Night Essay

1. Night Essay

2. When selecting a quote: • It can be dialogue (someone talking) • It can also be narration • If you are writing about a person, the quote can come from anyone or anywhere in the book, story or play.

3. Setting up a quote: Use three specifics: • Occasion (start with a subordinating conjunction) • Speaker (if there is one) • Dialogue tag (use your 99 words instead of said list)

4. Example: Dialogue occasionspeakertag (instead of said) Because he wanted to warm the prisoners about the significance of the selection process, the head of the block cautioned, “ Don’t walk slowly, run! Run as if the devil were after you!” (67).

5. Example: Narration (no one is talking) You only need occasion. Use a portion of the quote inside your own sentence. After returning to Sighet, Moshe “had changed. There was no longer any joy in his eyes” (Wiesel 4).

6. Citations (author and page number) (Wiesel 25). *There is no comma or pg. *Period goes on the outside.

7. Topic sentences Avoid a summary- t.s. must be an opinionated argument that needs sentences and quotes to prove. BOO- Elie felt that the world had forgotten to help them. YEAH: Hitler’s reign closed the door so tightly that absolutely no humanity could get inside.

8. Thesis Avoid the simplistic summary of three points. Night is really about learning how to balance a human being’s most primitive survival instincts while coping with faith and devastation. “The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct acts sooner or later to eliminate the individual and thereby fails to show up in future generations.” ―Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers Combined, we end up with: The emotions and mentality of the emaciated prisoners of concentration camps were changed as they were forced to choose survival over their own faith and families; a new, hardened shell eliminated the individual who once had hope and devotion.

9. Intro:hookbackgroundthesis As bullets zoom past the shimmering stars of outer space, the young and aggressive soldier grits his teeth as he proclaims, “The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct acts sooner or later to eliminate the individual and thereby fails to show up in future generations.” Even though time and space may separate Heinlein’s hero of the futuristic warfare from the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the contrast between human nature and optimism collide. Elie Wiesel’s Night is really about learning to balance primitive survival instincts while coping with the loss of faith and devastation. The emotions and mentality of the emaciated prisoners of concentration camps were changed as they were forced to choose survival over their own faith and families; a new, hardened shell eliminated the individual who once had hope and devotion.

10. The three body paragraphs would be about… The emotions and mentality of the emaciated prisoners of concentration camps were changed as they were forced to choose survival over their own faith and families; a new, hardened shell eliminated the individual who once had hope and devotion. • The emotions/mentality of the prisoners changed from faithful to faithless. Some felt God had abandoned them. • With survival as the most important goal, devotion and loyalty to family members was strained. • As time passed, the amount of brutality forced prisoners to become devoid of emotion. The realty was just too painful.

11. Intro:hookbackgroundthesis His foot tapped rhythmically on the scuffed black stage; the crowd mouths the lyrics as John Mayer sings, “One day our generation is gonna rule the population so we keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change.” Each generation must fight their own wars, whether it be on a battlefield of WWII or the social injustices that riddle the 21st Century. Elie Wiesel’s Night is really about taking the initiative to lead others that may be waiting for inspiration or motivation; when humanity seems to be distant, victims of atrocities must speak out to share their experiences to inspire change. The helpless prisoners of the concentration camps had no choice but to wait for liberation while they endured the unimaginable brutalities of the concentration camps; survivor Elie Wiesel often wondered if the world was really coming to save them because as he waited, he was molded into a hardened skeleton of himself.

12. The three body paragraphs would be about… The helpless prisoners of the concentration camps had no choice but to wait for liberation while they endured the unimaginable brutalities of the concentration camps; survivor Elie Wiesel often wondered if the world was really coming to save them because as he waited, he was molded into a hardened skeleton of himself. • They were forced to wait- no actions could be taken with the brutality they faced on a daily basis. • Elie wondered where humanity was? How was the world letting this happen? • Prisoners, including Wiesel, changed into cold, emotionless individuals.

13. Conclusion After careful consideration of the relationship between John Mayer’s lyrics and Wiesel’s message in Night, one can conclude that the victims of the Holocaust will never be able to escape the memories and loss they endured because as they waited for the world to save them, their trust in humanity was lost. Musicians and local activists can be sparks of change. As Mayer’s foot marks the beat, it also marks his urgent point- the world will not change unless there are individuals passionate enough to group together and fight for humanity.