Final Essay - Extended Written Text
Describe at least one important technique used in the text.
Explain how the technique created an emotional response in you.
The Holocaust was a very despairing event in the world's history. Elie Wiesel's memoir is his record of his experiences during the Holocaust. He uses a range of techniques such as metaphor, repetition and a narrative factual style with short simple sentences. His writing had a huge emotional impact on me, making me feel annoyed, sad and mad. Wiesel's writing made me think that the way we can treat other people so brutally badly just because they were of different religion is absolutely imaginable.
One part that had an emotional response on me was when an old inmate told them,, "Poor Devils, you are heading for the crematorium." The technique used was a metaphor, used to describe people as devils. I felt annoyed because there were a lot of people getting hurt and killed. I think this was really cruel.
Another part that affected me was when he saw children and babies being killed. He writes, "Never shall I forget That Smoke..." Elie Wiesel repeats the words, 'Never shall I forget'. The repetition shows us that this experience has changed him and he will never forget seeing the children get thrown into the fire pit. This gave me a huge sense of sorrow because there were little babies and kids dying. This made me feel sad.
Another emotional part was when the SS officer was beating Elie's father. "The officer came closer and shouted to him to be silent. But my father did not hear. He continued to call me. The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head." Elie uses a narrative factual style with short simple sentences stating the facts of what he saw. This made me mad and if it ever happened to someone close or anyone that I know I would beat them up and then I would stab him.
The techniques Elie used were metaphor, repetition and narrative factual style with simple sentences. These techniques made me feel annoyed, sad and mad and all helped me understand how he had a hard life when he was a child. It makes me appreciate that none of that stuff has happened to me.
