Literary Analysis Night Essay Example

Literary Analysis Night Essay Example Literary Analysis Night Essay Literary Analysis Night Essay Essay Topic: Survival in Auschwitz â€Å"Right next to us the high chimney of the crematory oven rose up. It no longer made any impression on us. It scarcely attracted our attention.†(Pg.109) A fifteen year old boy named Elie Wiesel and his family were taken from their home by German officers. They were being taken along with other Jews to concentration camps or most likely their death and they didnt even know it. Night describes Elies life at the concentration camp and symbolizes darkness. He writes about how his mother and sister were taken from him, his beatings, how he and his dad’s relationship got better, and how he survived all those years. Elie is brave, caring, scared and a survivor throughout the book. Location: Auschwitz: â€Å" God is testing us. He wants us to find out whether we can dominate our base instincts and kill satan within us. We have no right to despair. And if he punishes us relentlessly,its a sign that he loves us all the more.†(Pg.53) The setting changed often being movedfrom camp to camp. The more cruelty made Elie lose faith in God. Each time the Jews were taken somewhere new they changed personality. It was each man for himself. Sons killing their fathers for a piece of bread. â€Å"Meir, meir, my boy dont you recognize me? I’m your father you’re hurting me you’re killing your father! I’ve got some bread.. for you too for you too†(Pg.105) Sons were abandoning their fathers for their own survival.Elie prayed that he never did that to his father. The Jews went days without food and would just about anything for it. â€Å"Wild beasts of prey, with animal hatred in their eyes; an extraordinary vitality had seized them, sha rpening their teeth and nails.†(Pg.105) Elie no longer had faith in God, he asked why this was happening and how God could let it happen. â€Å"And, in spite of myself, a prayer rose in my heart, to that God in whom I no longer believed. My God, Lord of the universe, give me strength to never do what Rabbi Eliahou

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman - Summary and Review

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman - Summary and Review Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a weird and delightfully scary fairy tale/ghost story. I call it delightfully scary because while it grips the readers attention with creepy happenings that may cause a case of the shivers, it is not the kind of scary book that leads to nightmares of the it could happen to me kind. The story revolves around the very strange experiences Coraline has when she and her parents move into an apartment in an old house. Coraline must save herself and her parents from the evil forces that threaten them. Coraline by Neil Gaiman is recommended for ages 8-12. The Story of Coraline The idea behind Coraline can be found in the quotation by C.K. Chesterton that precedes the beginning of the story: Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten. This short novel tells the amazing, and creepy, tale of what happens when a girl named Coraline and her parents move into an apartment on the second floor of a very old house. Two elderly retired actresses live on the ground floor and an old, and quite strange, man who says he is training a mouse circus, lives in the flat above Coralines family. Coralines parents are frequently distracted and dont pay a lot of attention to her, the neighbors keep pronouncing her name incorrectly, and Coraline is bored. In the course of exploring the house, Coraline discovers a door that opens onto a brick wall. Her mother explains that when the house was divided into apartments, the doorway was bricked up between their apartment and the empty flat on the other side of the house, the one thats still for sale. Strange sounds, shadowy creatures in the night, cryptic warnings from her neighbors, a scary reading of tea leaves and the gift of a stone with a hole in it because its good for bad things, sometimes, are all rather unsettling. However, its when Coraline opens the door to the brick wall, finds the wall gone, and walks into the supposedly empty apartment that things get really strange and frightening. The apartment is furnished. Living in it is a woman who sounds much like Carlines mother and introduces herself as Coralines other mother and Coralines other father. Both have button eyes, big and black and shiny. While initially enjoying the good food and attention, Coraline finds more and more to worry her. Her other mother insists they want her to stay forever, her real parents disappear, and Coraline quickly realizes that it will be up to her to save herself and her real parents. The story of how she copes with her other mother and the strange versions of her real neighbors, how she helps and gets helped by three young ghosts and a talking cat, and how she frees herself and rescues her real parents by being brave and resourceful is dramatic and exciting. While the pen and ink illustrations by Dave McKean are appropriately creepy, they are not really necessary. Neil Gaiman does a superb job of painting pictures with words, making it easy for readers to visualize each scene. Neil Gaiman In 2009, author Neil Gaiman won the John Newbery Medal for excellence in young peoples literature for his middle-grade fantasy novel The Graveyard Book. Our Recommendation We recommend Coraline for 8 to 12-year-olds. Although the main character is a girl, this tale will appeal to both boys and girls who enjoy weird and scary (but not too scary) tales. Because of all of the dramatic happenings, Coraline is also a good read-aloud for 8- to 12-year-olds. Even if your child is not frightened by the book, the movie version may be a different story.