On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness

The Sunflower

By Simon Wiesenthal

To do the work that you are being asked to do for The Sunflower, each student will need to come to class, sit down, and immediately go to work on the day’s assignment. The work is to be submitted as a team. All reading is to be completed in class. Assignments that are not completed in class should be completed as homework. Work with your seated partner to complete all assigned work. If you or your partner get behind for a day’s reading assignment, come in before school, at lunch, during study hall, or after school to complete the reading. Let me know in advance if you need to stay after school. Only one set of answers will be submitted with both partner’s names on the work.

This assignment is posted in Google Classroom. Consider opening up the document, inviting your partner as a collaborator, and answering the questions through the shared Google Docs. This is just a suggestion. Hand written work neatly prepared on notebook paper will also be accepted. All work on this assignment sheet is due Wednesday, March 4.

I only have a class set of novels, so all reading will be completed in class. Each day, the book will be on your desk. Do not take the book home with you.

Assignments

Ongoing assignment throughout the assigned reading: Complete four separate graphic organizers for these four characters: Simon (the narrator telling the story, Arthur, Josek, and Karl. On the organizer, write at least five adjectives describing the man supported by an explanation, quote or paraphrase. Cite the quote/paraphrase by placing the page number in parentheses. Choose a color to include on the organizer. At the bottom of the organizer, write an explanation for color(s) chosen. The Open Mind diagram will be made available to each team and may be used for each character, or the team may choose any other graphic organizer for this task.

Vocabulary:

Mercy, notorious, atrocity, placidity, piety, cynic, permeate, lurk, discern, justice, forgiveness, compassion

Tentative Schedule (Adjustments due to weather may have to be made.)

Wednesday, February 25 Read pages 9 – 26 Assignment 1. Define irony 2. List at least five ways in which camp life is filled with irony. 3. Define euphemism 4. Wiesenthal indicates that a word such as “registration” becomes an indication of prisoner selection for death. Create a chart showing other ways deception plays out in Nazi policy.

Thursday, February 26 Read pages 26 - 55 5. What could exposure to constant suffering do to the emotional health of the human spirit? 6. What assumptions does Karl make as he lies dying? 7. Do you believe Karl is a victim of the Nazi regime since he was brainwashed as a child? 8. Do you believe Karl’s plea for forgiveness is heartfelt or is driven by his impending death? 9. Prepare a chart comparing Simon with Karl. Include their religion, home town, age, profession, family, and any other information you find relevant.

Friday, February 27 Read pages 55 – 75 10. Writing Prompt. If man, not God, was responsible for the Holocaust, does it seem unusual that a person who has violated God’s commandment about killing should desire God’s salvation? 11. What is Josek’s argument about forgiveness? 12. Using examples from the reading, point out which universal law Wiesenthal felt still was valid – even in captivity.

Monday, March 2 Pages 76 – 98 13. In your opinion, why didn’t Simon tell Karl’s mother the truth about her son’s activities during the war? 14. Do you think by not telling the truth, Simon, in fact, is acting as a bystander? 15. Do you think Wiesenthal is correct that “No German can shrug off his responsibility even if he has no personal guilt, he must share the shame of it?” 16. Karl does not initiate actions taken against Jews but acts as a willing accomplice. 17. Why do you think Simon chooses to be silent? 18 What consequences might follow if he speaks? 19. What do you believe should happen to perpetrators now alive? Should their age or health be a deterrent to justice? 20. Wiesenthal’s editors chose The Sunflower as the book’s title. What title would you have chosen? 21. On behalf of the Nazis, did Karl have the right to ask forgiveness from Simon on behalf of all Jewish People? 22. On behalf of the Jewish nation, did Simon have the right to forgive the atrocities committed by the Nazis? 23. If you were Simon, what would you do? Would you forgive or walk away? 24. Each team member needs to poll a minimum of 15 people to include students, teachers, parents, and other adults, asking them the same question that Simon proposes at the end of the novel. List names of those polled and create a combined graph reflecting the outcome of your poll. Tuesday, March 3 2015 All assigned work from February 25 through today is due tomorrow at the beginning of the class period. Please have work printed and ready to submit at the beginning of class. Assignment: On page 98, Simon Wiesenthal states, “You who have just read this sad and tragic episode in my life, can mentally change places with me and ask yourself the crucial question, ‘“What would I have done?”’ The power of the book is the many commentaries written in the second part of the novel “The Symposium.” Each group will read two commentaries from part two of the novel that are on the list below and write a commentary to answer Wiesenthal’s question. In reading the commentaries, note the author’s claim, evidence, and reasoning. As a reader, evaluate each author’s position. Your commentary should fully state your claim, answer the question, and include support, explanations, examples from the text, your reasoning used, and the information from the poll taken on Friday as evidence to support/refute your claim in your commentary. Considerable conversation between each partner should occur before you begin to write. This is due at the beginning of the period tomorrow. Type the commentary if possible. One commentary per team is required.

Sven Alkalaj Page 109 – Smail Balic Page 118 – Alan L. Burger Page 124 – Harry James Cargas Page 135 – Edward H. Flannery Page 143 – Matthew Fox Page 148 – Rebecca Goldstein Page 154 – Mark Goulden Page 158 – Hans Habe Page 166 – Arthur Hertzberg Page 172 – Susannah Heschel Page 174 – Jose Hobday Page 181 – Rodger Kamenetz Page 200 – Hubert G. Locke Page 203 – Erich H. Loewy Page 225 – Dennis Prager Page 230 – Dith Pran