Year-long Essential Question: What powers control our lives? Is it fate? Is it society? Is it our own
free will? How do these powers interact?
Project Packet #8
Night: Effects of Dehumanization
Term Calendar
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BENCHMARK #6
March 6th
March 9th
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March 11th
PROJECT PACKET
#8 DUE
March 12th
March 16th
Evacuation Day –
No School
March 17th
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MCAS DAY 1
March 24th
MCAS DAY 2
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COMMUNITY DAY
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TERM 3
PORTFOLIO DUE
April 2nd
Good Friday- No
School
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rd
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TERM 3
PORTFOLIO
ASSIGNED
March 30th
April 6
th
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April 7
th
ALL PORTFOLIO
REVISIONS DUE
April 8st
1
April 9
th
March 13th
BENCHMARK #7
April 10th
NAME:
Unit 8 Project Goals
SWBAT use questioning to identify and fix comprehension breaks when reading
SWBAT identify themes about dehumanization in Night text using close reading
SWBAT to use reasoning to fully explain how their analysis supports their understanding of
the effects of dehumanization
Project Assignments (score out of 130 points)
Credit will only be given for assignments that are completed and stamped by the end of the
period on Thursday, March 5th
Required Assignments1
1) Complete Reading Notes for Night,
pages 1-46
2) Complete Reading Notes for Night,
pages 47-65
3) Complete Reading Notes for Night,
pages 66-104
4) Write an analysis paragraph in
response to one of the attached
prompts.
5) Write a second analysis paragraph
in response to one of the attached
prompts.
6) Write a 1-2 page commentary about
Night
7) Write a second 1-2 page commentary
about Night
8) Pass around at least one commentary
and get at least 3 thoughtful comments
9) Write a response to the website
discussion post “Dehumanization”
(bclarm11.weebly.com)
1
All Required Assignments must be completed in order to get any points for Extension Assignments
2
Extension Assignments
10) Respond to a classmates story on
the website discussion page using
this sentence frame: “While I agree
with you when you say _______, I
think that _______.”
11) Write an additional commentary
about Night
12) Pass around an additional
commentary and get at least 3
thoughtful comments
13) Write a book review for a book
you have read this year. It should be
at least ½ a typed-page. Email it to
Ms. Levey-Pabst and she will post it
on the class website!
Total Project Score: _______________/130 points
All stamps are worth 10 points
3
Commentary on Literature
Writing Purpose: To spark discussion and response from your audience
Topic: Write about a specific passage or section of Night
What to include:
Include any and/or all of the following. Remember, whatever you write about
should make people want to respond and write back to you!
Questions you have about the book or the people in the book
Thoughts you have about dehumanization based on a certain part of the
book
Things you wish you could say to the people in the text
Personal connections you are making with the text
What you are thinking about the importance of fate, society or free-will
as you read this text
Questions you have for your readers (the people who will read and
comment on your commentary)
4
Example Commentary
Title: Anguish vs. Optimism
One part of the book Night that really stands out to me is the part
where the Germans come to Wiesel's town (page 9). His first paragraph
describing this occupation starts with "Anguish," which usually means
intense suffering. This is interesting, because in the rest of the
paragraph he describes how the people of his town thought that they
weren’t suffering when the Germans were there. The German soldiers come to
live with the Jewish families, and at first they seem fine. As Wiesel
says, "our first impressions of the Germans were rather reassuring." (pg
9). I don't fully understand why the Jews of Sighet seem so oblivious to
the danger they faced. I know they had no choice about the Germans coming
to their home, but I wonder why they seem even positive about it, such as
when the ones who were optimists say "There they are, your Germans? What
do you say now? Where is their famous cruelty?" (pg 10)
Then again, I need to remember that these events are all told from
the perspective of one man, one man who was a young adult, barely a
teenager, at this time. Maybe there were more murmurings of concern, or
escape, or even revolution that he wasn't hearing because he was too
young. Of course, it is also likely that the people of Sighet were trying
to be positive in a horrible situation. This makes me think of all the
times I, and others, ignore injustice or problems in the world because
they seem too big to handle. It makes me think about how overwhelmed I get
reading the newspaper and reading about drone strikes in Syria, global
warming, and the unjust death of men of color in our country. What would I
do if this kind of occupation came to my home, to my town? While I like to
believe I would start a revolution, or risk my life for freedom, the
reality is that I would probably do everything in my power to protect my
family and not get noticed by my oppressors. I think this is what people
who seek power and destruction count on - they count on our instincts to
protect ourselves and families. So, my questions are, what if the Jews of
Sighet had resisted more? Would the Germans have decided that town wasn't
worth the trouble? Or would they all have died sooner? I also wonder if
this is part of the process of both genocide and oppression in general. Do
people's instincts to protect themselves and their loved ones actually
make things more dangerous in the long run?
Analysis Prompts for Night
a) Parentheses are usually used to add information that would not normally fit
into the flow of your text. However, in Night, Wiesel often uses parentheses
to show the thoughts of his future self as he is telling the story of his past.
Identify to places in the book (such as page 11 and 20) where Wiesel uses
parentheses and explain what his use of parentheses highlights about
genocide and/or the process of dehumanization.
________________________________________________________
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b) Passage: The first nine paragraphs of the chapter starting on page 23.
("Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down . . . The world had
become a hermetically sealed cattle car")
Prompt: How does Wiesel use diction to illustrate the dehumanization he and
the other prisoners faced as they traveled to the concentration camps? Be
sure to describe the diction and use two examples from the text.
________________________________________________________
c) Passage: Page 59: “One Sunday . . . In our minds he was already dead”
Prompt: What are two different ways Wiesel uses syntax (sentence
structure) when describing this scene. What does this syntax suggests about
his thoughts and emotions in this moment?
________________________________________________________
d) Passage: Page 85: “An icy wind was blowing violently . . . I hated that body”
Prompt: In this passage Wiesel is describing the effects of all the
dehumanization and suffering he has experienced. What does his use of
figurative language suggest about the ultimate effects of dehumanization?
________________________________________________________
e) Passage: Page 115: "Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto
the provisions . . .The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."
Prompt: How does Wiesel use diction and/or syntax to illustrate the physical,
mental and emotional effects his experience has had on him?
c) Passage: Page 34: "Never shall I forget . . . Never"
Prompt: How does Wiesel use several writers’ moves to show the effects of
his first night in the concentration camps? Additionally, how does this
passage help you understand the title of the book?
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