Literature Discussion Circles

Your quizzes for this book will be your homework assignment each night. Your job is to come up with FIVE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for group discussion in class. Here are the five types of questions you need to write each night for your reading:

1. Analyzing Question
2. Question on a Quote
3. Question Connecting to Today's World/Society
4. Prediction Question
5. "What-would-you-do" / "How-would-you-feel" Question

ANALYZING QUESTION:
This question should be very similar to the quizzes we took for our previous novel. Make sure it is OPEN-ENDED - no 'yes or no' type of questions. Focus on an element of a novel: symbol, theme, character, setting, etc.

* Do you think Elie is serious about being a student or is he being forced by tradition?
* How did the setting of the concentration camps change Elie's personal identity?

QUESTION ON A QUOTE:
Find a quote that interested or confused you and write an OPEN-ENDED question about it.

* What do you think this quote means? I had trouble understanding it.
* What does Elie mean when he says this?


QUESTION CONNECTING TO TODAY'S WORLD/SOCIETY:
Write an OPEN-ENDED question that makes a connection with an issue in the novel to our world today.

* Do you have a parent that doesn't want you do study or do something that you want to do?
* Do you know anyone whose personal identity have been changed?


PREDICTION:
Write a question that asks the group what they think will happen in future chapters (about a a character, plot, etc.)

* What do you think will happen to Elie and his family?
* Do you think anyone will die in this story? Why?



WHAT WOULD YOU DO/ HOW WOULD YOU FEEL:
Obviously, write a question that asks the group what they would have done in a particular situation in the story.

*What would you have taken if you were forced to leave your home overnight?
* Would you want to die immediately or suffer through a concentration camp?