“[Anne Frank’s] voice was preserved, out of the millions that were silenced…[She] has outlasted the shouts of the murderers and has soared above the voices of time” – Ernst Schnabel
Essay Writing Prompt: Ernst Schnabel wrote of Anne Frank, “Her voice was preserved, out of the millions that were silenced…[She] has outlasted the shouts of the murderers and has soared above the voices of time” (110). The same could be said of Night author, Elie Wiesel.
For those that experienced the Holocaust, why was it so important for them to tell their stories? How has the Holocaust affected the identity of the Jewish people? In a well-developed essay, discuss the effects of the Holocaust and the importance of the survivors bearing witness by telling their stories.
Cite textual evidence from Elie Wiesel’s autobiographical novel, Night, Art Spiegelman’s memoir, Maus, and at least one other Holocaust text to support of your ideas.
Handouts and Writing Resources:
Online Resources:
- Night Study Guides (Sparknotes and Enotes)
- “The Holocaust film that was too shocking to show” (The Guardian)
- “Wiesel offers students first-hand account of Holocaust” (Los Angeles Times)
- “Proudly Bearing Elders’ Scars, Their Skin Says ‘Never Forget’” (New York Times)
- “Art Spiegelman and the Making of Maus” (PBS)
- “Oprah and Elie Wiesel at Auschwitz” (YouTube)
- Night Will Fall (2014, IMDB)
- Life is Beautiful (1997, IMDB)
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008, IMDB)
- Quotes from Maus
- Selected Holocaust Poetry
