Tovani Activity: Appendix B - "Silent Reading Record"

I was compelled to do this activity because I think too often self reading goes unrealized. I often times zone out when I read and forget some of the things I read only seconds ago, so making a record of it was an interesting proposition for me. In reflection, I think it helped to really seal the information that I read into my mind and give a relevance because I was encouraged to not only summarize what I read but also what I was thinking about.

Silent Reading Record

Name: 

1.    What did you read? Include titles and page numbers.

Night, by Elie Weizel – pages 1 – 28

2.    In four or more sentences summarize what you read.

I read about a boy who struggles to understand the rapidly changing world around him at the height of World War II and the Nazi empire. As a young child in Hungary during the Nazi occupation, he struggles to understand why people of the Jewish faith are slowly losing rights and being treated so poorly. The treatment of the Jews continually gets worse as they are forced into ghettos, terrible living conditions where they are forced to live in great numbers in very small areas. During his time in the ghettos, the boy hears many rumors of what is happening to Jews all around Europe, but most of the elders refuse to believe that such atrocities could be committed. The portion of the book I read culminates with the boy, his family, and the other Jews of his town being loaded into cattle cars and shipped to a place called Auschwitz, where they quickly learn that the only way to survive is to be useful. They can see and smell the flames of the crematorium that is burning thousands of bodies a day. Only once he is here does the young boy realize that the rumors were true, and he will have to fight to survive.

3.    As you were reading, what were you thinking? Write at least four sentences. Did you make any connections? What were you wondering? What opinions do you have about what you read?

As I read, I was thinking about how even though I know the likely ending to his journey, I still cannot believe that atrocities that he witnessed as a child. I was thinking about how hard it would be to have any faith in humanity as you witness an entire group of people being persecuted so fully and by a well-established government. I can’t help but wonder when I read this how so many people were able to turn a blind eye to the events unfolding around them and how people didn’t reach out to help the Jewish people. One opinion I have is that the author, who is telling an autobiographical story, is an incredible testament to the willpower of humankind to survive such an atrocity, but then to relive it every day as he tries to make a difference and stop genocide around the world.