Most of the stories that we read are enhanced by some knowledge of the author's life and background. In an autobiography such as Night, though, those basic understanding can be almost essential to the text. In this autobiographical novel, Elie is the main character as well as the author. As soon as we started reading, you all started making connections between the notes you'd just taken and the events and narration in the book.
We did not get far in Night, partially because you are all asking such wonderful, thought-provoking questions. Keep your curiosity coming; I think that our side discussions have been meaningful and important. Here's a quotation from Moshe the Beadle that we focused a great deal on in today's class:
"Every question possess[es] power that [does] not lie in the answer" (2).
With quotations as meaningful and moving as this, it will be hard to finish the first chapter! Thank you all for your insights this morning. We read to page four, which is not as far as I had planned, but our time was well spent.
