Daniel Fuchs, Alice Votrain, Jessica Castellanos

Honors English II 6th Hour

February 8, 2012

Proposal

We suggest that it become mandatory to read the novel Night by Elie Wiesel to graduate from Affton High School. This book would educate the youth of our society about genocide and its effects.

Genocide is an important part of our shared world history and has influenced our lives in many ways, although most of us don’t know much about it. Genocide is defined as “the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group”. Numerous genocides have been committed in the course of world history, although the most commonly known is the attempted extermination of the Jewish people during the 1940’s, commonly known as the Holocaust. Genocide still affects us today, as genocide is currently occurring in numerous countries such as Iraq, the Congo, Sudan,

Bosnia, and Burundi. The continuing influence of genocide means that it is imperative for today’s youth to learn about genocide and work to prevent it.

In his book Night, Elie Wiesel talks of the atrocities he saw committed by the

Nazis during his eleven month ordeal in a concentration camp. Wiesel went through unimaginable pain, having to deal with hunger, the elements, beatings, and the loss of his family at the young age of fifteen.

Reading Night would bring students a new perspective on genocide, the side they don’t get to read about in history books. Reading Night would give students an idea of the emotional toll taken on the victims of the Holocaust as well as factual information. Students learn about the events of the Holocaust in history class but they don’t delve into the psychological and emotional harm that was inflicted on its victims. By reading a memoir as opposed to just learning about the Holocaust as they have before, students will be able to experience with the writer the horrors of the Holocaust, leaving them more aware of genocide and more likely to work to prevent it. Students at other high schools who have read this book claim that it deeply affected them. “This book hit me very hard,” says high school student Ryan Egan from New York. “I try to think what it must have been like to hear that and see the crematory, but it would have been too much.”(iEArn.

Students Respond to Wiesel’s Night. iEARN, June. 1995. Web. 8 Feb. 2012.)

Another reason reading Night is an effective way to bring genocide awareness to students is that Night, as a memoir, is non-fiction and therefore is more likely to be taken seriously than a fiction novel. Non-fiction affects the emotions of readers more than fiction does because it is true, and therefore the sadness of the story is unavoidable. The reader is experiencing something that actually happened, making it hit home more emotionally.

If the young people of our world aren’t educated about the horrors of genocide, history might repeat itself. It is imperative that the youth of today are educated about the physical, emotional, and social effects of genocide so that they can prevent it in the future.