Nazi Archive Made Public

1:What thoughts and emotions does the title evoke? Does the picture on the book make an impression on you, how so? Have you heard anything about Night, or its author Elie Wiesel? How does the fact that this book has been given to you as an assignment affect you before you begin What thoughts went through your mind as you followed young Elie on his journey? What emotional responses did reading about his experiences provoke in you? You may include quotes and passages from the book to illustrate your point, or to illustrate how the author responds to specific experiences. Or ... consider Prompt 2: Wiesel opens Night with this sentence: “They called him Moshe the Beadle, as though he had never had a surname in his life” (1960: 1). With no surname, a problem especially within Judaism, Moshe’s “Identity” is in question. As a writer, Wiesel often makes an explicit link between the first sentence and concluding sentence of a text. These are the two sentences that conclude Night:“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me” (1960: 109). A major theme connects beginning to end: the drama of identity , as it plays itself out through a lived story. In this final sentence, it is Elie who looks into the mirror and who does not recognize how it is looking back. Having read his story, why do you think“identity” is such an issue for Wiesel? Inconsidering your response, try to connect theissue to your own life. How do you define your own sense of identity? What parts of social life are key to your sense of identity?(e.g., Religious beliefs?Political beliefs? Groups with which you affiliate? Family values that you hold? And so on.)      

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