Gil Pender Reflection Paper

With crime, natural disasters and corruption at a constant prevalence in society, it is not uncommon for most people in the world to question the goodness of mankind, but are there some things that can be so poignant that can make a person permanently cynical to humanity? In Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, he describes his experiences as a Jewish boy during the Holocaust, where he relives chilling memories of ghettos and concentration camps. Throughout the book, Elie describes horrors such as mass cremations of Jews, executions of innocent people and the death of his father and his family. When he retells his experiences, he uses the word “night”, a subtle, yet important expression to inform the reader of the emotional intensity these experiences have on his psyche. In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel uses the motif “night” to demonstrate a direct absence of his own humanity.

As I traveled to New York City, I encountered Elie Wiesel. We had a cup of coffee, as I interviewed him. I wanted to interview Mr. Wiesel, so I can expand my knowledge about the memoir, Night. Mr. Wiesel was the perfect person to interview, because he was the author of the memoir and he is still living, after surviving

Exploring the tension between truth and illusion is a frequent preoccupation of twentieth century American literature. Compare and contrast the treatment of this theme in `Tender is the Night' and at least one other relevant text you have encountered.

Before attending GCU and using the sources that they provide, I normally would use resources and tools that were provided by various universities. Two notable examples that I would use where Purdue University's OWL and also Calvin College's KnightCite. OWL is a particularly helpful source since it offers a wide variety of articles regarding various topics that play a key role within successful writing. KnightCite was also a source I widely used because of the fact that it was a great way in order to get MLA (which I used in high school) citations for works used in my papers. However, nowadays I mainly use the sources provided by GCU such as the writing center which I have found to be quite helpful. In particular, I enjoy the templates provided

During various times within our lives, we lack a motive to live life and our purpose to exceed. While going through difficult times, music and lyrics such as the Imagination’s “Just an Illusion” provides great understanding and deep emotions. In Night, Elie Wiesel loses hope, trust, and motivation, but has found ways to overcome them, which is a struggle that I too have conquered.

Your memoir, Night, drastically changed my view on the world; more specifically, I now sympathize more with individuals who are experiencing a struggle of any kind. This is a result of the brutal details that forced you to create a vivid image of the situation at hand. Before reading Night, I never truly took the time to imagine what it would be like to be in these tragic situations. Therefore, I would like to thank you for bringing this inhumane flaw I possessed to light. The first account of me realizing this flaw, occurred because of the Nazis’ brutality.

Often times in literature, and unfortunately in life, cruelty is the motivating fuel to the flame of change. Throughout the memoir Night the reader sees author Elie Wiesel, a young Jewish boy suffering through the Holocaust, struggle to maintain the faith that has been forefront in his life for as long as he can remember. At the beginning of the novel, Elie’s pious background and devout religious practices are at the center his lifestyle. However, as the Germans begin to rip away everything he has ever known and cared about, he begins to question the God into which he has put so much time, effort, and trust. In the face of the infinite cruelty of the Nazis, at the center of the genocide of his people, Elie constantly expresses his newfound doubts. On the other hand, one cannot help but notice that, whether out of desperation or habit, when faced with the most sadistic

Elie Wiesel’s mesmerizing book, Night, is a retelling of his own teenage experience of the Jewish holocaust. As Wiesel recounts these chilling events, a thread of darkness runs throughout the story. A central question of doubt versus hope arises as the young boy questions his faith, the goodness of people, and the justice of God. Wiesel uses many literary devices to take the reader on an emotional journey. His use of personification and metaphor make this book nothing short of gripping causing the reader to experience brief hopes so quickly destroyed by the unthinkable.

The phrase “Ignorance is bliss” is faulty. Especially when it comes to Elie Wiesel’s “Night” and the egregious accounts from the Holocaust. This book follows a young boy and his trials as he faces pain, terror, hunger, and death during the German attacks in World War Two. He and his family, his father, his mother and his three sisters, were taken from their home and sent to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. Before this however, they live in a small village called Sighet.

The novel Night by Elie Wiesel, tells the gripping and frank tale of a Jewish boy and his life enduring the Auschwitz concentration camps in 1945. Throughout the novel, Wiesel does not shy away from the horrifying reality that was the holocaust, but instead highlights them and brings them to the surface. However, Wiesel aims for a higher purpose than simply relaying the gruesome details of the holocaust. Wiesel aims to make an impact, to have each and every reader take away something from this book, to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again.

The novel “Night” written by Elie Wiesel is the memoir of a young Wiesel's’ survival through concentration camps during the  Holocaust; through his narrative Wiesel shows that faith is a necessity towards survival when dealing with complications or uncertainty.

The informative and interesting book Night by Elie Wiesel depicts a young boy struggling to survive in a time of great horror. Through reading the memoir, I have been able to learn many new ideas and concepts about time back then, as well as my life right now. Moreover, through reading this book I have not only developed an understanding of the struggles of life at that horrible time, but I have also learned crucial attributes of my life that will later shape the way I perceive everything around me. First, I have learned that extensive pressure and no results can lead somebody to lose faith in everything they believe.

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.” (Primo Levi). In Elie Wiesel's critically acclaimed novel night, Elie’s journey drags him through terrors that could only have been seen to believe, causing memories that he could never erase. Elie uses the motif “night” to portray his memories, emotions, and faith, to emphasize his hellish experience.

Throughout this semester, I have learned tons of new information that has transformed me into a better writer and a more critical reader. This class has developed my writing by showing me how to use pathos, ethos, and logos to my advantage. This class has also helped me to understand different readings better by looking at the different rhetorical concepts that the author uses. I plan to use the knowledge that I have acquired in this class the rest of my life. I will use it when I am writing papers for other classes or just casually reading a book. I will be now more diligent about reading with the grain and against the grain to help understand a source better and to not get sucked into any biased opinions. These skills that I have learned in this class has set me on the right path towards a life full of understanding and prosperity in the writing world.

When I first became interested in what was going on in the world I always turned to the News Channel or a documentary to inform me on that days current event. I never opened a newspaper, magazine, book etc. because I felt it was less time consuming, more intriguing and easier to understand if I listened to the story being told rather than reading it. Because of this class and our weekly article assignments, I realized it is much more interesting to open up a newspaper or print out an article to read rather than watch a television screen to inform me on what is going on in the world today. Not only did this class help me enjoy reading more but it also taught me the real meaning behind key terms and cases that can help me make better use of the article I am reading rather than trying to understand what the story is. I truly believe these article assignments caused a major positive impact on my reading skills, understanding and use of the context and all around better knowledge on what is going on in the world today.