École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée
450 chemin Maple Grove Cambridge, (Ontario) N3H4R7
Téléphone:(519) 650-9444 Sans frais : 1-866-253-6375
The Literary Essay
An analysis of the literary devices used in Night.
Course: EAE1D1-02
Teacher: Danica Lalich
Date Due: December 18th, 2013
Project Duration: 3 Weeks
Description
In this unit, we read the novel Night by Elie Wiesel and learned about the elements of
stories and how they work together to create a “big picture” of a novel. We also
learned about the literary devices used by authors to give a text meaning. In Night,
Wiesel uses many literary devices to communicate the meaning of his text. For
example, he uses symbols such as fire to represent Nazi power and destruction; soup
to represent life and survival; and the Star of David to represent Jewish identity.
Furthermore, he uses motifs such as religion/prayer to show the struggle to keep your
faith when facing immense evil; night to show the darkness/evil in all of us; and
silence to show the silence of the Jews in the face of their oppressors as well as the
silence of God in response to the cries and suffering of his people. Finally, in his novel,
he weaves together literary devices and elements of story to point to the major
themes he wishes to explore through his writing.
For this task, you will write a 700-800 word literary essay, using the 5-block essay format, in response to one
of the topics below. You will follow the writing process by completing the Grade 9 Essay Kit in order to
organize your thoughts and ideas, and in order to communicate and support your arguments effectively.
Topics
1. Discuss the author’s use of ONE of the following literary devices in Night:
a. Symbols
b. Motifs
c. Foreshadowing
d. Juxtaposition
2. Discuss how the author explores ONE of the following themes in Night:
a. The evil within all of us.
b. The struggle to maintain faith in a benevolent God.
c. The importance of father-son bonds.
d. Silence is complicity.
3. A topic of your choice, to be approved by the teacher.
École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée
450 chemin Maple Grove Cambridge, (Ontario) N3H4R7
Téléphone:(519) 650-9444 Sans frais : 1-866-253-6375
Success Criteria Checklist
YES
1. I use the writing process to produce a well-written, polished final draft (AP)
• Brainstorming
□ After I have chosen my topic, I brainstorm ideas for claims and evidence.
• Outlining
□ I create a detailed and organized outline that includes the main components
of the essay.
• First Draft
□ Using my outline, I compose a first draft of my essay.
• Revising & Editing
□ I revise my first draft for grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure,
etc.
□ I edit my essay for organization, reasoning, and structure.
• I apply my revisions and edits to produce a final draft for submission.
2. I follow the 5-block essay structure.
• Introduction (1 paragraph)
□ I begin with a broad statement that hooks the reader. (KU)
□ I provide information that the reader needs to know in order to understand
my arguments. (KU)
□ I finish with a thesis statement that summarizes my topic and arguments (in
order). (KU)
• Development (3 paragraphs)
□ Each paragraph has a topic sentence that states my claim. (KU)
□ Each paragraph has detail sentences that provide evidence and explanations
to support my claim. (KU)
□ Each paragraph ends with a closing statement that refers back to my claim
and forms a conclusion. (KU + TH)
• Conclusion (1 paragraph)
□ I restate my thesis in different words and in a bit more detail. (KU)
□ I end my conclusion with a few sentences that serve as a comment or call to
action (making connections between the topic and society in general or to a
larger idea). (KU + TH + AP)
3. I use evidence appropriately to support my claims.
• Choice of evidence
□ I choose quotes from the novel that are relevant to my claim. (TH)
□ I don’t always choose the most obvious quotes to support my claim, instead
looking for the best quote possible to show that I have a deeper
understanding of the novel. (TH)
NO
École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée
450 chemin Maple Grove Cambridge, (Ontario) N3H4R7
Téléphone:(519) 650-9444 Sans frais : 1-866-253-6375
□ I use explicit and implicit information from the novel as evidence. (TH)
□ I only use outside sources for evidence dealing with historical context (WWII,
Nazis, Holocaust, etc) all other evidence comes directly from the novel.
• Use of evidence
□ I introduce all of my evidence using an appropriate transition word or
transition sentence. (COM)
□ I analyze my evidence by explaining how it supports my claim. (TH)
4. I communicate clearly, coherently and to suit the context and intention of my essay. (COM)
• Formal writing
□ I write in the present tense at all times, even when retelling events that have
happened in the novel.
□ I avoid contractions (i.e. don’t, won’t, can’t, couldn’t, isn’t, it’s, etc.).
□ I use an active voice (i.e. Cookie Monster always eats all of the cookies.) as
opposed to a passive voice (i.e. The cookies are always eaten by Cookie
Monster.)
□ I do not use first person references (i.e. I, we, me, myself, our, my, us, mine,
etc…).
□ I do not address the reader directly (i.e. by using the pronoun you or by
asking a hypothetical question).
□ I avoid colloquialisms and too commonly used phrases (i.e. You know when…;
SWAG!; It’s like…; etc.)
• Clarity and coherence
□ My ideas are clear and the reader is not left guessing what I meant to say or
asking themselves so what?
5. I apply language conventions (COM)
• Grammar
□ I make sure all of the first words in my sentences, the proper nouns, and the
pronoun I, are capitalized.
□ I make sure that I use the right homophone for the right context (i.e. there,
their, and they’re; it’s and its; here and hear; two, to and too; are and our;
etc.)
□ I use punctuation correctly (i.e. I have periods at the end of my sentences,
etc.).
• Spelling
□ I double-check the spelling of unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
□ I use a spell-check program to review my essay before handing it in.
• Sentence Structure
□ My sentences are complete and have the mandatory subject and verb, and a
non-mandatory but highly recommended object (i.e. sujet de la phrase,
prédicat de la phrase et complément de la phrase).
École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée
450 chemin Maple Grove Cambridge, (Ontario) N3H4R7
Téléphone:(519) 650-9444 Sans frais : 1-866-253-6375
□ My sentences make sense and flow together nicely.
6. I apply MLA formatting to my essay (AP)
• Header
□ On the top right of each page, I have my last name and the corresponding
page number.
□ At the beginning of my essay, I have my name, the teacher’s name, the
course code, and the due date of the essay (see essay kit for example)
• Title
□ My title is centered and is uniform to the rest of the essay (i.e. NOT
underlined, bolded, italicized, or in a different font or size).
• Font, spacing and margins
□ My ENTIRE essay in written in Times New Roman, font size 12.
□ My ENTIRE essay is double-spaced (2.0), and there are NO EXTRA LINE
BREAKS anywhere.
□ My margins are 1’’
• Paragraphs
□ The beginning of each paragraph is indented.
□ ALL of my evidence, even if it is not directly quoted, is cited using
parenthetical citations (i.e. (Lalich 25))
□ There are NO FOOTNOTES
□ Quotations that are longer than four lines are put in block quotations.
• Works Cited page
□ I have a work cited page at the end of my essay.
□ The works cited are in alphabetical order by author name.
□ I format my citations using MLA format (see essay kit)
Components and Due Dates
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Choose a topic and brainstorm your ideas.
Create an outline for your essay.
Prepare a rough draft of your essay for peer revision and editing.
Complete the checklist above and use it to revise and edit your essay yourself.
Produce a final drat for your essay.
Friday, December 6th,
2013
Due: Topic chosen and
brainstorm done.
Tuesday, December 10th,
2013
Due: Detailed outline of
essay
Monday, December 16th,
2013
Due: Revised and typed
rough draft of essay
Wednesday, December 18th,
2013
Due: Final draft of essay
th
*PLEASE NOTE: All of the components listed above are to be handed in with the final draft on Wednesday, December 18 , 2013.*
École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée
450 chemin Maple Grove Cambridge, (Ontario) N3H4R7
Téléphone:(519) 650-9444 Sans frais : 1-866-253-6375
TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR ESSAY
ARMS…a simple way to improve an essay
A (add)
• Missing task items, excerpts to further argument, figurative language for style, details/descriptions
R (remove)
• Unnecessary repetitions, unimportant excerpts, off task/topic information
M (move)
• Sentence structure for variety/style, paragraphs for emphasis, idea order for a logical flow
S (substitute)
• Overused words, weak verbs with strong verbs, better adjectives, generic words…for style