Reading Study Guide for Night by Elie Weisel
Prepare Students for Unit Test on Weisel's Holocaust Novel Night
Oct 31, 2009
Teachers can help middle and high school students prepare for a reading comprehension unit test on Elie Weisel's Holocaust novel, Night. By providing a detailed study guide, teachers will guide students toward key elements of the novel relating to character descriptions, applied literary elements and plot details which move forward the events of this gripping story.
Main Characters in Weisel's Night
Students should be familiar with the following characters. They can study the brief descriptions of each character, but should also be able to identify examples of both direct and indirect characterization for each character listed below:
- Mengele: an evil, notorious Nazi
- Elie Wiesel: the narrator of the story
- Madame Schachter: had visions of fires while on the train
- Moshe the Beadle: taught mysticism and escaped a concentration camp
- Tzipora: Eliezer’s little sister
- Chlomo: Eliezer’s father
- Stein of Antwerp: finds Elie and his father at Auschwitz
- Juliek: carried his violin during the march
- Idek: a warehouse Kapo who whipped Elie
- Franek: a Polish foreman who forces Elie to give him a gold crown
Reading Comprehension Questions for Weisel's Night
While the following list of questions is by no means comprehensive, it will help students begin their preparation of review for the content of this novel.
- How did the Jews of Sighet feel about the poor?
- How did the Jews of Sighet feel when the foreign-born Jews are expelled?
- How did the Jews of Sighet first feel about living in the ghettos?
- When does Elie first see Nazi brutality?
- How does Elie’s view about God change throughout the novel?
- How do fellow prisoners treat each other? Why?
- When does Elie’s father die?
Important Vocabulary in Weisel's Night
The following terms are important vocabulary words that will help students better comprehend the novel if studied in advance. These words can be tested in either a matching or multiple choice format. As an alternative assessment, students could be asked to write original sentences correctly using these words. Short definitions are provided.
- Messiah: deliverer of the Jews
- synagogue: house of Jewish worship
- pipel: a child with beautiful features
- Kaddish: Jewish prayer for the dead
- Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement
- cabbala: Jewish mysticism
- Aryan: non-Jewish Caucasian
- Talmud: body of Jewish tradition
- rabbi: a Jewish teacher
- automaton: a robot
- truncheon: a club
- Gestapo: Nazi secret police
Applied Literary Elements for Night
The following literary terms should be studied in advance. Then, students should be expected to identify examples of each of these terms in the context of the novel.
- autobiography: the story of a person's life written by that person
- point of view: perspective the author provides for the reader to observe the events of a story
- conflict: opposing forces in a literary work that can be either internal or external
- irony: the opposite of what is expected occurs
- imagery the use of vivid, descriptive language to create meaningful “word pictures” in a literary work
- symbolism: the use of one thing to suggest or represent something else
- theme: a main idea or central person of a story that is either stated or unstated
Essay Questions To Consider
The following questions will encourage students to connect with the novel and think more deeply about its themes and implications. Students can answer one or more of the following questions in a two paragraph response.They should include specific details from Night.
- What will students remember longest about this book?
- Which images will most resonate with students?
- Has this novel changed student's thinking in any way?
- Which parts of the novel did students find the saddest? Most horrifying? Most surprising? Most confusing? Most touching? Explain.
This study guide for a unit test on Elie Weisel's Night provides students with the opportunity to self-assess their knowledge of details in the story, such as main characters and key vocabulary. It also allows students to test their ability to analyze and personally respond to the text with applied literary elements and essay questions for this novel. Once students complete this study guide, they will feel better prepared for a unit test on Night.
Weisel, Elie. Night. Bantam Books: New York, New York. 1960.
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