lEssay Topics: Read the choices. For three of them, write a possible THESIS statement that you will prove from your reading, notes, quotes, etc.
l1. One of the most tragic themes in Night is Eliezer’s discovery of the way that atrocities and cruel treatment can make good people into brutes. What are the atrocities he refers to? Does he himself escape this fate? Cite examples.
l2 Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his championing of human rights around the world. (see internet information) How might his advocacy for human rights have grown out of his Holocaust experiences? What are the positive lessons of the Holocaust that Wiesel hints at in Night? Has the world learned from these lessons or
do we repeat our mistakes? Give examples
l3 In the midst of the dying men in Gleiwitz, the violinist Juliek plays a fragment of music written by the German composer Beethoven. Before and after the Holocaust, many people wondered how the Germans, cultured Europeans, could commit such barbaric acts. Does Wiesel suggest any rationale or reasons behind the Holocaust in Night? Does he speculate as to the motives of the perpetrators? What, for Wiesel, are those motives? Include notes on “evil” and the ‘slippery slope’ to evil that we studied.
l4 It is possible to look at Night as the story of Eliezer’s loss of innocence. It might be argued, too, that innocence is impossible after the Holocaust. Is this true? Is it tragic, or is innocence an obstacle to survival, as when the Jews are too innocent to believe that Hitler really means to kill them? Give examples.
l5. Select one portion of narration in Night and comment on how it “paints a dark and angry
lpicture of human nature.” What circumstances in the memoir allow for this darker side of
lhuman nature to emerge? Contrast this with parts of the book that provide hope for the
l‘lighter’ or positive side of human nature.
Use your textbook, your journal entries, and quotes to explain your thesis. In other words,
lWhat parts or passages of the book prove your point?!
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