Strong responses will contrast Eliezer's initial devotion (crying while praying) with his later anger. Key scenes: The burning pits at Birkenau, the hanging of the Pipel, and his silence during the High Holidays. The "death" of faith is a reaction to the perceived indifference of God.
Option B: Father/Son Bond
Strong responses will note that Shlomo is Eliezer's "anchor." However, they should also mention the "burden"—when Eliezer feels angry at his father for getting beaten by Idek, showing how the camp has twisted his sense of empathy and filial duty.
RL.1 LEVEL 3
3. Which detail from Selection B provides the strongest evidence for the inference that the camp environment forces prisoners to abandon their identities as family members?
A) "Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp."
B) "Each of us lives and dies alone."
C) "I didn't move. I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head."
D) "The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head."
Reading Selection C
Page 108
"When the doctor arrived in the afternoon, I went to tell him that my father was very ill... I explained that he could not stand up, but the doctor would not listen... 'What do you want?' 'My father is sick,' I answered in his place... 'Dysentery...' 'That's not my business. I'm a surgeon. Go on. Make room for the others!'"
RL.6 LEVEL 2
4. Based on Selection C, what is the author’s viewpoint regarding the humanity of the camp’s medical staff?
A) He believes they were overworked heroes who tried to save everyone.
B) He views them as indifferent and complicit in the oppression, valuing efficiency over human lives.
C) He thinks they were victims themselves who had no power to help.
D) He suggests the doctors were secretly helping the resistance movement.
Reading Selection D
Page 115
"OUR FIRST ACT AS FREE MEN was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That's all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread... One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall... From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."
RL.1 LEVEL 4
5. WRITTEN RESPONSE: ANALYSIS OF THE MIRROR
Analyze the imagery of the "corpse" in the mirror from Selection D. How does this detail connect to the central idea of the memoir? Justify why this image serves as the strongest evidence to support the claim that Eliezer’s original identity was permanently destroyed by the Holocaust.
RL.6 LEVEL 4
6. WRITTEN RESPONSE: AUTHOR'S ARGUMENT & CREDIBILITY
Wiesel states that as "free men," they had "no thought of revenge." Assess how this specific detail contributes to the credibility of his narrative. Evaluate the strength of his argument regarding the "death" of his soul by explaining how he addresses the conflicting idea that liberation should have been a moment of joy and justice.
