Language Homework Details
Night Essay Rough Draft Example:
Name
Mrs. Thayer
Language Arts A
Date
ROUGH DRAFT
One of the most horrible times in our world’s history was depicted by
torture, murder, and the debasement of a selected group of people. This period
is now known as the Holocaust, when the German Nazi regime attempted to irradicate
all Jews and other minorities from Europe by systematically killing them.
Elie Wiesel, a Jewish Holocaust survivor and author of his memoir Night, takes
us on a tragic journey through four concentration camps and reveals how human
relationships deteriorated due to abusive treatment and the quest of basic
human instinct to survive. Elie’s personal experiences reveal the decline
of family bonds, especially in father/son relationships as they endured what
seemed an eternity spent in these camps. Sons, although once possessing a
strong love for their fathers, eventually began to lose this love causing
them to hurt or abandon their fathers in an attempt to survive the Holocaust.
German Nazis and those they chose to control the Jewish prisoners at the concentration
camps were allowed to beat anyone who the leaders felt was not performing
as expected. For example, Elie and his father were working at a brick factory
at the concentration camp, Buna. For no apparent reason, the person in charge,
Idek, started beating Elie’s father. Rather than help his father Elie
moved away from the situation trying to remain almost invisible so that he
would not become the target of Idek’s rage (Wiesel 52). If this incident
happened prior to the horrible treatment already observed by the Jewish prisoners,
Elie certainly would have defended his father. Elie probably knew that this
beating would not kill his father, only injury him physically and emotionally.
Elie therefore did not make matters worse by being beaten himself. Instead
his watched his father get beaten and saved himself from the same or worse
treatment. This seemingly small denial of relationship grew as time went on.
German Nazis and those they chose to control the Jewish prisoners at the concentration camps were allowed to beat anyone who the leaders felt was not performing as expected. For example, Elie and his father were working at a brick factory at the concentration camp, Buna. For no apparent reason, the person in charge, Idek, started beating Elie’s father. “What...any anger I felt at the moment was directed ,not against the Kapo, but against my father” (Wiesel 52). It was important to stay out of trouble at the camps. Although Elie’s father did not seem to do something wrong he was targeted for a beating. Elie was mad at his father for drawing any kind of attention to himself and being beaten. Elie did not want help his father; he only wanted to avoid the same treatment at the hands of an angry foreman. This seemingly small denial of relationship grew as time went on.
Good Web Site for MLA reference: www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/mla.html
Giver journal question Chap. 17: Compare the treatment of the old in the community to their treatment in the family scene Jonas receives in the memory. Which shows more respect and caring in your opinion? Explain using specific detail.
Giver journal question Chap 19: On page 143 in Chapter 18, the narrator indicated that Jonas didn't think that the failure with Rosemary was "such a terrible thing after all." What do you think Jonas thinks now? Explain. What do you think Jonas will now do?
Introductory Paragraph:
Begin with a statement of fact. Should be compelling and draw interest for your reader.
Briefly give three examples that support your thesis and will give the reader some idea of what your three body paragraphs will be about. This information should come from the answers to the question you generated about your thesis statement
THESIS STATEMENT: Topic - year round school/school uniforms; Controlling idea - your opinion regarding the topic.
Example paragraph:
Statistics show that many of schools in the United States are falling academically behind schools of other countries. Perhaps some the discrepancies are due to how the school day and year are configured. Few schools today offer students the ability to attend on a year-round basis. Attending school year-round would enable students to retain information between shorter vacation periods. Additionally, vacations would be spread throughout the year allowing for families to plan time away during off-peak weeks. Students and teachers would also benefit from building changes, such as air conditioning, which would enhance learning not only in the summer, but also during late spring and early fall. Implementing a year-round calendar with evenly distributed vacations will allow for a continuum of instruction and increased student learning.
Body Paragraph One
Use one of the brief examples stated in the introduction and make it into a topic sentence. The remainder of the paragraph should be your explanation of how this statement directly supports the thesis statement.
Example:
Having a two to three week evenly spaced throughout the year rather than the long summer two and a half month vacation would help students retain what they have learned. Often in the fall, teachers must spend much time reviewing what students learned the previous year. Once students' memories are jogged and they are again familiar with information they already learned, they can move on to new topics. It is necessary to build on learning, making the sometimes month long review necessary. If vacations were shorter but more frequent, students would more readily recall past lessons thereby freeing up valuable time to learn new information. Year-round school would ultimately provide for a greater amount of knowledge to be acquired over a shorter period of time.
Concluding Paragraph
Restate the thesis statement
Briefly state the most important fact of your body paragraphs. (3-4) sentences
Conclude with a strong statement of fact or opinion.
Example:
Student learning as seen through test scores would sharply increase if vacations were more frequently and evenly distributed throughout the school year. Material that is learned previously would be easier for students to recall and allow for immediate transfer to new learning opportunities. The physical environment within the school would be conducive to learning during the whole year, not just the cooler months. Families could bond more often during the frequent off periods and actually enhance the learning experience by being able to mix educational trips with pleasure. Taking the courageous step toward a year-round school calendar would be a wise, beneficial, and forward step needed to keep our communities and country competitive within our every shrinking world.
Grading Rubric
1.. Ten facts have been located and restated in your
own words. (30 points) ________
2. One to two well-written paragraphs incorporate
your facts to make a logical, easy-to-read summary.
(50 points) ________
3. Each fact is numbered or highlighted within the
body of your summary. (10 points) ________
4. Work is neat and easy to read. (10 points) ________
TOTAL (100 points) ________