The Devil's Arithmetic Lesson Plan

What are some of the actions the characters take to stay hopeful during worsening conditions?

Strong responses will note that as the situation for the villagers gets increasingly worse, they start singing. Gitl initiates the singing in the trucks on the way to the boxcars and again when the women are ordered to strip naked after arriving at the concentration camp. Singing helps them ward off fear and terror. It helps them stay hopeful, first choosing to believe that the worst-case scenario is not coming, then choosing to believe that they will survive. Hannah makes the point to tell herself that since there is nothing good that comes from thinking, she will just “do”...