Essay 1
Analyzing Human Character
Document REQUIREMENTS:
3-4 pages, double-spaced
PLUS, a complete works cited list, formatted by MLA specifications
Source REQUIREMENTS:
Your essay must include direct quotations from and commentary regarding TWO OF THE THREE sources we used in this unit:
Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night
Ibtisam Barakat’s memoir Tasting the Sky
Frank Marshall’s film Alive
Please DO NOT read internet commentaries or analyses of these sources beyond what I have given you.
This analysis should represent your own ideas based on your reading and viewing of these course materials
Do not use any other sources beyond our course texts.
THE ASSIGNMENT CONTEXT:
In his memoir, Elie Wiesel asserts that rather than being run by the Gestapo or the Hungarian police the Sighet ghetto was in fact “ruled by delusion” (12). In this statement, Wiesel demonstrates a powerful truth about the experience of being human. As they face tragedy and triumph, humans respond in a variety of ways that enable them to cope physically, psychologically, and emotionally with the world they encounter. Carlitos, survivor of a famous plane crash in the Andes mountains and narrator of the film Alive, echoes a similar sentiment. “Many people come up to me,” Carlitos says, and “say that had they been there they surely would have died. But that makes no sense,” he continues, “because until you are in a situation like that, you have no idea how you’ll behave.”
When we read about difficult human experiences, we ask ourselves important questions:
How do humans cope with tragedy and trauma?
Do certain human characteristics enable survival?
Do people act differently than usual in stressful situations?
Which humans are capable of inflicting pain on others?
Can those who show compassion also commit horrific acts?
As a society, we grapple with these questions for many reasons. At their core, they help us understand what it means to be human and they encourage us to think carefully when we judge our own character and that of others in our own time or throughout history.
THE ASSIGNMENT PROMPT:
These unit’s texts speak to us about human psychology in the face of extreme hardship. The characters we encounter in these texts face physical pain and death, emotional neglect, loss of dignity, and loss of relationships. They also discover goodness, faith, camaraderie, and other beneficial aspects of the human community and experience.
Write a well-organized, college-level essay that presents a clear thesis related to the following question and supports that thesis with textual evidence from our course texts:
What can we learn from these texts about human character and the forces that drive human behavior?
GRADING RUBRIC:
Your essay will be graded on the following criteria:
Your fulfillment of basic requirements, including number of sources, essay length, and citation formats.
The quality and complexity of your thesis and analysis, including the ratio of summary to larger commentary and interpretation.
The strength of your topic sentences and your use of textual evidence, including your integration and citation of that quoted or referenced material.
The clarity of your writing, including proper use of grammar, sentence structure, and college-level vocabulary.
PLAGIARISM CONCERNS:
Remember that ALL IDEAS presented in the essay must be your own, original ideas.
You are NOT to include reference to material beyond the course texts required for this essay.
Further, you are NOT to “research” ideas, summaries, or analyses of these sources while writing your essay.
If you include any ideas or wording taken from texts other than the three from this unit, include any quotations given without clear attributions or citations, or include any material generated by AI sites such as ChatGPT or Grammarly, you will receive a “zero” on this assignment.
