Analysis and Exploration

When we finished Chapter 2 of Night, I think this subject matter suddenly became very real for a lot of you. We shared some moments of silence after I and Mr. Hannah explained exactly what was happening in these concentration camps. As we discussed today, Elie and his family arrived in Birkenau, the extermination sub-camp of Auschwitz. Here are some pictures of Auschwitz:

This camp (including its sub-camps) was more than 5,000 football fields. That is incredibly huge space, a space for death. Today, Auschwitz remains the most renown concentration camp in the history of the world, both for its size and its operation. Up to 3 million people died here (2.5 million gassed, and 500,000 from disease and starvation). It is difficult for us to imagine, or even begin to comprehend that number, but with Elie's memoir, we can begin to. If we think about his journey and the millions of people's stories who were unlucky and were never told, his story starts to change us, to affect us on a much deeper level.

In Chapter 2, we learn that Mrs. Schachter wasn't crazy and she wasn't going mad when she saw fire and flames every night on the cattle car ride. She was actually having premonitions, visions of what their future would hold. Once they reached their destination (Birkenau), everyone could see the fire and the flames for themselves. The scent of burning flesh was in the air and no one could run from it or hold their noses. Without a moment's notice, Elie, his family, and the rest of the people in the cattle car were ordered to the front of the gate.

Here is a picture of the entrance. You can see the chimneys smoking in the background:

Like I said in class, as you read the next chapter for tomorrow, be prepared for some emotional scenes. These are the first few days that Elie and his family enter into the concentration camps and he sees the evil and the horror of what the Nazis became capable of. If you have any questions or problems, please email me or Mr. Hannah.

Whew. Okay, switching gears. As for your research paper, I cannot say AGAIN how imperative it is that you do this work and that you do it well. Mr. Hannah and I can only do so much to assist you, but if you don't do the work, we can't help you. With that being said, due THURSDAY are your MEAL organizers. Now that you've gotten some feedback from a partner about what you need to fix on your quotes, it is now time to start constructing your paragraphs. On your MEAL sheet, you should have something that looks like this:

M: (main idea)
E: (evidence)
A: (analysis)
L: (link back to the thesis)

For Thursday, you only need to be concerned about the E's and the A's. You need to copy each of your 3 quotes into the E sections. Then, I need you to revise your analysis (including both the summary and the analysis) according to your partner's corrections, and then put it in the A sections. Here's an example from the powerpoint that we went over to give you a better idea of just how thorough we want you to be:

An article on social networking states that, “In part, Formspring is just the latest place to hang out and exchange gossip, as teenagers have always done. But because of the anonymity, the banter is unvarnished,” (Lewin). Formspring is a new website that give teens a space to talk, mainly about other people. They can post comments without leaving their names which allows them to talk in very raw language.  It is sort of like the Jerry Springer effect where people can say all kinds of mean things about someone else without consequence.  The users of this site make comments, and the subject of their insults cannot respond.  They do not know who said it.  This can lead to bullying by a group of unnamed people.  The pressure can grow so intense that the a teen will choose suicide rather than fight these anonymous enemies.

Things to notice:
--introduces the quote, doesn't just stick it in there
--COMMA QUOTE PARANTHESIS PERIOD
--the summary is 2 sentences, explaining each sentence of the quote
--the analysis is 5 sentences, breaking down each part and making judgments about what the effect of social media in this instance is

For your MEAL organizers, we expect the very same. If you have any questions or feel as if your analysis isn't strong enough and you can't figure out why, STAY AFTER SCHOOL and I or Mr. Hannah will help you. Or, shoot us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible, but the best thing for all of you is to stay after school and get the extra help that a lot of you need. 

DEETS:
In-class:
--DEAR time--Finish reading Chapter 2 of Night together
--Analysis Model
--Analysis Peer Review

HW:
--Read up to pg. 47 in Night. Paragraph quiz tomorrow!
--MEAL organizers due Thursday.