Auschwitz affected that faith? Be specific and provide ‘ evidence ’ to support you claims.

5. …to mix it up… Think about the following passage: “ Death wrapped itself around me till I was stifled. It stuck to me. I felt that I could touch it. The idea of dying, of no longer being, began to fascinate me. Not to exist any longer … to feel anything, neither weariness, nor cold, for anything. ” (82) Why do you think Elie is fascinated by death? What would dying do for him?

6. …to mix it up… Think about the following passage: “ My father ’ s presence was the only thing that stopped me … He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, at his wit ’ s end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support. ” (82) Why does Elie feel that he is his father ’ s only support? How are his feelings about dying different now? What changed in him?

7. …to mix it up… Think about the following passage: “ An endless road. Letting oneself be pushed by the mob; letting oneself be dragged along by a blind destiny. ” (83) How do you live your own life? Give an example of a time in your life when you felt like Elie …

8. …to mix it up… Think about the following passage: “ He [Elie ’ s father] stared all round him in a circle as though he had suddenly decided to draw up an inventory of his universe, to find out exactly where he was, in what place and why. Then he smiled. I shall always remember that smile. ” (86) Why do you think Elie ’ s father smiled? What was he smiling at? Why do you think Elie will always remember that smile?

9. …to mix it up… After the forced march, the prisoners are crammed into a barracks. That night Juliek plays a fragment of a Beethoven concerto on the violin he has managed to keep the entire time he was at Auschwitz. “ I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek ’ s soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings — his lost hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again. ” (90) What do you think makes Juliek want to play that evening?

10. Read/Discuss pages 93-98 of Night together. What are you witnessing in this section of reading?

11. HOMEWORK DUE NEXT CLASS: 1.Write 3 quote responses in your journal for pages 81- 98. (2 paragraphs for each response!) 2.Eliezer tells of two fathers and two sons.: –He speaks of Rabbi Eliahou and his son who, “… had wanted to get rid of his father! He had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near and had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival. ” (87) –He speaks of the father whose son killed him for a piece of bread (96). In two pages, respond to the following questions: How does Eliezer describe his response to these two event? What is he trying to express to you? How do you think being a witness to these events changes Eliezer?