English 1

Mrs. Milligan Name ________________________________

Nonfiction Independent Reading Check #3 Memoir: Passage Analysis

Directions: Write in COMPLETE SENTENCES using PROPER GRAMMAR. For the first
journal, read the passage and complete the analysis of the passage. For the 2nd journal, cite a
passage in MLA (be sure it is at least 3 complete sentences from the designated chapters), and
complete the analysis (at least 5 complete sentences). The analysis should discuss when the
passage occurs in the story, the importance of the passage at that point in the plot, any
literary/memoir devices used, and connect to a developing theme/message. Submit to BOTH
SCHOOLOGY and TURNITIN.COM.

Night: Chapters 6-9 (approximate pages 81-109)

Journal #1

Passage Analysis

When Elie is forced to March, he describes,
Death wrapped itself around me till I was
stifled. It stuck to me. I felt that I could
touch it. The idea of dying, of no longer
being, began to fascinate me. Not to exist any
longer. Not to feel the horrible pains in my
foot. Not to feel anything, neither weariness,
nor cold, nor anything. To break the ranks, to
let oneself slide to the edge of the road….
My father’s presence was the only thing
that stopped me…. (Wiesel 86)
This passage is important because it is when he
realizes that he is not afraid to die and the only
reason he is staying alive is to take care of his
father and keep him alive. Literary device that is
being used is repetition when he says “ Not to
exist…Not to feel the horrible… not to feel the
anything…” they are using repetition to draw
attention to how he feels. The theme or message
of the passage is that he is staying alive for
someone else. He would have given up by now if
it wasn’t for him trying to keep his father alive.

Journal #2

Passage Analysis

This passage is important because it is the death

of his father. It shows how he does no grieve
over his father death. It shows how he had been
so traumatized from the whole experience of
everything they had happened and keeping his
father alive that he had no tears left to cry. He
uses repetition when he says “No prayers… No
candles…” and the repetition of no emphasizes
that the death of his father wasn’t special
because multiple people died too. The theme of
this passage is to show how he didn’t feel very
much after his fathers death and it felt like every
other day. He is sad but he doesn’t feel the need
to cry because he is out of tears, but he wants to
feel something.