“‘The Jews are undoubtably a race, but they are not human.’ Adolf Hitler.” (Spiegelman 10) In grade 10 Canadian History, one of the topics students cover is the Holocaust. In the 2015-2016 grade 10 challenge class at L.C.V.I. students studied both MAUS and Night. Both MAUS and Night show the stories of Holocaust survivors, however, the protagonist in MAUS becomes a Nazi prisoner earlier during World War Two than the protagonist in Night. Both of these books can be used to teach students about the Holocaust, however, they are different books in a variety of ways. Night, by Elie Wiesel is a more effective book for a teaching Grade 10 class about the Holocaust than MAUS by Art Spiegelman because of the uses of timelines, details, and emotional
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Night describes events in great detail, “When at last a grayish light appeared on the horizon, it revealed a tangle of human shapes, heads sunk deeply between the shoulders, crouching, piled one on top of the other, like a cemetery covered with snow.” (Wiesel 98) Imagining the horrible scenes Holocaust survivors witnessed is extremely hard. However, Night’s use of descriptive language helps readers picture some of the scenes Wiesel witnessed. When he describes the scene, he witnessed on the way to Buchenwald, it paints a clear picture of the widespread death facing the Jewish prisoners. For students to deeply understand the Holocaust as a whole it is important to understand the events that take place. Visualizing these events in the story can help readers remember details or draw conclusions, (Fries-Gaither) which is important when teaching students about the Holocaust. While MAUS uses photos to show details it does not create the same mental image that is seen in …show more content…
Night only follows one timeline, making it easier to understand and follow, whereas, MAUS uses two different timelines making the story harder to understand. Night uses descriptive language to help readers visualize the story, while MAUS does not. Night creates better emotional connections between the characters and the reader then MAUS. In future grade 10 classes Night should be used to teach students about the Holocaust over MAUS. If both are taught more time should be devoted to Night because it has more value in educating students about the
Night describes events in great detail, “When at last a grayish light appeared on the horizon, it revealed a tangle of human shapes, heads sunk deeply between the shoulders, crouching, piled one on top of the other, like a cemetery covered with snow.” (Wiesel 98) Imagining the horrible scenes Holocaust survivors witnessed is extremely hard. However, Night’s use of descriptive language helps readers picture some of the scenes Wiesel witnessed. When he describes the scene, he witnessed on the way to Buchenwald, it paints a clear picture of the widespread death facing the Jewish prisoners. For students to deeply understand the Holocaust as a whole it is important to understand the events that take place. Visualizing these events in the story can help readers remember details or draw conclusions, (Fries-Gaither) which is important when teaching students about the Holocaust. While MAUS uses photos to show details it does not create the same mental image that is seen in …show more content…
Night only follows one timeline, making it easier to understand and follow, whereas, MAUS uses two different timelines making the story harder to understand. Night uses descriptive language to help readers visualize the story, while MAUS does not. Night creates better emotional connections between the characters and the reader then MAUS. In future grade 10 classes Night should be used to teach students about the Holocaust over MAUS. If both are taught more time should be devoted to Night because it has more value in educating students about the