Night

Novel Study Part A by Kristen Leandro

**Night** by Elie Wiesel

__Night__ offers a first-hand account of the horrors of the Holocaust through the eyes of a teenage boy. The memoir begins in 1941 with Eliezer, a thirteen-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy, wanting desperately to study deeper into his religion, against the wishes of his parents, especially his father, Schlomo. In 1942, various anti-Semitic laws are imposed upon the Jewish population of Eliezer’s Hungarian village, Sighet. Moving forward to early 1944, Sighet is converted into a ghetto just weeks after the first appearance of the Gestapo. By May 1944, Eliezer and his family are transported from the ghetto to Auschwitz. This is the last time Eliezer sees his mother and youngest sister as they are taken straight to the gas chambers. Eliezer and Schlomo do everything they can to not get separated while they are imprisoned in Auschwitz, then transported to various concentration camps and forced to take part in Death Marches. Eliezer witnesses murder and suffering first-hand, losing his faith along the way. He realizes that he not only hates Nazis, but also develops an internal conflict as he realizes that helping his frail father stay alive is lessening his own chances for survival. In 1945, American troops liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp where Eliezer is imprisoned at the time. Although appreciative of his freedom, Eliezer realizes that he will never be the same again and is deeply saddened and tormented by what he has gone through for the past 3 years.

I would teach this text in a grade 9 or 10 applied English courses, or Grade 12 University “The Writer’s Craft”. One of the main reasons a grade 9 or 10 applied student may be attracted to this novel is simply because of the length. Some applied students (and this applies to academic students as well) may be intimidated by the length of some texts, thinking that they will lose interest, or that it will become boring, before they finish. Night is 115 pages long. While considerably a short text, it is packed with intense narrative that will keep the students interested the whole way through. Also, the main character matures through the same ages as grade 9 and 10 students, making him relatable. The narrative is very “matter-of-fact”, yet at the same time extremely descriptive (at times, painfully so). This helps hold the interest of a young reader. The novel deals with many themes that I will further discuss later. This text could also be Night used in The Writer’s Craft class because it provides the students with an example of a memoir, something they may be asked to produce for formative or summative assessment. It also makes the students consider the legitimacy of memory as a primary source. Finally, because the text is short, students in The Writer’s Craft course may be more inclined to read it seeing as it would not take up much of their time (it can be presumed that students who are in this particular course would rather spend their time writing than reading).

The main ideas of the text include: keeping faith vs. losing faith in the face of adversity, memory and perspective and how they both affect the re-telling of events, coping with horrific events, familial relationships (particular the father-son dynamic), and the purpose of a memoir (its function as a non-fiction “story”.)

**Textual** – the use of first-person narration helps give the text a sense of authority on the subject. Experience is often considered to be the most valuable piece of knowledge a person can possess. If someone told Eliezer’s story for him it would not have the same impact that his own account has. It would not include his personal observations and feelings, nor present the internal conflict he experiences that often scares and shames him. It is these nuances that make __Night__ the effective text that it is. Each individual is the narrator of his or her own life, and by reading a text like __Night__, students can gain the understanding that what they think or feel is important, no matter what their ages are.

**Social** – __Night__ deals with serious social issues, particularly race and religious discrimination, genocide, and familial relationships. In the diverse society in which we live and will be teaching in, discrimination is something that needs to be addressed and explored so that students get a strong understanding of it so that they can see the importance of its abolishment. __Night__ presents an example of what can happen when people do not put a stop to discrimination right from the start. Seeing as the main character is a teenager, high school students can relate to what Eliezer feels throughout the text and can consider how they may have coped with what he had to go through. This text would also help the students consider the relationships they have with their families seeing as it demonstrates the strength family members can gain from each other. This might help students appreciate a strong family bond if they have one, or prompt students to realize an unhealthy relationship and seek help for it.

**Cultural**: Religion played a strong role in Eliezer’s life at the beginning of the text, only to have him blame God for what he, his family, and the people who share his faith have had to endure. Many students who are taught this text might have the same connection to their faith as Eliezer did. It would be interesting to get their opinion on how they think Eliezer could develop his faith in God once again, or argue whether or not his loss of faith is justifiable. Also, the Holocaust may be part of some students’ lives, especially if their families were personally affected by it. It is crucial that a teacher take this into consideration and approach the subject with sensitivity.

**Topic**: The Holocaust is a piece of history that has affected many people throughout the world since its beginning to the present day. Lately, much attention has been brought to the fact that many Holocaust survivors are reaching the end of their lives due to old age, meaning first-hand accounts of the events that took place will be a thing of the past. This is why things like interviews, photographs, and memoirs are so important as they are priceless primary sources that will eventually serve as the only first-hand accounts for people to learn from. When a student studies the Holocaust he or she investigates topics such as history, humanity, culture, society and identity, things that are relatable to everyone of any age. An issue that may arise when teaching any text is that some students may not be at the reading level they are expected to be at certain grade levels. For this reason, it is crucial that differentiated instructed and accommodations be taken into consideration. A way to deal with this issue would be to have the text read out loud as a class. This would ensure the students have the opportunity to get the most possible out of the text and the teacher can facilitate discussion whenever he or she sees fit. Another issue is that some students may not have been exposed to information about the Holocaust in earlier grades, or different views of the Holocaust may have been presented (based on culture, gender, etc.). In this case, the teacher would have to provide background information on the Holocaust so that the students can begin the unit with some sort of previous knowledge. A movie like __The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas__ is a useful tool as it presents the Holocaust in a much lighter way than other films as it is intended for a younger audience. Thirdly, students may find the content too brutal or intense, thus making them uncomfortable with the text. Students must never be forced to read anything that they are uncomfortable with. For this reason an alternative text should be offered to accommodate the student. It would be valuable to speak with the student to find out what it is about the text that makes him or her feel so uncomfortable so that insight can be made into whether or not the text is appropriate for a particular class.

An assignment that a teacher could introduce to his or students is to write a piece that could appear in their own memoir. The students would be encouraged to write about any event in their lives that they feel is worth retelling, whether it was a happy event, scary one, or sad. It would be a take-home assignment to enable students the time necessary to reminisce about the event, or to validate details with others who may have been present. They would be reminded in the instructions that Wiesel used rhetorical devices such as metaphor, imagery and symbolism quite effectively in his work, and they would need to do the same in order to receive a Level 3. A rubric would be provided for this summative assignment that would include all four categories: knowledge and understanding, thinking and inquiry, communication, and application. I would assess a student’s understanding of the text by how he or she relates Eliezer’s understanding of the events going on around him to occurrences in his or her own life (application), how well his or her point is articulated (use of paragraphs, proper grammar, etc.) (communication), why he or she feels this event is worth retelling (thinking and inquiry), and his or her understanding of the components that make up an effective memoir (use of rhetorical devices, details, etc.) (knowledge and understanding).

This assignment would meet the following overall expectations of the curriculum for grades 9 and 10 applied English classes:

//Writing//: - Developing and Organizing Content: generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience. - Using Knowledge of Form and Style: draft and revise their writing, using a variety of literary, informational, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audience. - Applying Knowledge of Conventions: use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively. - Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as writers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful at different stages in the writing process.

//Reading and Literature Studies:// - Reading for Meaning: read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, informational, and graphic texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning. - Understanding Form and Style: recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning - Reading with Fluency: use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently - Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading.

__Night__ is a text rich with human emotion, perspective and history. By reading and studying it students would get a sense of the importance of having a voice and the effect it can have on present society and for years to come.