Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Rosh Hashanah.

Another holiday that was spent in the dreaded concentration camp was Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is also known as the Jewish new year. Like the American new year, the Jewish New Year is a time to reflect on old mistakes from the previous year and taking the initiative to start anew, making changes for the new year. This day is a day of no work, spending most of your day in the synagogue [the Jewish place of worship]. A popular thing to eat on this holiday is bread or apples dipped in honey. They eat sweet food as a symbol of their wish for a sweet year.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Word Watcher Chapter 6

1. faltering (page 85) verb. to hesitate or waver in action, purpose, intent, etc.

But he marched without faltering.

2. parch (page 87) verb. to make extremely, excessively, or completely dry, as heat, sun, and wind do.

3. famished (page 87) adjective. extremely hungry

Chilled to the bone, our throats parched, famished, out of breath, we pressed on.

4. jostled (page 88) verb. to bump, push, shove, brush against, or elbow roughly or rudely

Hundreds of prisoners jostled one another at the door.

5. reeling (page 89)
noun. a cylinder, frame, or other device that turns on an axis and is used to wind up or pay out something.
verb. to wind on a reel, as thread, yarn, etc.

My head was reeling.

6. ordeals (page 90) noun. any extremely severe or trying test, experience, or trial.

Despite the ordeals and deprivations, his face continued to radiate his innocence.

7. trod (page 93) verb. a pt. and pp. of tread

People trod over numbed bodies, trampled wounded faced.

8. charred (page 95) verb. to burn or reduce to charcoal

His charred past, his extinguished future.

9. poignant (page 95) adjective. keenly distressing to the feelings

Next to him lay his violin, trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse.

10. shawls (page 96) noun. a square, triangular, or oblong piece of wool or other material worn, esp. by women, about the shoulders, or the head and shoulders, in place of a coat or hat outdoors, and indoors as protection against chill or dampness.

We threw blankets over our shoulders, like prayer shawls.

11. feebly (page 93) adjective. physically weak, as from age or sickness

"Yes..." he said feebly.

-Michelle (:

Word Watcher Chapter 5

Hi, you guys! Again, if there are any vocabulary words that I didn't cover, please comment on my post with those vocabulary words and I'll search them up for you. (:

1. agitated (page 66) verb. to move or force into violent, irregular action

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the last day of that cursed year, the entire camp was agitated and everyone of us felt the tension.

2. ailing (page 66) adjective. sickly; unwell

Why do you go on troubling these poor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies?

3. benediction (page 67) noun. an utterance of good wishes

Thousands of lips repeated the benediction, bent over like trees in a storm.

4. furnaces (page 67) noun. a structure or apparatus in which heat may be generated, as for heating houses, smelting ores, or producing steam

How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces?

5. mystic (page 67) adjective. involving or characterized by esoteric, otherworldly, or symbolic practices or content, as certain religious ceremonies and art; spiritually significant; ethereal.

And I, the former mystic, was thinking: yes, man is stronger, greater than God.

6. lament (page 68) verb. to feel or express sorrow or regret for

I was no longer able to lament.

7. Atonement (page 69) noun. satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

The Day of Atonement.

8. Veritable (page 70) adjective. being truly or very much so

Back then, Buna was a veritable.

9. reprieve (page 70) verb. to delay the impending punishment or sentence of (a condemned person).

Then we would know the verdict: death or reprieve.

10. emaciated (page 73) verb. to make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh.

A poor emaciated Jew questioned him anxiously, his voice trembling.

11. crucible (page 74) noun. a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.

All that mattered was to be far from the block, far from the crucible of death, from the center of hell.

12. veiled (page 75) adjective. not openly or directly expressed; masked; disguised; hidden; obscure

He looked at me with his tired eyes, veiled by despair.

13. plodded (page 75) verb. to walk heavily or move laboriously; trudge

All day, I plodded around like a sleep walker.

14. dysentery (page 78) noun. an infectious disease marked by inflammation and ulceration of the lower part of the bowels, with diarrhea that becomes mucous and hemorrhagic.

Next to me lay a Hungarian Jew suffering from dysentery.

15. knell (page 84) noun. the sound made by a bell rung slowly, esp. for a death or a funeral.

The death knell.

16. exodus (page 84) noun. a going out; a departure or emigration, usually of a large number of people

We had to await the exodus of the fifty-six blocks that preceded us.

-Michelle! (:


Passage #5--

page 84

The searchlights came on. Hundreds of SS appeared out of the darkness, accompanied by police dogs. The snow continued to fall.
The gates of the camp opened. It seemed as though an even darker night was waiting for us on the other side.

This passage shows symbolism. The word "night" represents death and the unknown. Night always occurred when they would suffer a lot. When it says "It seemed as though an even darker night was waiting for us on the other side," it kinda foreshadows that something bad is going to happen later on.

--Janet

Monday, March 29, 2010

Summarizer Chapter 5

I can't belive it. The book is getting better and the book is coming to an end :(

The Jewish New Year's go by, and Elie remembers the time when New Year was everything to him. Elie is told not to fast on Yom Kippur by his father so he doesn't. Then he gets Elie ia sent to a new place where he has to carry around heavy blocks of stone for twelve hours. He is then told that there will be another selection where they have to run in front of the SS officers. When his turn comes, he runs as fast as he can. Whe he is finished, he finds his father and learns that they both had passed the selection.

One day, Elie's foot starts to swell up. So he is sent to the hospital where he meets this "faceless" Hungarian Jew. Elie is told by him that Hitler is the only one that we should have hope in and believe in since he's the only one that actually kept his promise.

Some days later, Elie and his father has to choose whether they want to stay where they are (the hosiptial) or go with the prisoners (go evacuated).

-Precious Opal

Friday, March 26, 2010

Diccussion 3/26/10

Chapter 4

Summarizer: Opal says that she doesn't like the way that they have to do caps on and off thing. Like before when the narrator said that soup tasted good before and then it didn't tasted good later. Opal felt that was frustrating.

Word Watcher: This chapter, Michelle felt that there are less vocabulary words in this chapter.

Researcher:

Illustrator:

Illuminator:

-Janet Chen

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Summarizer Chapter #4

The story gets so sad and horrifying... (I want to cry when I read sometimes)


(Obviously) Days gone by and to Elie, the camps seem deserted. And like usual, they went through the showers and officers gave them food. When they got back, they received new clothing and two tents. They had to wait there until they were told the block they were assigned to. When Elie got to the tent he was assigned, he realized that the tent leader was a German. Elie is told that he will be staying with him in this tent for three days and that he will get a medical checkup tomorrow. He also makes a deal that if he get into a new Kommando then he will be able to stay with his father. The medical checkup took place outside and early in the morning.

Elie goes to work and ask to work by his father. He were lucky and got to work with his father and two other boys named Yossi and Tibi. They became friends quickly. On a random day, Elie is sent to the dentist. When he found out that he had to take out his gold teeth, he pretends to be sick. He was told to come later on. But when he did, he said the same excuse and he was excused again. In the warehouse, Elie noticed he worked next to a French girl often. Idek comes over and starts to beat him up. Others tell him to hold in the anger and hate for later on when he can actually have a way he can get back at him.

Years go by, and he meets this girl in Paris while he sat at the Metro, reading a newspaper. She had dark hair and she was pretty. She also had these dreamy eyes that he had seen before. This girl wasa the girl he saw when he worked at the warehouse. He finds out that she is Jewish and she lied and become a Aryan.

There was another time where this time it was Elie's father that was the victim. This German soldier started to beat his father. Days went by and Elie was told to lie down on a crate. He had to go through twenty five of them. "I nodded, once, ten times endlessly. as if my head had decided to say yes for all eternity." Weeks went by and when the Jews came back from their work, they were told to do this ceremony, but there was this man who was told to blindfold the youth but he refused. So he was hung and ten thousand Jews paid him respect by taking their hats off then on. "I remember that on that evening, the soup tasted better than ever..." Elie saw more hanging but he never seen anyone weep. Except for this one person's. In that hanging, he heard a man saying where God was. "That night, the soup tasted of corpse."
Precious Opal

Word Watcher Chapter 4

Hey, guys! There wasn't much vocabulary words in this chapter but, here you go! (:

1. altruistic (page 48): adjective. unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others

2. veritable (page 48): adjective, being truly or very much so

In fact, this affection was not entirely altruistic; there existed here a veritable traffic of children among homosexuals, I learned later.

3. wizened (page 51): adjective. withered; shriveled

A young man with a startlingly wizened face.

4. imprudent (page 54): adjective. not prudent; lacking discretion; incautious; rash.

It was imprudent of me to say those few words to you, but I knew that you would not betray me...

5. untenable (page 56): adjective. incapable of being defended, as an argument, thesis, etc.; indefensible.

It was untenable.

6. copulate (page 57): verb. to engage in sexual intercourse.

He moved one hundred prisoners so that he could copulate with this girl!

7. solitary (page 64): adjective. alone; without companions; unattended

But his young pipel remained behind, in solitary confinement.

-Michelle! (:

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is a holiday that the people in the story celebrate. Every year, we get off of school for it, but I never knew what it was.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day for religious Jews, being the most important day of celebrance. It is also known as The Day of Atonement, devoted to confession of sins and reconciliation with God, occurring ten days after Rosh Hashanah. The purpose of this high holy day is to work things out between people and between one's self and God. It's also the day when God decides one's fate.

Passage #4--

page 85

And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.
Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
"For God's sake, where is God?"
And from within me, I heard a voice answer:
"Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows..."
That night, the soup tasted of corpses.

This passage shows characterization, like how Elie was like in the beginning and then how he was like after he went into the camp. In the beginning, he was very spiritual and he was studying religious texts. But after he was in the camp and experiencing hunger and death, he begins to wonder where God is. Since he experienced death everywhere, he wasn't able to enjoy the soup because he was very depressed with how cruel the Nazis were.

--Janet

Friday, March 19, 2010

Our group conversation 3/19

Since we didn't make a conversation post last week, I decided it would be a good idea to make a post because it was so beneficial. We all felt a bit confused because chapter 2 was only about 5 pages, so we were confused as to what happened in which chapter.

Summarizer: When Opal was reading, she was a bit shocked with a specific line that she felt was really powerful. "In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh." page 28, last sentence. She ended her summary that way because she felt it made an impact on her.

Lit Luminary: Janet said that she found personification when she was reading. "Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever." page 34. The flames had human characteristics, and the rest of the group agreed with her.

Researcher: I wrote my post about Auschwitz because that is where they were headed. Since I knew that Auschwitz was such a big concentration camp [I had a bit of prior knowledge on it], I researched it.

Word Watcher: Michelle found many words challenging within our reading. She looked up the words and enlightened us with words we were not to sure about. This helped us to expand our vocabulary.

Illustrator: Annalee is planning on drawing a guy with a tattoo from the concentration camp for chapter 3. She is going to discuss her views on how she believes that they lost their identity when they arrived because they were just another number, and another face in the crowd.

Thursday, March 18, 2010



As stated in Opal's last post, the Jews were sent to Auschwitz. Since this seemed like an important setting in the story and I've learned a bit about it before, I decided to research further into it to educate us as we read along. Auschwitz is a city located in Oswiecim, just outside of Cracow, Poland. Auschwitz became sort of a known symbol of the Holocaust, since it had such a large concentration camp. It was guarded by it's high electrical barbed wire fences and soldiers who surrounded the camp, carrying rifles. I did not know this, but the reason why the Nazi's held this large camp in this particular area was because it was a central intersection of roads and railways. Just reading about the history of Auschwitz really upset me.. :/

Passage #3--Irony again

Page 40

We marched. Gates opened and closed. We continued to march between the barbed wire. At every step, white signs with black skulls looked down at us. The inscription: Warning! Danger of Death. What irony. Was there here a single place where one was not in danger of death?

This passage shows irony. There's signs that say that they are in danger of death, but that is ironic because the whole camp is dangerous. They could die from starvation, diseases, gas chambers, etc.

-- Janet

Summarizer Chapter #3

This is my next chapter summary... (I'm listening to music while doing this :P)


When they were noted that they weren't going to be seperated, they have to get seperated by sex when they get off the cars. As they enter the camp, a veteran tells them to lie about their ages so that they can be together. One man points to the crematory and is warned that will be their grave. As they are walking by, the Jews witness babies thrown into the fire. Then they start reciting Kaddish which is the Jewish prayer of death. Without noticing, Elie is hating God who made them into this situation. He also wanted to jump off into the pit, but he changed his mind. When they got to the camp, they were sent to the shower, barber, anda revieved new working clothes. Elie felt like the child that lived inside of him had died and no longer lived.

-Precious Opal

Word Watcher Chapter 3

1. tumult (page 30) noun. violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd or mob; uproar

There was a tumult.

2. cinder (page 31) noun. a partially or mostly burned piece of coal, wood, etc.

Burned into a cinder!

3. monocle (page 31) noun. an eyeglass for one eye.

He looked like the typical S5 officer, a cruel, though not unintelligent face, complete with monocle.

4. antechamber (page 34) noun. a chamber or room that serves as a waiting room and entrance to a larger room or an apartment; anteroom.

This is what the antechamber of hell must look like.

5. vigor (page 35) noun. active strength or force.

If vigor was that appreciated, perhaps one should try to appear sturdy?

6. fatigue (page 36) noun. weariness from bodily or mental exertion.

I was overcome by fatigue.

7. lucidity (page 36) adjective. easily understood; completely intelligible or comprehensible

8. oblivion (page 36) noun. the state of being completely forgotten or unknown

In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either.

9. imperative (page 30) noun. a command

It was imperative to stay together.

10. infernal (page 33) adjective. hellish; fiendish; diabolical

We were coming closer and closer to the pit, from which an infernal heat was rising.

-Michelle !

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Passage #2--Personification

On page 34

"Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live."

This passage that I picked shows personification. On Elie's first night in the camp, he never forgot how he lost his faith and his desire to live. The quote "Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever," displays personification because fire isn't really alive, so it can't consume anything. I think the word 'fire' is related to the crematoria and that he lost his faith because he saw bodies being burned by the flames. The second quote also shows personification because silence isn't a living thing, but it is given a human trait-to deprive.

--Janet

Word Watcher Chapter 2

1. clanked (page 24) noun. a sharp, hard, nonresonant sound, like that produced by two pieces of metal striking, one against the other

The doors clanked shut.

2. irrevocably (page 24) adjective. not to be revoked or recalled; unable to be repealed or annulled; unalterable

The doors were nailed, the way back irrevocably out off.

3. hermetically (page 24) adverb. so as to be airtight

The world had become a hermetically sealed cattle car.

4. pious (page 24) ?

Her husband was a pious man who spent most of his days and nights in the house of study.

5. abyss (page 24) noun. a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm

We were still trembling and with every screech of the wheels, we felt the abyss opening beneath us.

6. convoy (page 28) verb. to accompany or escort, usually for protection:

The convoy was rolling slowly.

7. caressed (page 23) verb. to touch or pat gently to show affection.

Freed of normal constraints, some of the young let go of their inhibitions and, under cover of darkness, caressed one another, without any thought of others, alone in the world.

8. withered (page 25) verb. to shrivel; fade; decay

Standing in the middle of the car, in the faint light filtering through the windows, she looked like a withered tree in the field of wheat,

9. lethal (page 26) adjective. of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; fatal

She recieved several blows to the head, blows that could have been lethal.

10. gnawing (page 27) noun. the act of a person or thing that gnaws

We returned to our places, shame in our souls but fear gnawing at us nevertheless.

-Michelle!

Summarizer Chapter #2

Ok... the book is getting real good so KEEP READING GUYS!!!!!

In the story right now, all the Jews are locked up in a cattle car. Like I said last time, the Jews were being treated like animals in a cage. In the cage, there's a woman with her son named Mrs. Schachter. Everybody thinks she's going crazy because she is seeing "fire" pointing to the windaow of the car. She yells that there's fire on and on. Then they got to Auschwitz. But even when they got there, Mrs. Schachter continues to tell everyone that there's fire. When people look out theres' nothing but darkness. Later on, they smell of burning smell of flesh.

From here I think the sotry got sonfusing because it goes back anda forth a lot. Or maybe it's just me...

-Precious Opal <3

Rabbi.


I wasn't sure if any of you knew what a rabbi was, since we're all catholic.
A rabbi is a Jewish religious leader, similar to a priest in the catholic church. The name comes from Hebrew, translating to "my master" or "my leader." Since they are so highly religious, it was depressing to hear that the rabbi in the story began to lose faith in God. :/

Friday, March 12, 2010

3.12.10 - Discussion

First impressions: We talked about how the preface was very good. The book was easy to read and understandable, and it was interesting. We also said how it was very good and hard to put down.

Character introduction: The character was interesting, because we learned about him and how he lived, but not who he was. We learn more about the current situation rather than the character.

Setting: There was some confusion about where it was placed, but we found out it was placed in the boundaries of Hungary.

Questions:
What's going to happen next? We think someone close to him will be tortured and/or die, but he will survive (even though it's obvious he'll survive since he wrote the book)

Lit. Luminary: She chose a passage on dramatic irony, about how they were still happy as the Germans infiltrated their homes, but we know it will lead to destruction.

Illuminator: p.11, based on the limitations the Jewish people faced until they were forced into the ghettos, which were when they were forced to wear the star of David, not allowed to go into restaurants and cafes, travel by rail, go to synagogue, and had a curfew for 6:00.

Word Watcher: Basically found words that she didn't know or knew but couldn't explain.

Researcher: researched on the geography on Transylvania, as to understand the setting better.

Summarizer: Basically the beginning of the Holocaust for Elie Wiesel.

During our class discussion, there was a bit of confusion over the whole Transylvania/Hungary setting, so I decided to find a map of the two to distinguish if it was the same location or not. It in fact, isn't the same country.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Illustrator Ch. 1


This illustration was about the excerpt on page 11, about the limitations and removal of rights from the Jews. They considered these things "not lethal" so they didn't think much of it and didn't see it as a threat. From left to right, then from bottom left to right, there's a picture of a man forced to wear the yellow star, then a picture of how Jews were not allowed into certain restaurants and cafes, then a picture of how they were not allowed to travel by rail, then a picture of how they were not allowed to attend their synagogues, then a picture of their established curfew at 6:00, when they were not to be outside of their homes. All these things led to the formation of ghettos.

-Annalee

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Summarizer Chapter 1

This book takes place in 1941 in a town called Sighet (which is in the boundary of Hungary). The book is taken in Elie's point of view (he is the narrator). In this time, he is always eager to learn more about Jewish learning and religion. His family consist of his father (a shopkeeper and a respected Jewish lader). his mother, 3 sisters (Hilda, Bea, and Tzipora). One day, Moishe the Beadle was removed from the town because the police commanded to remove any foreigner. Then when he came back, Moishe the Beadle started to tell the Jews that the Germans will soon come with torture, but many Jews failed to believe him.

The War started in Hungary. Every Jews thought that Hungary will win and they will be one of the few that doesn't have to go under German control. "In less than three days, German Army vehicles made their appearance on our street."

The eight days of Passover came. They celebrated as they would for any other Passover. On the seventh day, the curtain finally rose. Germans arrested all the Jewish leaders. There was a edict, that Jews were not allowed to leave there houses for three days and if they did, they were to be killed. Then the Hungarian police came in, took every gold, jewelry, or any valuables and said that Jewish weren't allowed to have any of them. Three days after that, they were told to wear a yellow star. After that... the ghettos.

There were two ghettos in Sighet. The Jews were to live there, they were separated by the others. The ghettos were wired around and was trapped like animals. One day, Elie's father was telling him stories, and he is called up. So he goes, and when he returns he tells them that they will be transported. By dawn four days afterwards, they were all up to be transported. They got into cattle cars and they were ready to leave to a place they knew they will face some day.
Heehee, I know, it's weird. I didn't know I could write like this. I must like this book a lot. As sorry to you guys, but I sort of read more than what I was suppose to. I'm really sorry. But now I will have to suffer and wait til next week to read. Wait for the next summary, it will be twice as better as this one!! :D
-The Precious Opal

Passage #1

HEY guys~! (:

On page 9-10
"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. Their attitude toward their hosts was distant but polite. They never demanded the impossible, made no offensive remarks, and sometimes even smiled at the lady of the house. A German officer lodged in the Kahns' house across the street from us. We were told he was a charming man, calm, likable, and polite. Three days after he moved in, he brought Mrs. Kahn a box of chocolates. The optimists were jubilant: "Well? What did we tell you? You wouldn't believe us. There they are, your Germans. What do you say now? Where is their famous cruelty."
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."

I choose this passage because it shows dramatic irony. The Germans have crossed into Hungary and the Jews aren't worried. Though Moishe the Beadle and Moishe Chaim Berkowitz have warned the Jews of the Germans' cruelty such as, forcing the Jews to work, then killing them, including infants, and Jewish stores and synagogues being attacked, the Jews don't believe them. The Jews believe that the Germans are not brutal people because they were nice and polite.

But this shows dramatic irony because we know more than what the characters know. We know that a huge number of Jews will be killed by the Germans because this is the Holocaust. But the Jews are unaware of their fate and I want to tell them what is going to happen and warn them to escape.

--Janet :)

Word Watcher Chapter 1

Hey you guys! This is the first post from the word watcher. YAY! (: These are some of the words I don't understand while I was reading but, if you don't understand some words that I didn't mention, please post a comment below and I'll define it for you! Remember to include the page number so, I can look for it. (:

1. penury (page 3): noun. extreme poverty; destitution.
"He was poor and lived in utter penury."

2. rendering (page 3): noun. an act or instance of interpretation, rendition, or depiction, as of a dramatic part or a musical composition
"He had mastered the art of rendering himself in significant invisible."

3. synagogue (page 3): noun. a Jewish house of worship, often having facilities for religious instruction.
"By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple."

4. beadle (page 3): noun. a parish officer having various subordinate duties, as keeping order during services, waiting on the rector, etc.
"Moishe the Beadle was the exception."

5. kabbalah (page 4): noun. an esoteric or occult matter resembling the Kabbalah that is traditionally secret (still don't really get this, can someone help me out?)
"One day I asked my father to find me a master who could guide me in my studies of kabbalah."

6. zohar (page 5): noun. a medieval mystical work, consisting chiefly of interpretations of and commentaries on the Pentateuch: the definitive work of Jewish cabala.
"One evening, I told him how unhappy I was nt to be able to find in Sighet a master to teach me the Zohar, the Kabbalistic works, the secrets of the Jewish mysticism."

7. err (page 5): verb. to go astray in thought or belief; be mistaken; be incorrect.
"He must not err and wish to enter the orchard through a gate other than his own."

8. insinuated (page 7): verb. to suggest or hint slyly
"Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things."

9. annihilate (page 8): verb. to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly
"Annihilate an entire people?"

10. emblem (page 9): noun. an object or its representation, symbolizing a quality, state, class of persons, etc.; symbol
"German soldiers--with their steel helmets and their death's-head emblem."

11. billet (page 9): noun. lodging for a soldier, student, etc., as in a private home or nonmilitary public building.
"The officers were billeted in private homes, even in Jewish homes."

12. jubilant (page 10): adjective. showing great joy, satisfaction, or triumph; rejoicing; exultant
"The optimists were jubilant: "Well? What did we tell you? You wouldn't believe us. There they are, your Germans. What do you say now? Where is their famous cruelty?"

13. surreptitiously (page 16): adjective. obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine
"Some of the Jewish police surreptitiously went to fill a few jugs."

14. conflagration (page 21): noun. a destructive fire, usually an extensive one.
"Were this conflagration to be extinguished one day, nothing would be left in the sky but extinct stars and unseeing eyes."

-Michelle Xia(:

Saturday, March 6, 2010

First Post!

Hey! Welcome to our blog, which we will be discussing about the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel.

Our group consist of:

Michelle: Word Watcher
Angelina: Researcher
Opal: Summarizer
Annalee: Illustrator
Janet: Illuminator

This is our reading schedule:

March 11: pages 1-22
March 18: pages 23-46
March 25: pages 47-65
April 1: pages 66-97
April 8: pages 98-120

DON'T FORGET TO LOG YOUR READINGS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK/LOOSELEAF/WHATEVER! (: