Literary Devices
What literary device is created by using “Never shall I forget” over and over in Section 3?
Repetition
Elie repeatedly wonders whether events happened a week ago, one night ago, or only an hour ago. What can readers infer about this what this experience has done to him?
The horrors he has experienced have distorted his sense of time and reality.
Who is the violinist who plays Beethoven shortly before dying?
Juliek
Name one major theme in "Night."
Acceptable answers: inhumanity toward others, silence, survival, loss of faith
What does “tumult” mean in the selection passage?
"The SS officers gave the order. “Form ranks of fives!” There was a tumult. It was imperative to stay together. “
A violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd.
What figurative language device is used when a conversation lasts only seconds but “seemed like an eternity”?
Hyperbole
An inmate tells Elie to say he is eighteen and tells his father to say he is forty. What can be inferred about the inmate’s purpose?
He is trying to improve their chances of survival by influencing how they are classified during selection.
What is the name of Elie’s father?
Shlomo
How does Elie’s attitude toward God change from the beginning of the memoir?
He begins deeply devoted to God but increasingly questions God’s silence and justice.
Why is it dangerous for Elie and other prisoners to fall asleep in the snow during the forced march?
They might die from hypothermia and never wake up.
What device compares the crowded, nearly lifeless prisoners on the train to “a cemetery covered with snow”?
Simile
In section 3, the Block 17 leader tells Elie and the other members of his block to "Have faith." Why does Elie say this speech is “the first human words” he hears at the camp?
The leader offers encouragement, solidarity, and hope after the prisoners have been treated brutally.
Who is the poor Jewish teacher from Sighet with knowledge of Jewish mysticism?
Moshe the Beadle
What does the prisoners’ recitation of Kaddish for themselves imply?
They are accepting the likelihood of death and preparing for that possibility.
In the context of the camp, what does “selection” refer to?
A process in which prisoners were assessed and chosen for different fates.
Which literary element is shown when people say conditions will be good and families will not be separated, but the reality is horrific?
Irony
What does the story about the Parisian woman’s enjoyment of watching poor children fighting over coins reveal about her perspective?
She does not understand the desperation that can make people fight for survival; Elie’s experiences give him a different perspective.
Which character has visions of fire and is unable to convince others of the danger she senses?
Mrs. Schachter
Why is Elie’s decision not to fast for Yom Kippur significant?
It shows a major shift in his relationship with God and the faith that had been central to his earlier identity.
Put these events in chronological order: Elie and his father arrive at Buchenwald; his father becomes very sick; Elie wakes and finds his father gone; Buchenwald is liberated; Elie sees himself in a mirror.
Arrival at Buchenwald → father becomes very sick → Elie wakes and finds his father gone → liberation → Elie sees himself in the mirror.
Madame Schachter’s visions of fire before the prisoners reach the camp anticipate later horrors. What device is this?
Foreshadowing
Elie gives his father soup grudgingly and thinks he has failed the test, like Rabbi Eliahu’s son. What does this reveal?
Elie feels conflicted: he wants to care for his father, but survival pressure and resentment test his loyalty.
Which prisoner rescues Elie when another man tries to strangle him, but later loses the will to continue after his son is taken away?
Meir Katz
Explain how Night presents a conflict between family loyalty and survival.
Extreme deprivation pressures prisoners to prioritize survival, testing family bonds and moral commitments.
What is the significance of Elie seeing himself in a mirror at the end of Night?
He confronts the physical devastation caused by his experiences and the lasting impact of survival.