Hope & Delusion

1. Hope & Delusion Night by Elie Wiesel

2. Today’s Objective & Essential Question: • Where do you draw the line between hope and delusion? • Quick Write: What is hope? What is delusion? What are some situations when you’ve been hopeful? Delusional? What is the difference? When have you seen/experienced hope turn to delusion? Where do you draw the line between hope and delusion?

3. Discussion Procedures: • I’m going to give you FIVE circumstances from your previous reading in Night. • Using the context of the excerpt in the text and your abilities to make inferences about the text, decide if this situation demonstrates HOPE or DELUSION. • You will MOVE around the room. • I will call on everyone at least once, so be prepared to share your reasoning.

4. Hope or Delusion? Moishe the Beadle “Moishe wept and pleaded…’Jews listen to me!’…Even I did not believe him… “Moishe said in despair, ‘…I no longer care to live. I am alone. But I wanted to come back to warn you. Only no one is listening to me…’ “Thereafter life seemed normal once again…And so we, the Jews of Sighet, waited for better days that surely were soon to come” (7-8). (17).

5. Hope or Delusion?The Germans Arrive “Anguish. German soldiers—with their steel helmets and their death’s-head emblem. Still, our first impressions of the Germans were rather reassuring. The officers were billeted in private homes, even in Jewish homes…” “The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out—and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling” (9-10). (19).

6. Hope or Delusion?The Yellow Star “Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star. “My father’s view was that it was not all bleak, or perhaps he just did not want to discourage the others, to throw salt on their wounds. ‘The yellow star? So what? It’s not lethal…’ (Poor Father! Of what then did you die?)” (11). (20-21).

7. Hope or Delusion?The Ghettos “Little by little life returned to ‘normal.’ The barbed wire that encircled us like a wall did not fill us with real fear. In fact, we felt this was not a bad thing; we were entirely among ourselves… “People thought this was a good thing. We could live among Jews, among brothers… “Most people thought that we would remain in the ghetto until the end of the war… Afterward, everything would be as before. The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew: it was ruled by delusion” (11-12). (21).

8. Hope or Delusion?The Train to Auschwitz “’Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire! Have mercy on me!’ Some pressed against the bars to see. There was nothing. Only the darkness of night. It took us a long time to recover from this harsh awakening. We were still trembling, and with every screech of the wheels, we felt the abyss opening beneath us. Unable to still our anguish, we tried to reassure each other” (25). (34).

9. So…Did we accomplish our objective? • So, what is the line between hope and delusion? • Craft a THESIS statement that answers the essential question. You will be required to share the thesis.