Night Memory Keeper: Assignment Overview
Students will create a collection of journal responses, visual representations, and quotes/significant passages/slogans responding to their reading of Elie Wiesel’s Night. Through this variety of literary responses to Night, students will be able to:
· Determine a theme of a text
· Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text
· Analyze the author’s choices concerning the structure of the text
· Analyze various points of view and cultural experiences from the text
· Analyze the representation of a subject through visual representations, artifacts, and symbols
· Analyze the development of Wiesel’s argument regarding “intolerance”
Throughout our reading of Night you will be required to keep a “Memory Keeper” that will help you respond and connect to the text as we read. You can think of this “Memory Keeper” as a creative scrapbook that you will fill with both visual and written responses/representations of Night (by the end of our reading your Memory Keeper should be full of color, images, and a variety of journal responses as outlined below). Strive to tap into your creative side when constructing your final product as each “Memory Keeper” will be unique.
Memory Keeper Requirements:
- You must create/purchase some kind of BOUND notebook/journal (can be a spiral notebook, composition book, diary) of any size and bring this to class EVERDAY during our reading of Night.
- You may neatly handwrite your journal entries OR type, print, and paste your journal entries into your Memory Keeper. Keep this in mind when picking out/constructing your Memory Keeper.
- You must include an MLA Header on the FRONT COVER of your Memory Keeper. This must be easy to locate and legible.
- Your Memory Keepers will be checked and graded weekly for progress, DO NOT procrastinate! You will be expected to show 4-5 completed journal entries each week for full credit!
- All Memory Keepers must be finalized and ready to submit on Monday, February 27!
Night Memory Keeper: Entry Guidelines
When creating your Memory Keeper you must create at LEAST 1 of each of the following entry types:
1. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Eliezer
2. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Shlomo (Eliezer’s father)
3. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Eliezer’s Mother
4. A journal entry writing from the point of view of an SS Guard ("Schutz-Staffel")
5. A journal entry writing from the point of view of a Female Character of your choice (Need inspiration? You could choose one of Eliezer’s sisters Hilda, Béa, or Tzipora)
6. A journal entry writing from the point of view of a Male Character of your choice (Need inspiration? You could choose Stein, Dr. Josef Mengele, or Franek)
7. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Moishe the Beadle (Eliezer’s teacher of Jewish mysticism)
8. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Madame Schächter (the “madwoman” in the cattle car)
9. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Juliek (the violinist)
10. A journal entry writing from the point of view of Idek ( Eliezer’s Kapo- a prisoner conscripted by the Nazis to police other prisoners)
11. A journal entry discussing the author’s choices in terms of the structure of 1 specific chapter or passage of text. This entry must discuss at least 1 of the following elements in detail: tone, style, sentence structure, repetition, sequence, cause/effect, imagery, or conflict/resolution. (You should be telling me WHAT the author is doing—
and then go a step further to tell me WHY he might have chosen to write the chapter/passage in the manner in which he did).
12. A journal entry discussing a TEXT TO SELF connection you made with a specific chapter or character. (This could be a personal connection with a thematic topic such as survival, or even a connection you have with a member of your family as long as it displays a deeper connection you are making with the text to your OWN LIFE).
13. A journal entry discussing a TEXT TO WORLD connection you made with a specific chapter or theme. (This entry could connect events or larger themes presented in the text with things/events/people/places in the world we know today— remember you may discuss both similarities and differences in this entry).
14. A journal entry discussing a particular theme from the text. Create a thematic statement based on what you believe Weisel wants to express to his readers through Night. Use textual evidence to support this thematic statement and discuss how it is represented in a specific Moment/Chapter/Event from Night.
15. A journal entry focusing on your emotional response to a specific Moment/Chapter/Event from Night.
16. A journal entry describing the significance of a symbol that Wiesel creates in Night. (Remember symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts).
17. A journal entry that analyzes the effectiveness and construction of Wiesel’s argument regarding intolerance/tolerance. (What rhetorical strategies influence his statement about the result of an intolerant society? How does he use ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices to advance his argument?)
Note: To receive an A on this assignment you must have 18-20 journal entries, therefore you may repeat a few “entry types” as long as you have already completed 1 of each of the 16 types provided above. I am expecting to see a variety of entry types, push yourself to diversify your entries!
The format for each entry must follow the formatting rules below:
1. Provide a centered title on the top of each entry (please do 1 entry per page and start on a new page when moving onto the next entry- do not do front/back). Each title must provide the following information:
- The “number” of the journal entry (starting with 1 and moving in numerical order through 20)
- An appropriate journal title that makes it clear what journal entry prompt you are responding to. (Examples :Journal Entry #1 Writing from the perspective of Eliezer’s Mother, Journal Entry #2 A Text to Self-Connection Involving Survival)
2. Draw a STAR next to the start of your journal response.
3. At the end of your journal response provide a meaningful quote, passage, or slogan from your chapter of focus and include a page number. Next to this quote, passage, or slogan please write a large “Q”.
**You are required to find one relevant quote, passage, or slogan per journal entry and should end up with 18-20**
4. Following each quote, passage, or slogan— you must include one image that visually represents your journal entry/focus. This image could be:
- A printed image that you cut and paste into your Memory Keeper
- A drawn symbol/image
- An illustration of a significant moment you discussed
- A recipe
- A speech
- Current images from our world that relates to your journal entry
(I expect to see a variety of image types just as I did with our TKAM artifacts assignment- be creative!)
**Remember you need 18-20 entries to receive an A- therefore you must aim to include a variety of 18-20 images**
Entry Format Example:
(Title): Journal Entry #1 Writing from the Point of View of Eliezer
(Start of Entry)Dear Diary,
Body of Entry ______
Sincerely,
Eliezer
(Significant Quote)Q: “We no longer had the right to frequent restaurants or cafes, to travel by rail, to attend synagogue, to be on the streets after six o’clock in the evening” (11).
Tie the chosen quote to the reflection of the piece. The reader should understand its relationship to the entry.
(Image)
Night Memory Keeper Grading Expectations
For a/an:
A (100 Points)
You must include 18-20 journal entries in our Memory Keeper. While there is no length requirement for each journal entry, your literary responses MUST contain honors level quality writing and contains 1-2 errors in spelling and conventions. These journal entries MUST display your comprehension and connections with Night through a VARIETY of entry types. Your Memory Keeper MUST show a deep level of analysis focusing on the following areas: theme, characterization, author’s choice, and symbolism. Each journal entry you provide must include an appropriate title, polished entry response, significant quote/passage/slogan, and an image that connects with your entry focus. An “A” Memory Keeper should look very similar to a scrapbook with a variety of entry types and images that are presented in a neat and organized manner.
B (85 Points)
You must include 15-17 journal entries in our Memory Keeper. While there is no length requirement for each journal entry, your literary responses MUST contain honors level quality writing and contains 3-4 errors in spelling and conventions. These journal entries MUST display your comprehension and connections with Night through a VARIETY of entry types. Your Memory Keeper MUST show a deep level of analysis focusing on the following areas: theme, characterization, author’s choice, and symbolism. Each journal entry you provide must include an appropriate title, polished entry response, significant quote/passage/slogan, and an image that connects with your entry focus.
C (75 Points)
You must include 12-14 journal entries in our Memory Keeper. While there is no length requirement for each journal entry, your literary responses MUST contain honors level quality writing and contains 5 + errors in spelling and conventions. These journal entries MUST display your comprehension and connections with Night through a VARIETY of entry types. Your Memory Keeper MUST show a deep level of analysis focusing on the following areas: theme, characterization, author’s choice, and symbolism. Each journal entry you provide must include an appropriate title, polished entry response, significant quote/passage/slogan, and an image that connects with your entry focus.