Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Throughout the narrative, Wiesel grapples with Religion and the Loss of Faith.

• Describe Wiesel’s relationship with religion at the beginning of the memoir. (topic sentence)
• What is the turning point for Wiesel and his relationship to God? Cite specific events from the memoir that lead to this turning point.
• At the end of the memoir, how does Wiesel feel about his religion? Is this different from how he feels about God? If so, why? Summarize these points in your concluding sentences.

2. Wiesel describes in vivid detail the Dehumanization that the Jewish community experienced at the hands of the Nazis.

• Why did the Nazis want to dehumanize Jewish people? How did this dehumanization serve their purposes? (topic sentence)
• Describe three examples of the techniques that the Nazis used to dehumanize the people in concentration camps.