“A convincing dystopia with
echoes of Nazi Germany.”
—ALA Booklist
“Young adults will...empathize with
the characters’ conflicts between selfexpression and a desire to fit in.”
—School Library Journal
“The gripping plot will engage readers
and raise fundamental questions about
individual responsibility.”
—VOYA
“Ripe for discussion.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Tr 978-0-06-078462-1 • $17.99 ($21.00)
Lb 978-0-06-078464-5 • $18.89 ($21.89)
Supplemental Teaching Guide
PART ONE: LANGUAGE USE
Vocabulary
Chapters 1–10
Chapters 21–30
Chapters 51–60
benevolent
civil disobedience
cull
Divine Providence
doctrine
embodiment
escarpment
fold (n)
gangly
hybrid
indoctrination
manifestation
manifesto
martial law
purge
rations
resistance
responsory
spoor
unsanctioned
wrath
avert
crimson
crossbreed
denounce
generic
horticulture
infiltrate
mentor
preemptive
protocol
retch
statute
wretch
agraphia
alexia
amendment
aphasia
apprehension
berate
breach
cauterization
cognitive
dire
eradicate
flank
lucid
menial
preponderance
pursuant
rifle (v)
skirt (v)
teem
tribunal
wane
Chapters 11–20
clique
defeatist
deviationism
heterodoxy
intervention
molder
neutralize
propaganda
propagate
protectorate
regress
remiss
tinge
Chapters 31–40
aberrant
aswarm
defame
diverge
feign
flinty
gauntness
incessant
lumber (v)
seditious
sheaf
sympathizer
Chapters 41–50
communal
decipher
immunity
irrefutable
preamble
predisposition
self-determination
waive
Chapters 61–66
breadth
crest (v)
pinion
quad
PART ONE: LANGUAGE USE
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Newly Minted Words and Phrases
An author sometimes uses abbreviations or nicknames to convey
a character’s sense of history or familiarity with a concept. This
gives the reader the sense that the character has been around the
nicknamed objects and concepts for a length of time, as is the case
with many of the characters in The Silenced. Additionally, acronyms
are common in many bureaucracies and can convey a sense of
intimidation and complexity to those unfamiliar with the concepts.
The author of The Silenced does not explain the story’s acronyms
immediately. What do you think this accomplishes?
To set the scene in a futuristic world, the author has created
original words and used familiar words in such a way that they
convey different meanings. Have your students infer the meanings
of the following words and phrases based on how they are used in
the story:
After reading the first several chapters, have students make a list
of acronyms and abbreviations that the author uses and discuss
what they think they might mean. What images or feelings do these
words call to mind? What do they think a Stof is? What do they
think a Stof looks like? What do they think a re-dap community is?
Record the different interpretations and then compare them with
the actual meanings as they are discovered during the reading of
the book or by using the definitions below.
AYLR Alliance of Youth for Liberty and Reunification
civie justice Civil Justice Center
curf curfew
EM 9066 Electoral Mandate Ninety Sixty-six
ICCS Inner Council of Civic Security
IPE instructor of public enlightenment
JJ-Girls jingle-jangle girls
LD listening device
nukes newly culled kids
Orph orphanage
PRIDEPunish Resisters: Identify, Denounce,
and Expel
re-dap readaptation
redoc re-indoctrination
R. P. racial purity index
Scarps Great Wall of the Northern Escarpments
Stof state officer
SYL State Youth League
YTF youth training facility
ZT Zero Tolerance Party
• antistate elements
• associative responsibility
• blended (as used on p. 55)
• commemorator
• compugraph
• convocator
• digiprint
• drone
• faithfuls
• immix
• indoctrination
• inherited guilt
• journey permit
• listener
• loyalty correction facilities
• mentation
• minder
• purer breds
• purging dump
• ration chits
• readaptation
• reeducation through labor
• thought reports
• threat status
• unalterables
• vidicam
PART ONE: LANGUAGE USE
Figurative Language
Writers often use figurative language to convey an image or feeling to the reader. Have students pick ten of the examples listed below and
describe in writing the images and feelings that the words conjure up in their imaginations.
• “ Weeds, wilted dark from the coming cold, blanketed the wasteland” (p. 5)
• “shadowy lines of old furrows ghosted beneath the weeds” (p. 5)
• “ loudspeakers that stood sentineled up and down the blocks” (p. 47)
• “She imagined him . . . statuelike, gaze fixed out the window, dormant for
the day” (p. 51)
• “ lockers firecrackered shut” (p. 98)
• “A thin dusting of snow skipped along the top of the sidewalk” (p. 100)
• “ They lived as dark shadows behind closed curtains” (p. 119)
• “the memory of her father at the trial tumbling in after her” (p. 128)
• “ like a wild bird blanketed” (p. 160)
• “sneakered footsteps squeaked” (p. 213)
• “ bumpy and fish-belly pale” (p. 250)
Symbolism
1. Have the class identify things in The Silenced that are white or
that have white associated with them. Then have students write
about the symbolic meanings that might be interpreted from
these examples. What things other than snow are being “stomped
into a muddy slush” in the world of this book? What evil ideas or
beliefs are covered up by things that appear to be good?
2. Marena speaks of a solitary tree in a decimated field that
somehow survived the “ravagings” (p. 5). She also refers to “the
occasional forgotten tree” (p. 102) and “the lone tree” (p. 246).
What might the author be trying to suggest with this recurring
image?
3. On many occasions the author compares the once fertile Spring
Valley with its present state of decay. Discuss this recurring
imagery. What else is decaying in The Silenced?
• “A blast of cold air bolted down the aisle” (p. 252)
• “a flurry of memories ambushed his thoughts” (p. 265)
• “Ahab-like and eagle-eyed” (p. 268)
• “the muted thuds of his tennis shoes” (p. 337)
• “the window, spiderwebbed with ice” (p. 344)
• “sharing towels and frightened looks” (p. 375)
• “A lie flew out of her mouth” (p. 385)
• “ The moon ran alongside the car” (p. 409)
• “a slick feathering of snow” (p. 426)
• “Floodlights . . . scalloped it out of the blackness” (p. 481)
• “ fading into the graying wood” (p. 488)
4. In The Silenced, the Great Wall of the Northern Escarpments
(Scarps) is a wall that both literally and symbolically divides the
country. This image is established early in the book, and it is
also the last great obstacle that Marena has to overcome to be
free. What are some obstacles that persecuted people have to
overcome to be free? What figurative walls can divide a country
and its people? What issues divide our country today?
5. In a literal sense, the state officers (Stofs) act as the constant
presence of government and its control by force, but the Stofs
also serve as a significant symbol. Reread the first two pages
of Chapter 57 with your class. What might the Stofs represent
in a larger sense? Have students consider a citizen’s place in a
country or community and his or her active participation in the
government, as well as a citizen’s right to vote, right to dissent,
right to public debate and discourse, and right to privacy.
PART two: discussion questions and exercises
Before Reading
1. Sometimes if people speak out against an injustice when
most others remain silent, they are faced with the threats of
bullying, embarrassment, and/or ridicule. Fear is a great factor
to overcome and often keeps people silent. How can people
conquer this fear or find alternative ways to speak out against
injustices?
2. Consider the scenarios listed below. What would be the
advantages and disadvantages of remaining silent?
If you chose not to be silent, what could you do to help in
these situations?
• The person who has the locker next to yours often
makes comments that are discriminatory and unkind
about other members of the student body.
• You caught the person next to you cheating on the
semester exam. The student’s grade could influence her
GPA, class rank, and scholarship opportunities.
• A street gang congregates on the corner of your block.
One night you see the gang members attack a boy who
has refused to join their group.
• You are the victim of a violent crime and have been
asked to testify against the defendant.
• You catch your brother taking money from your
mother’s purse.
3. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
• Discuss how freedom of the press assures that the
government will neither control nor censor radio, TV,
magazines, newspapers, books, the Internet, etc. Why
is this freedom so important? What would happen if
the government dictated everything that people were
allowed to read?
• Discuss what is meant by “petition the Government
for a redress of grievances.” Why do you think the
right to dissent is important in a free society?
• W hat if the members of your local library board
only allowed books that were written by people who
belonged to a certain political party or religious
group? What would happen to your access to
information and your ability to educate yourself?
• W hat if the principal of your school convinced the
village board to pass an ordinance so that no one
under the age of eighteen could be out on the streets
past 8:00 p.m.? Any child caught breaking the rule
would be expelled from school. What if your right to
disagree and to try and change this ordinance was
also taken away—anybody speaking against this new
measure would also be expelled. What recourse would
you have left?
PART two: discussion questions and exercises
Before Reading (continued)
While Reading
4. Most people have the luxury of simply discussing whether
or not to speak out against large injustices, but what if you
were the one suffering a great injustice? How would you
want the world at large and those more powerful than you to
respond? If all of your rights to freedom of expression were
taken away, how would you communicate to the world what
was happening?
1. Both Mrs. Crowley and Mr. Greengritch use the phrase
“teachable moment.” What do you think a teachable moment
is? Describe a teachable moment that you have experienced.
5. Discrimination and intolerance occur everywhere in the
world. Sometimes, even if you want to do something to help,
you can feel overwhelmed; the problems look so large that
you feel you could never make a difference. Where could you
start anyway? Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, said, “There is
so much to be done, there is so much that can be done. One
person. . . one person of integrity, can make a difference, a
difference of life and death.”*
• W hat examples of intolerance or discrimination
have you seen other students commit?
• W hat examples of intolerance and discrimination
have you seen adults committing?
• Have you ever wanted to say something to someone
who made a discriminatory remark but were too
afraid or embarrassed?
• W hat examples of intolerance or discrimination
have you yourself committed?
• If you were the victim of discrimination, would you
want someone to come to your aid? Even if you
didn’t know the person? Even if that person was
putting himself or herself at risk by doing so?
* Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech,
December 10, 1986
2. Education and the free flow of information are tightly
controlled in The Silenced. One of the most effective ways
for a government to oppress a people is to keep them
uneducated and uninformed. How could this happen in
a free society? Why does controlling information make it
easier to oppress a people?
3. Complete the writing assignment that Mr. Greengritch gives
the class (p. 77). Read your description to your class and
listen to your peers read their descriptions.
4. Mr. Greengritch’s character could have been written much
like Mr. Blaine’s: someone who is unquestioning in his
belief in ZT and its philosophies. Why is it important for
the reader to slowly discover Mr. Greengritch’s point of view
along the way?
5. Both memory and history play important roles in this story;
Marena is always trying to remember her history, while
Mr. Greengritch is always trying to forget his. Why is it
important to remember history accurately? Is all history
accurate? It has been said that the “winners” always write
the history books, so can we trust history just because it has
been written in a textbook? Can you find examples of history
that has changed over time?
6. Based on clues in the book, what race do you think Marena
is? What about her parents? How old do you think Marena
is? Why do you think the author chose to be vague about
these facts?
PART two: discussion questions and exercises
After Reading
1. Besides arrest or fear tactics, what are some ways that an
oppressive government can intimidate people into keeping
quiet and not helping others around them?
2. W hat is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
3. Elie Wiesel, speaking of the Holocaust, said that “the world
did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore
never to be silent whenever wherever human beings endure
suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality
helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages
the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must
interfere.”*
• Define indifference with regards to human rights
and the plights of others. Find examples in
your own life—things you have experienced or
witnessed in your school, neighborhood, family,
state, country, religion, etc.
• There are many ways in which a person can remain
silent; it is not limited to the spoken word. There
are also many ways in which a person can speak
out or take action. Discuss ways in which citizens
in a free society can express their opinions and try
to bring about positive change. Ideas might include
educating others on a particular cause, educating
oneself on a particular cause, expressing opinions
through art or literature, voting, community service,
activism, peaceful assembly and protest, petitions,
or boycotting.
4. Define activism. Write a report about an instance of activism
that brought about positive change, describing the method of
activism, the change it brought about, and any resistance that
was met and overcome.
* Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech,
December 10, 1986
5. Identification chips containing personal and medical history
are real and have been implanted in some people in the
United States. Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human
Services Tommy Thompson supports their use. Form a team
with several other students and engage in a debate about
ID chips with a second team of students. Randomly assign
one team to take the PRO position and the other to take the
CON. Research the subject and form arguments in support
of your side with data and quoted material. Debate the issue
in front of the class. After the debate, have your class vote by
secret ballot to see how your debate affected the opinions of
your peers.
6. The Great Wall of the Northern Escarpments (Scarps)
divides the country in The Silenced. What other countries
have built walls or are presently building walls to divide
themselves from others? Which of these walls are aimed at
keeping others out, and which are meant to keep the citizens
of a country in? Why would a nation want to keep others
out? Why would it want to keep its people in?
7. Watch the movie The White Rose, directed by Michael
Verhoeven. Discuss the similarities between the real story
of the White Rose and The Silenced. Why might the author
have wanted to transform the story instead of simply writing
a nonfiction account of Sophie Scholl’s involvement in the
White Rose?
PART three: extension projects
Research and Exploration
1. Many words and phrases used in The Silenced were taken from
the headlines of today’s newspapers: associative responsibility,
the disappeared, education through labor, ideology
reinforcement, kinship detention (Filial Internment Act),
loyalty oaths, nationality correction, re-adaptation facilities, reindoctrination, and thought-reports. Choose one of the words
or phrases listed above and explain what it means. From what
country or area of the world is it taken? What government
uses or enforces it? Against whom is it applied? Why?
2. Select a topic from the list below. Research a specific person
(or group of people) who has been in the situation you
selected and then do at least one thing to effect a related
positive change. Share what you learn with the class and also
describe what you did to effect change.
• A child laborer in the carpet factories of Nepal, India,
or Pakistan
• An artist, poet, or writer in prison or being persecuted
for his/her work
• An artist who has had his/her work censored
• A person in prison for his/her political beliefs
• An infringement of someone’s right to free speech
• A person who is forced to work in unsafe working
conditions
• A person persecuted for his/her religion or race
3. W hat is propaganda? What is its purpose? As part of a small
team, design a propaganda campaign involving radio, TV, or
print advertisements to promote an idea that would serve your
interests, even though it would be unpopular with a certain
segment of society. If needed, use lies or invented facts to
support your campaign. For example, your campaign headline
could be: “Summer break extended to six months! Government
study proves it is beneficial to students’ education!”
4. A rt, music, literature, radio, and print media were all censored
and tightly controlled under the Nazi regime. Jazz music was
banned. Sophie Scholl and her friends listened to it secretly
as a form of resistance. The music of Gustav Mahler and Felix
Mendelssohn was banned because they were both Jewish.
Painters such as Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Wassily Kandinsky,
and Paul Klee were also banned and ridiculed. In 1937 the
museums in Germany were purged of all works that the Nazi
Party considered to be “degenerate.” As U.S. citizens, our First
Amendment protects us from such abuses.
• Present a viewing of banned art from the time of
Sophie Scholl. Speak about what the Nazi Party
found objectionable in the art. Compare it to art that
was considered acceptable. Discuss the valid points
about censorship in a society. Also discuss how a
government can abuse censorship to serve its own
ends.
• Music is a powerful form of expression. Imagine
that you have been selected by your school to decide
which music will be permissible for students to listen
to for the next three years. Make a list of the music
that you would allow to be played and bring in some
short examples of it to share with your class. Explain
why this music is acceptable and why all other music
is unacceptable. How do your classmates whose music
has been banned feel? How do those who agree with
your selections feel? How might your choices affect
group dynamics and friendships?
5. A rticle 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive, and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.” Discuss what is meant by “through any media.”
What ways can opinions be expressed other than through
the spoken word? Also discuss what it means to “seek, receive,
and impart information.” Research and prepare a presentation
on recent challenges in the U.S. to the First Amendment’s
guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
PART three: extension projects
Getting Involved and Teaching Others
1. Research a cause in your own community about which you
feel strongly and create flyers to bring awareness to it. Include
real facts on the flyers and distribute them as part of an
educational campaign. Educating others about your cause is a
powerful way to make them care and take action.
2. Write a letter to a local politician addressing an issue about
which you feel strongly. Suggest things that he or she could
do to help. Politicians are your representatives and have an
obligation to serve you. If they do not agree with your views,
you can respectfully attempt to persuade them. If they do not
believe in the things you believe, you can campaign for others
in the next election.
3. Choose something in your school or community that you
think is unfair or unjust to someone other than yourself.
In a group of two or more, plan positive, nondestructive,
nonviolent ways to call attention to the injustice.
Alternatively, start a Youth for Human Rights group at your
school. Choose a cause in which you believe, locally or
internationally, and let your community know about your
efforts.
4. On May 10, 1933, Nazi youth organizations publicly burned
25,000 books that the director of libraries decided were not
in keeping with the government’s worldview. These books
included works by Jewish authors and other writers deemed
to be “degenerate.” Give a presentation to your peers about
books that are banned from some schools in the U.S. today.
Why have these books been banned? Who is banning them?
What is the danger of wanting to ban thoughts, opinions,
or ideas with which certain individuals or groups disagree?
Why, in a free society, must people sometimes tolerate things
that they find offensive?
5. The author of The Silenced also wrote a play, The Rose of
Treason, a dramatization of the true story of Sophie Scholl
and the White Rose (available at www.applays.com). With
other students in your class, perform a Reader’s Theater
presentation of the play. Consider performing for an invited
audience or at the public library to share the story with
others.
PART four: additional materials and resources
Further Information
The White Rose
Censorship and Intolerance
Leaflets of the White Rose
www.jlrweb.com/whiterose/leaflets.html
Book Burning
www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bookburning
Memories of the White Rose
www.historyplace.com/pointsofview/white-rose1.htm
Degenerate Art
fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/arts/artDegen.htm
Sophie Scholl
www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/holocaust/articles/
sophie-scholl-white-rose.2786.htm
Hitler Youth
www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/hitleryouth
The White Rose
www.jlrweb.com/whiterose
Tolerance, Political Activism, and
Social Responsibility
Amnesty International
www.amnestyusa.org
Ending World Hunger
www.heifer.org
www.secondharvest.org
Holocaust Studies
www.shoaheducation.com
Intellectual Freedom for Young People
www.ala.org/ala/oif/foryoungpeople/youngpeople.htm
Documents
Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
www.pbs.org/eliewiesel/nobel/index.html
Elie Wiesel’s Speech on Indifference
www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel.htm
First Amendment Schools
www.firstamendmentschools.org
John F. Kennedy’s Speech on the Value of Art
arts.endow.gov/about/Kennedy.html
Freedom of Expression
www.beaconforfreedom.org
The Rose of Treason
www.applays.com
Helping Others
www.kiva.org
www.nationalhomeless.org
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
Kids Can Make a Difference
www.kidscanmakeadifference.org
National Youth Rights Association
www.youthrights.org
Political Discourse
www.justicelearning.org
Promoting Tolerance
www.tolerance.org
Teaching Tolerance
www.teachingtolerance.org
Youth for Human Rights
youthforhumanrights.org
Youth Free Expression Network
ncac.org/YFEN/index.cfm
www.harperteen.com
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Teaching guide researched and prepared by James DeVita.