The Devil’s Arithmetic
Section 1 p.3-21
Character Sketcher
Your job is to sketch one of the following characters: Aaron, Grandpa Will, or Hannah.
Discussion Director
Your job is to ask 6 questions, the answers to your questions, the page and paragraph and where the answers are found (if possible). Ask good thinking questions! Ask the following:
1 opinion
1 Cause/Effect
1 Compare and contrast
1 EOG
1 Symbolism
1 Setting
Passage Picker
Pick 4 passages that exhibit the following:
1 informative
1 foreshadowing
1 descriptive
1 of own choosing
Word Wizard
Seder p.1 first incomplete paragraph
Yiddish P.9 paragraph 3
Locust p.13 par. 2
Connector
Your job is to connect the book to the outside world. Write a paragraph, answering one of these statements:
Explain how this story reminds you of any other book or story you have read or heard.
Does this part of the story remind you of anything that has happened to you, a friend, or a family member? Explain.
(Include who or what your connection is about, where and when it happened, what happened, and how it connects or deals with a part of the story.)
Character Sketcher
Example Page
Character Traits
Unwilling p. 4 first incomplete paragraph
Hannah is unwilling to go to her families’ Seder when she complains about how annoying her family can be.
Reassuring p. 5 par. 9
Hannah was reassuring when she told her brother Aaron that if he messed up reading from the Haggadah she would whisper the lines into his ear.
Excited p. 15 par. 4
Hannah felt excited when she remembered that she got to drink wine for the first time at her families Seder.
Character Goal: Hannah’s goal is to not become involved in her families traditions or memories.
Problem: Hannah does not understand where members of her family are coming from when they get angry about tragic event.
Possible Solution: Maybe Hannah could ask her grandfather to explain what he went through during the Holocaust to her.
Connector
Example Page
Section 1 reminds me of myself when I was a little girl. Hannah dreads going to her grandparents’ Seder. She doesn’t dread the Seder because she doesn’t love her grandparents. Hannah just feels disconnected to them. Her grandparents talk about events that Hannah doesn’t understand, back in the old days. When I was young I dreaded going to my grandparent’s house for the holidays too. I felt like they were too old to understand and they were always talking about times that I was too young to remember. I loved them; I just didn’t know how to connect with them. Now they are much more interesting to me, but then I felt like I didn’t understand them and that they would never in a million years understand me.
Discussion Director
Example Page
Compare and contrast Hannah and Grandpa Will in chapters 1-3.
Grandpa Will has a number Tattooed on his arm. Hannah tells a story on page 9 that describes the time she made Grandpa Will mad. The effect was the Grandpa got very angry about Hannah’s pretend tattoo, what cause grandpa to be mad?
When Hannah printed the 5 digit number on her arm, maybe it made Grandpa Will mad because it hurt him to see it on his granddaughter. He gets really mad and yells at Hannah in a strange language. He doesn’t seem to like his tattoo, so maybe someone put it there without his permission.
"I’m tired of remembering," Hannah says on page 3. In your opinion, what does she mean when she says this?
I think Hannah is tired of her family holidays and traditions and all of the different times they have to remember as a family. I think that Hannah just wants to be like Rosemary and have an Easter basket and egg hunt.
All of the following describe Aaron except which one?
A. jealous
B. nervous
C. sneaky
D. predictable
Aaron is not sneaky because Hannah knows exactly where he will hide the afikoman.
What do you think the door of the apartment on page 20 symbolizes?
I think that the door symbolizes the past. The whole night all the family has been doing is remembering the past, and now Hannah is opening up the door for a prophet, (a stranger to her) but the past is a stranger to her also because she doesn’t understand it.
What is the setting in the last paragraph? How does the setting change here?
The setting is a green field and a sky. The moon is out with clouds. There are birds in the sky and a man walking singing a sad song. He looks like a ghost. The setting before was very realistic and in an apartment in the Bronx. This is mysterious and dream-like.
Passage Picker
Example Page
Page 4 Paragraph 5
Tired or not-And Grandma. . .
The passage I chose is an informative type passage.
The passage I chose is an informative passage because it tells about Grandpa Will’s and Grandma Belle’s life together and how horrible it was.
Why would escaping from the Nazi’s make family more important to Grandpa and Grandma?
Maybe Hannah’s grandparents lost lots of family during the Holocaust and they want to fell close to their family now. After losing someone I think that it makes the people that are still in your life even more important than they were.
I think that the author chose this passage to inform the readers about what Grandpa Will and Grandma Belle went through when they were younger. It adds sorrow to the story because we empathize with what they lived through.
Page 8 Paragraph 1
No one-Chelmno, Dachau. . .
This passage is an example of a strange passage.
This passage is strange because Grandpa Will is screaming at the T.V. like a wild man. He gets angry when he sees things about the concentration camps on T.V.
Why do you think Grandpa Will behaves so strangely when he sees things about Nazis on the T.V? Have you ever seen anyone react this way?
I think that the author chose this passage to help us learn about Grandpa Will’s personality. It adds mystery to the story because we wonder what makes Grandpa act this way.
Page 10 Paragraph 4
Although it-at work
This passage I chose is melancholy.
The passage is melancholy because it shows us that Aunt Eva doesn’t have a house of a family of her own. Therefore, she gets to light the candles for the Seder.
Why do you think Aunt Eva might choose to live with her brother and sister-in-law instead of having her own family?
In think that the author chose to use this passage to show us who Aunt Eva is. It adds to the story because we know that there must be some reason why Aunt Eva prefers to always live with her brother. This passage makes us want to find out.
Page 20 Paragraph 6
Outside where-was singing.
This passage is a foreshadowing type of passage.
This passage foreshadows by giving us a glimpse into some magical place. Hannah just opens the door and she sees a new world. I think that this foreshadows that Hannah is going to be transported to a new time.
Who do you think the man might be that is walking toward Hannah? Is he real?
In think that the author chose this passage to shift gears in the story. The setting changes dramatically and it makes the reader wonder what will happen next and what kind of world is beyond the door.
Word Wizard
Example Page
Seder-page 4, first complete par.
And I dont want to go to the Seder.
noun I think that the word means some kind of special dinner.
A Jewish home or community service including dinner held on the first or first and second evenings of the Passover.
The word Seder informs the reader about the family. It shows us that this family is Jewish and that they practice Jewish traditions in their home.
Yiddish-Page 9, par. 3
Then suddenly hed grabbed at her, screaming in Yiddish Malach ha-mavis over and over, his face was gray and horrible.
noun- I think that Yiddish is a foreign language of some kind.
A high German language spoken by Jews and descendants of Jews of central and eastern European origins.
The word Yiddish makes this book historically accurate because this is the language that the grandfather would have actually used.
Locusts-page 13, par. 2
Maybe it was an interesting story if someone else told it, Hannah thought, but Grandpa Will had a voice that buzzed like the plague of locusts and he made sour lessons act every pause.
noun- I think it is some kind of buzzing insect.
A short-horned grasshopper.
The word locust adds description to the passage. It makes you understand what Grandpa Wills voice was really like.
Word Wizard Card Examples