The book that I am reading in December is called Kiss It by Erin Downing. The book is about a girl that meets a guy at her job. He is sexy, mysterious, and is not from town. She feels a sexual connection the first time they meet. She wants to hook up with him. But whenever she gives him signs that she wants him, he turns her down by saying “I can’t do this.” She keeps attempting but it doesn’t work. I haven’t read the rest of the book so I don’t know what’s next.

1. Why do you think the Germans chose to hang a few prisoners in public at a time when they are murdering thousands each day in the crematories?

I think the Germans chose to hang a few prisoners in public because they wanted to show the pain and suffering people in the harnesses to others so they would see what horror it was.

2. Give examples of the ways Elie’s relationship with his father changes throughout the book. What causes the changes?

One example was when Elie saw his father get hit and just sat there. Another example is when Elie was hungry and didn’t listen to his father about making it last. One more example is when Elie left his father when he was very sick and starving. I think that the changes started to happen when Elie realized that either way they were going to die so they had to try and survive while the time was happening.

3. After Elie’s father was chosen for selection, he gives his son a knife and a spoon. Why is this a significant act? What does Elie mean when he says “the inheritance”?

The significance of the act was to show how his father would not leave this life with out leaving his son something to remember him by. I think that Elie wanted to say that it was the last thing he has left of his father from all the bad things they went through with each other during the holocaust.

4. At the beginning of the book, Elie described himself as someone who believed “profoundly.” How have his experiences at Auschwitz  affected his faith?

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affected his faith because he felt as though god wouldn’t help him and his family survive so he gave up on his religion . Soon after he started to question if there really was a god to save him.

5. At one point on the cattle train trip to Buchenwald, a German workman causes a “stampede” in the wagon. How does he do this? What does his actions suggest about him? What does this incident suggest about the prisoners?

The German workman throws a piece of bread into the train and everyone goes after it. This shows that he is inconsiderate about how everyone would react because they were hungry they literally killed each other over the piece of bread. The incident suggests that the prisoners don’t even care that they are killing their family but they are killing each other because they are hungry.

6. What conflict arises in Elie regarding his father?

Elie starts to believe that his father is being a burden to him. Soon after he starts to believe that his father is growing weak and he thinks he should let his father be on his own.

7. What happens on January 28, 1945? What was Elie’s emotional state at this point?

On January 28, 1945 , Elie’s father died . He was sick and hungry . Soon after he was sent to the crematory. At this point , Elie was in a daze and depressed. The last person in his life that he loved dearly is not alive anymore.

8. In the next to last sentence in the book, Elie says that when he looks in the mirror after liberation, he sees a corpse gazing back at him. He ends the book by stating, “The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.” What does that sentence mean?

I think he meant that when he looks into the mirror  the person he was and the feelings he felt during the time at the concentration camps has never left him. He was always gonna be the same person but the emptiness of loosing his family hurts him deep inside.

9. How has Elie tried to keep you from responding to his story the way he and his father once responded to the one told by Moshe the Beadle? How successful has he been?

He tries to keep you from not believing in his story and he was trying to make sure that we wouldn’t make the same mistake he made when Moshe the Beadle told him the story. In the end, he was very successful of making us believe in him and his story.

10. What is the meaning of the title Night? If you were to give another title to this book, what would it be and why?

The meaning of the title Night is that what Elie was going through he felt as though it was just one long night, one long dream, one long life in the concentration camps. If I could give another title to this book it would be One Night Life because Elie felt as though he was living one long night

Passage 1: “Men to the left! Women to the right! Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight short simple words. Yet that was the moment when I parted from my mother (page 27).”
Reaction: When I read this it made me shiver and my heart ached with the pain of never being able to see my mother again. Those eight words are so powerful and very heart breaking to take in. Hearing those words is like going to your own funeral, never being able to see your birth mother. Knowing that there is a possibility that your mother would die breaks you apart.
Passage 2: ” I had not had time to think but already I felt the pressure of my fathers hand : we are alone (page 27).”
Reaction: My reaction to this was loneliness. I felt loneliness because to the words “we are alone” is kind of scary when you know you might not be able to see the people you love again.
Passage 3: “Poor devils, you’re going to the crematory (page 30).”
Reaction: When I read this my heart sank. It broke my heart to hear that innocent people were going to die just because other people didn’t believe they were worthy enough and thought they were weak.
Passage 4: “Never Shall I forget that, the first night in the camp, which has turned my life into one long night (page 32).”
Reaction: My reaction to this was that it’s scary to feel something like this. I wouldn’t want to feel just one long night and go through so much for someone who doesn’t even care about them.
Passage 5: “seven times cursed and seven times sealed (page 32).”
Reaction:When I read this I felt as though once you were in that long night you were cursed and were never going to be able to get through life alive in physically and in spirit.
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Passage 6: “Faster, you swine, you filthy sons of bitches!”
Reaction: My reaction to this is how can you treat someone who is near death and can barely walk so harsh when they can BARELY fend for themselves. This makes me very angry to read things like this.

“What can we expect?
It’s war .. ”
We wear our yellow star with pride of being a Jew.
No matter what we are going through we wont give up our religious faith for someone who is taking away human life.
“The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it.”
We are being sent somewhere, for what? We haven’t done anything, why are you trying to take away my life?
“A prolonged whistle split the air. The wheel’s began to grind. We were on our way.”
Our life was being cut off from the world.
“The doors were nailed up; the way back was finally cut off. The world was a cattle wagon hermetically sealed. ”

Activity 1 :

A) How is the story related to the poem?

The story is related to the poem because of many ways. One way the story was related to the poem is they are both tryng to teach someone who made a wrong decision for something they wanted a lesson. It also shows how when they taught that lesson, the person who made the wrong decision became a better person from that mistake that they made.

B) What if Mrs. Jones had not taken Roger home? How might his life be different?

If Mrs. Jones had not taken Roger home, Roger would have probably did the same thing to another women and most likely have gotten away with it. Roger would have a most lkely gone to jail.

C) Imagine that Roger and Mrs. Jones meet ten years after the events of the story. Write a dialogue that they might have.

Mrs. Jones : How are you Roger?

Roger : Im great Ma’am. And yourself?

Mrs. Jones : Life is good. Did you ever get those shoes you wanted?

Roger : Yes ma’am,  I did. Thank you very much.

Mrs. Jones : How’s life Roger?

Roger : Well, Mrs. Jones I started my own family and I have been to college. I am also happily married.

Mrs. Jones : That’s great. Are you happy with your life?

Roger : Yes, I am ma’am. Thanks to you.

Rikki W.

5-6 period

Push

by Sapphire

Author’s Purpose :

Precious Jones, who is the main character in the novel, is a sixteen year old girl who is mistreated by her mother and has been raped by her father more than once. Now Precious is pregnant and the father is her dad. Her first child has a mental problem, so she lives with her grandmother. Precious is pregnant again and people start to notice in school. Precious gets in a fight and is sent to the office. When Precious is sent to the office it really isn’t about the fight it’s about her being pregnant and getting her help. Precious is put in a center for young mothers and she begins to read better and write better. She has the baby, but her mother throws the baby and beats up Precious. Precious tries to run away, but her mother finds her and tries to keep her and the baby, but Precious is good on her own.

Intended Audience :

I think the intended audience of my book is teenagers and adults.

Rate The Book :

I would rate my book a 10. I highly recommend it.

Most Changed Character :

The most changed character in my book is precious, the way that she changed during the book was that she gained self esteem.