Night Essay

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Night Essay
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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.

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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)

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Example

• Dialogue
• occasion speaker tag (instead of said)
• Because he wanted to warm the prisoners about
  the significance of the selection process, the
  head of the block cautioned, Dont walk slowly,
  run! Run as if the devil were after you! (67).
  

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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).

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Citations

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

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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 Hitlers reign closed the door so tightly
  that absolutely no humanity could get inside.

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Thesis Avoid the simplistic summary of three
points.

• Night is really about learning how to balance a
  human beings 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.

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Introhook background thesis

• 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
  Heinleins hero of the futuristic warfare from
  the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the contrast
  between human nature and optimism collide. Elie
  Wiesels 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.

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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.

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Introhook background thesis

• 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 Wiesels 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.

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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.

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Conclusion

• After careful consideration of the relationship
  between John Mayers lyrics and Wiesels 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 Mayers 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.