Night by Elie Weisel describes one Jewish boy’s horrifying journey to a Nazi concentration camp during World War Two. By using the following vocabulary quiz, teachers can help their high school students better comprehend this autobiographical novel of one Holocaust survivor.
Study Vocabulary in Night
There are many challenging and topic-specific vocabulary words in the first few chapters of Elie Weisel’s Night. Before students continue reading beyond chapter three in the novel, it is important they understand these words. Teachers can encourage students to create flashcards or write original sentences including these words in order to study this vocabulary list. Here are words that can be presented in a word bank on the quiz.
- Hasidic (adjective)
- synagogue (noun)
- Gestapo (noun)
- rabbi (noun)
- Zionism (noun)
- diplomacy (noun)
- Fascist (noun)
- ghetto (noun)
- anecdotes (noun)
- deportation (noun)
- pious (adjective)
- hermetically (adverb)
- abominable (adjective)
Night's Chapters One to Three Vocabulary Quiz
To quiz students on their comprehension of the Holocaust-related words listed below, teachers should prepare cloze-style sentences that require students to fill in the blanks with vocabulary words. Each sentence should contain at least one context clue that helps students select the correct word. Students should be instructed to pay careful attention to the way in which the word is used and to consider part of speech before selecting the vocabulary word that best completes each sentence below.
1. Jews worship in a place called a ______________.
2. The ___________ were a police force that all Germans learned to fear.
3. A ____________ is a type of Jewish religious instructor.
4. The Jews were unable to negotiate with the Nazis about deportation; therefore, there was no ______________.
5. A ____________ is a person who believes a dictatorship is a good form of government.
6. A belief in ___________ includes wanting all Jews to join together in one country as one united people.
7. When Jews were forced to leave their homes in Sighet, they experienced what was called ______________.
8. When Elie Wiesel arrived in Aushwitz, he smelled a(n) ____________ odor of burning flesh.
9. While on the train to Aushwitz, some Jews may have told each other ________ in order to pass the time and comfort each other.
10. In the beginning of the novel, Elie Wiesel seemed to be a very ____________ young man because he wanted to study the cabbala.
11. Before the Jews were forced out of Sighet, they were moved to small, isolated areas of the city known as _____________.
12. A person who is _____________ is part of a Jewish sect.
13. When the Jews were forced onto a cattle car of the train, the doors were ___________ sealed.
As many of these vocabulary words are repeated throughout the novel, students should understand the meaning of these words early. When students are asked to simply match words with their dictionary definitions, they are not revealing whether they truly understand their meanings. Further, they are not developing critical thinking skills.
When students use context clues to help determine the meaning and connotation of words, they are constructing meaning rather than relying on rote memorization. Completing sentences such as those listed in the vocabulary quiz above with promote this active construction of meaning and assist students in developing skills that will help them decode new words as well.
Weisel, Elie. Night. Bantam Books: New York, New York. 1960.
Thadra Petkus - Thadra Petkus is currently a freelance writer, English teacher and mentor. Although she has taught students from age two through ...
