Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Chapter 1 (pages 3-22) -- What was he thinking?

What do you think Elie is feeling/thinking on page 17 as he watches everyone leave the ghetto? You may respond to this question as if you were Elie and you are writing a journal entry.

6 comments:

  1. Time moved slowly as everyone made their way toward the gates of the ghetto. It was like watching a scene in slow motion from a movie. Everyone carried a pack on their backs, approaching the beginning of a new journey. I could observe the suffering they had endured from their experience in the ghetto by the tears flowing from their eyes. I could feel the pain in their chest from living underneath the burning hot sun. They were people of all backgrounds, both teachers and friends. They were leaving behind their homes, deserting the lives they had always known. I felt sorry for them because they must have wanted to be in my position. They did not want to leave everything behind. Everyone was getting closer and closer to the gate. Not once did they look back at me. It felt like a bittersweet goodbye, with nothing but the items of value left in the streets.

    Nancy N.

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  2. The day had come. It was the day that most people left their houses and they were sent to another place. I woke up and went outside to see if there was any movement of people. I was disillusioned, seeing everyone leaving made me feel sad. I hate seeing some of my really good friends leaving the gate with their families just thinking that I might never play or talk to them again. I can't stand seeing all those unhappy faces of people not knowing where they were going to end up. You could see that all the families were unhappy but they tried not to show those feelings to their kids. Everyone was looking at me. Everyone wishing they were me, having to stay some more days in the house they had grown up in. Seeing everyone with a backpack where they had put almost their whole life. Memories staying back as every single one of them passed the gate. I couldn’t imagine how it would be to leave behind your home! The home where your sister did her first steps, and all those life memorize just being left behind.

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  5. Everyone was leaving. What has this world come to? No one had the heart to turn around and see what they were leaving behind. No one had the strength to even cry about all the things they were losing. Some people looked like they were about to fall apart. It had nothing to do with the huge backpack behind their backs. The backpack had nothing to do with weighing them down. What weighed them was the emotions going through their minds. People tried to be strong, tried to not show any emotion. Tried to put on a brave face for their family, but one could see behind their diminishing act. The people who seemed the strongest were dying inside from their emotional state. Is that how we're going to end up? I don't think we can take much more of this. And yet, there is much more to come. I can feel it. This isn't the end. This is just the beginning of a horrible nightmare that will soon come reality for all of us. -Nalleli

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  6. In my opinion Elie was empty-minded through this rough experience. It was as if he was in shock and couldn't believe what was happening. He was there, on the streets, physically but not mentally. He felt as if his friends, teachers, and neighbors envied him because he had not yet been chosen to be transported. I believe he could not fully grasp the fact that his home and neighborhood was becoming deserted. Nevertheless after he bounced back to reality he became filled with sadness.
    -Emily

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