Night by Elie Weisel Book Analysis

Night Analysis Elie Wiesel’s use of language and structure emphasizes the meaning and tone of the selection. Closely examine the memoir and your annotations to find examples of these features of language and structure. Fill in the chart below, providing the definition of the device, 2-3 examples from the text complete with page number references, and the effect of each example on the context in which it is used and the work as a whole.Literary or Stylistic Device| Definition of Device| 3-4 Examples from the Text| Effect of Each Example | Anaphora| The repetition of a word or short phrase at the beginning of a sentence or sentences| 1)†Never shall I forget that night†¦Never shall I forget that smoke†¦Never shall I forget the small faces of the children†¦Never shall I forget those flames†¦Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence†¦Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God†¦Never shall I forget those things†¦Never. † ( Wiesel 34)2)†Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!..Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire!.. Fire! I see a fire!.. Look at the fire! Look at the flames!.. Look at the fire! Look at the flames!.. Jews, look! Look at the fire! Look at the flames! † (Wiesel 24-28)3)†Blessed be the Almighty†¦Blessed be God’s name†¦Blessed be God’s name†¦Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Wiesel 67)| 1) The effect of this example is that it shows how Wiesel will never forget anything that happened his first night in camp.Elie Wiesel says he won’t ever forget the smoke, nor the children he saw walk right into death. He won’t forget his lost faith, his silence, or the events that killed his God, his soul, and his dreams. Wiesel will never forget any of those, as long as he lives. Wiesel states, â€Å"Never shall I forget those things, even if I were conde mned to live as long as God Himself. Never. † No matter Wiesel does, or doesn’t do, we will always remember his first night in Birkenau. 2)The effect of this example is that it shows that Mrs.Schachter sees something continuously, but no one else on the cattle car sees it. The fact that she sees these flames and fire before they even arrive in Birkenau symbolizes their fate and death. Some people’s fate on the cattle car was to live and make it through some concentration camps. Others were destined to die in the crematorium with hundreds of others. Mrs. Schachter’s sanity was withering, and she began to hallucinate, even though she was telling the truth. 3)The ffect of this example is that it shows that through all the heartache and trials, the Jews have not lost complete faith. Them saying â€Å"Blessed be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  over and over again represents that they want God to help get them out of the trouble they have been placed in. | Diction| Word choice| 1)†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦A royal feast going to waste!.. A man appeared, crawling snakelike in the direction of the cauldrons. † (Wiesel 59)2)†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar? † (Wiesel 67)3)’†Here, take this knife,† he said. â€Å"I won’t need it anymore†¦ Also take this spoon. Me inheritance†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Wiesel 75)| 1)The effect of this example is that it shows how rough their months and years have been in the concentration camps, so that when the Jews see 2 cauldrons of soup their minds go spinning. They realize that is the most food they have seen at one time. If the Holocaust had never happened, these Jews wouldn’t appreciate the food they had as much as they did when they came to the camps. The snakelike part enhances the actions of the old man and how secretive he was trying to be so no one would notice him.The way Wiesel uses the words make the actions of the Jews and th e man much more important than what they seem. 2) The effect of this example is that it shows how Elie Wiesel is questioning why he should praise God, if God was the one who left all his people alone to be killed with no purpose. Wiesel uses this question to demonstrate his lost faith and his need to question everything he has learned about God. 3) The effect of this example is that it shows how any typical person would be glad to get their inheritance (money, a car, etc. ).But the fact that all Wiesel’s family had left were a knife and silver spoon, shows how much the SS took from them. Wiesel didn’t even want to take his inheritance because that would have also meant letting go of the last family member he had with him. | Foreshadowing| A hint of what is going to happen| 1)†Mother was stroking my sister’s blond hair, as if to protect her. And I walked on with my father, with the men. I didn’t know that this was the moment in time and the place whe re I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever. I kept walking, my father holding my hand. (Wiesel 29)2)†Just you wait, kid†¦You will see what it costs to leave your work†¦You’ll pay for this later†¦And now go back to your place†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wiesel 57)3)†Suddenly, the gate opened, and Stern, a former shopkeeper who now was a policeman, entered and took my father aside. Despite the growing darkness, I could see my father turn pale. † (Wiesel 12)| 1)The effect of this example is that it shows how naive and innocent Elie Wiesel was because he didn’t even realize he would never see his sister and mother again. Once he lost sight of them, he would never see nor hear from them again.The SS took so much away from Wiesel and the other Jews that they were too gullible to realize what was going on, and by then, it was too late. 2)The effect of this example is that it shows that because Elie was snooping around and not following the orders he wa s given, he was caught peaking on Idek and a Polish girl and will now â€Å"pay for this†. So now we, the readers, must wait to find out what unknown punishment Wiesel will receive. 3)The effect of this example is that is shows that because father got pale, the Jews began to know something bad was going to happen. Imagery| The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas| 1)†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦They were forced to dig huge trenches. When they had finished their work, the men from the Gestapo began theirs. Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks. Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for their machine guns. This took place in the Galician forest, near Kolomay†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wiesel 6)2)†In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. It must have been around midnight. We had arrived.In Birkenau. â€Å" (Wiesel 28)3)†Not f ar from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes†¦children thrown into flames. (Is it any wonder that ever since, then sleep tends to elude me? )† (Wiesel 32)| 1)The effect of this example is that it we, the readers, can visualize what the Jews were doing as they dug their own graves without even knowing it. Those Jewish people had to dig the trenches, and then were shot without a word of prayer said over them. )The effect of this example is that as Wiesel is stepping off the cattle car and taking all this in, it is almost as if we are there with him. You can visualize the smell of burning bodies, and you can see the smoke and flames from the crematorium. This quote takes us to Birkenau and makes us imagine what Elie really saw. 3)The effect of this example is that we can almost see the flames, the ditch, and the babies being dumped into them and burned alive. This quote is so vivid and real that it’s almost like a dream, except for the fact that Elie Wiesel experienced it. Parallel Structure| The author maintains the same structure in the sentence| 1)†Never shall I forget†¦ Never shall I forget†¦ Never shall I forget†¦Never. † (Wiesel 34)2) â€Å"They passed me by, one after the other, my teachers, my friends, the others, some of whom I had once feared, some of whom I had found ridiculous, all of those whose lives I had shared for years. There they went, defeated, their bundles, their lives in tow, having left behind their childhood. They passed me by like beaten dogs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wiesel 17)3)†He is very weak†¦ The weak don’t last very long around here†¦so weak. (Wiesel 45)| 1)The effect of this example is that Elie Wiesel is showing he won’t ever forget and when repeats it over and over, not just to let himself know that, but to let the readers know how significant that night was and how it will and has affected the rest of his life. 2)The effect of this example is that Wiesel is mentioning all the people who had lived in his community, wise or unwise, known or unheard of, they lived with him. And as they walk the streets, their heads are low, and they went by, defeated by the Germans. 3)The effect of this example emphasizes how weak Elie is, and how hard it is to stay healthy in their situation.Weak also shows how cruel the SS are to the Jews because if they weren’t so cruel to them, many of the Jews that were still living, would be strong and healthier than they were. | Polysyndeton| Repetition of a specific conjunction| 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Rhetorical Question| A question that is asked, but not meant to be answered| 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Symbolism| | 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Personification| | 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Metaphor| | 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Sentence Variety (Syntax)| | 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Irony| | 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)| Understatement| | 1)2)3)| 1)2)3)|