Pre-Activity for Night by Elie Wiesel

We are preparing the read Elie Wiesel's memoir Night. The novel depicts his time in the Nazi German concentration camp.

Part of our literary journey will be to analyze how ignoring a belittling joke can eventually lead to genocide. It is hard concept to imagine that ignoring a joke can lead to such drastic events, but it does happen.

Examples of belittling jokes and stereotypes

The first thing that one should familiarize themselves with the various forms of prejudice that exist in the world. It is far more than race and sexual orientation (a primary focus in the current landscape of American culture). 

Survivors of Buchenwald Concentration Camp

1. Go to Most Common Prejudice. After reading the list and 

description of the various forms of prejudice, create 

Cornell Notes for each type. Include questions that can be used for a Socratic Seminar. 

2. Familiarize yourself with the history of genocide so that you may have a full historical understanding and the background knowledge needed for an analysis. There are two sites that you should read and add to your Cornell Notes: 8 Stages of Genocide and 10 Atrocious Genocides In Human History. 

3. Although The Pyramid of Hate was discussed thoroughly in class, resources for personal research and growth can be found at The Southern Povery Law Center (a group focused on fighting hate and teaching tolerance in the United States) and The Anti-Defamtion League (a group that was orginally formed to fight against the defamation of Jewish people, but has grown to fight many forms of discrimination and hate). 

The Hate Map on The Souther Poverty Law Center website tracks various hate groups throughout the country. 

4. We began creating Cornell Notes over Oprah's interview with Elie Wiesel at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. You can find videos 1-6 at Winfrey and Wiesel - Auschwitz. 

5. Read and try to retain the information found at  26 Holocaust Facts for easier comprehension of Night by Elie Wiesel.