Night

I used this writing standard: 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I am reading Night by Elie Wiesel. After each chapter I will write a short summary of what has happened so far; I will also be writing some of my thoughts of the chapter.

I have accomplished everything that I planned on doing for this first cycle. Some difficulties that I faced were procrastination. Some things that I would do differently for this project are: not procrastinating and reading in class.

Chapter 1:
Throughout chapter 1, the narrator explains his life in the beginning of the Holocaust. There is a family of 6 and the only son is the narrator. He is a very intelligent child. In my opinion, this first chapter is very informative. I can tell already that I am going to like this book. It has kept my interest throughout the whole first chapter. Eliezer (the narrator) describes his story of what happened to his family and him in the Holocaust.

Chapter 2:
In chapter 2, Eliezer and the other Jew are locked in the synagogue for a few days. Then they get on a train to get deported again. There is a woman who got accidentally separated from her husband and two sons. This woman keeps shouting about a fire when there really isn’t one. When the train finally stops, she yells fire again. There is actually a fire this time. There is a horrible stench that fills the train. The Jews look out the window and see flames billowing from a tall chimney. They are forced to get off the train and leave all their stuff on it. That is where the chapter ends. My thought of this chapter is sadness. It is heartbreaking to read about these people getting treated with no respect. You know what they see when they look out of the train at the fire. And it is just sad to see that they don’t have any control of what will happen to them.

Chapter 3:
In chapter 3, Eliezer and his dad are separated from the rest of their family. The men were then separated by age/health/occupation. Eliezer and his dad were together, they had to then strip down and through their clothes in a pile. Then they were shaved and put in the shower. At this point they were all thinking that they were going to die. But then they were given new clothes and started walking to a different concentration camp. They were then able to sleep and eat. They received a new “name”. Eliezer new name was A-7713. In this chapter, Eliezer and his dad get lucky. They aren’t one of the strong people so they stay in one camp for a while. They get bread and soup every day. My thoughts are that the dad is worried but he doesn’t want to show it because he doesn’t want to scare Eliezer. This book is very sad but it is also very interesting.



Second check up
Review: I don't think that I really accomplished what I wanted for this cycle. I wanted to be finished with this book but I didn't have time to read it except for class time. Some difficulties that I encountered were not having enough time to read and journal; and I was having a hard time journaling for a while because some of the chapters are the same story. I would repeat this project only if I had more time to actually read. Something that I would do differently would be to make a time every night to read the book.

Chapter 4:
Chapter 4 was very pessimistic. It was about Eliezer and his dad moving to another camp. When they get to another camp the routine is to pass through the showers, new clothing, settle into tents, assigned to a block, roll call, and then eat food. In this chapter, Eliezer meets a new girl. She works with Eliezer and but she is not Jewish. One day Eliezer took a beating from a guard and the girl helped him when it was over. She started talking to him and he realized that she was Jewish she just lied. Later on in the chapter, the alarm goes off; and American planes fly by dropping bombs. Quote: Eliezer says: “The last sound of the American plane dissipated in the wind and there we were, in our own cemetery.” This sentence is distressing because they thought that they were going to die and they couldn’t do anything about it. They weren’t able to move from their spot or else they would get shot. For example: during the bombing, a man crawled over to soup kettles and started eating. He was shot and died. After that happened the guards started hanging people, and made the rest of the people watch. My thoughts on this chapter are similar to my thoughts on the other chapters. It is interesting to read about what actually happened in the Holocaust.


Chapter 5:
In chapter 5, Eliezer is still separated from his dad; one day they had selections; which is when the Jews are evaluated and then separated. This separation was between the strong and the weak. They were forced to take their clothes off and stand in front of the doctor to be evaluated. If the doctor writes a name down, then you are considered weak. Eliezer and his dad both passed the selection. Later in the chapter Eliezer had to go to the infirmary and have surgery on his foot. He was to stay in the infirmary for two weeks. After being in the infirmary for a few days, Eliezer heard that everyone was going to evacuate the camp. The people in the infirmary were to stay at the camp. Eliezer did not want to get separated from his father so he and his father decided that Eliezer would evacuate with his dad. At the end of the chapter, everyone evacuated. Before they evacuated a few men were sent into the block to clean and the Blockälteste said: “Let them know that here lived men and not pigs.” Eliezer thought: “So we were men after all?” Eliezer has a good point here. At the beginning of the book Eliezer thinks that he is no longer a man because after being sent to a camp, he was treated just like everyone else. My thoughts on this chapter are that Eliezer is a very strong character. Even though he has been separated from his dad and has an injured foot, he does not give up at all. I can’t really tell what kind of person Eliezer’s dad is yet. I think that he has given up, but he doesn’t want Eliezer to see that.


Third Check Up:
Review: I don't think that I have achieved what I wanted to this check up. Some difficulties that I had were not having enough time to read my book. I was always doing homework or something else. Something that I would do differently would be to make a schedual for when I need to read and how long.

Chapter 6:
In this chapter, Eliezer and his father are moved to another camp with the others. On the journey there, they were ordered to run. After a few hours of running, many people slowed their pace. When someone slowed their pace, an SS officer would shoot them. One kid that was running next to Eliezer collapsed and the officer didn’t even have to shoot him because he got trampled by the others. They come to an area that has a shed where they were able to rest for a while. Many people had to stay outside because there was not enough room in the shed. Eliezer and his dad got to stay in the shed and rest. After a while the officers decided it was time to go. They started marching again and after a few hours they finally arrived at their destination. When they got there they were pushed to the ground and piled on top of each other. Eliezer was lying on top of a boy he met earlier who played the violin. After a while Eliezer heard the boy playing his violin. Later Eliezer found the boy dead in the snow. They stayed at the camp for three days. They were finally given bread to eat. They were thirsty so they started eating the snow. On the third day they were put on a train to go to the middle of Germany. My thoughts on this chapter are that Eliezer and his dad were lucky because they didn’t die from exhaustion and from the cold. There were many people that died on the trip to the next camp. I am very interested in how this story is going to end. Is Eliezer going to die? Is Eliezer’s dad going to die? Are they both going to survive? I only have a few chapters left to read and I am interested in what is going to happen in them.

Book review: http://bestsellers.about.com/od/nonfictionreviews/gr/Night_r.htm