English 9 Mr. Rinka - Lesson #57 Expository Essay and Biography of Elie Wiesel.

English 9Mr. Rinka - Lesson #57

Expository Essay andBiography of Elie Wiesel

Expository Essay

Explains and/or evaluates an idea and the evidence behind it or reports objectively about a situation or event.

Presents information or explains something difficult to understand.

Expository Essay

Thesis Statement:Martin Luther King, Jr. lived and died for peace, justice, and equality.

To completely understand autism, one must know what causes the condition, what are its effects on a child, and what is the treatment for it.

Expository Essay Assignment

Choose an event in history and write an expository essay that explains the causes of the event, the event itself, and the results of that event.

The 5 Paragraph Essay

Introductory Paragraph1st Body Paragraph2nd Body Paragraph3rd Body ParagraphConcluding Paragraph

The Writing Process

Step #1 = PrewriteStep #2 = Rough DraftStep #3 = Reread & ShareStep #4 = ReviseStep #5 = EditStep #6 = Final Draft

Expository Essay

In order to appreciate the Apollo Program’s significance, one needs to understand the reasons behind the program, the process that ended with humans walking on the moon, and the effects this has had on history.

Step #1 = Prewrite Outline

I. Introductory Paragraph A. Hook

B. Information C. Thesis Statement


II. 1st Body Paragraphs A. Main Idea – Topic sentenceB. Supporting detail

1. Supporting Detail #12. Supporting detail #23. Supporting Detail #3

C. Closing – Closing Sentence


III. 2nd Body Paragraphs A. Main Idea – Topic sentenceB. Supporting detail




IV. 3rd Body Paragraphs A. Main Idea – Topic sentenceB. Supporting detail




V. Concluding ParagraphA. Restate thesis StatementB. Summarize your pointsC. Strong Concluding Sentence


I. Introductory Paragraph A. “That's one small step for man;

one giant leap for mankind.”B. Information 1. Buzz Aldrin – July 20, 1969

2. Climax of the Apollo program3. May 25, 1961 - December 14, 1972

C. …Apollo Program’s significance, …the reasons behind the program, the

process that ended with a humans walking on the moon, and the effects this has had on history.


II. 1st Body Paragraph A. Two reasons for starting this

programB. Supporting detail

1. Cold War – USA v USSR2. Soviet Yuri Gagarin’s orbital

flight 3. The Missile GapC. With unified purpose and

incredible resources the program would produce amazing results at a cost.


III. 2nd Body Paragraph

A. Apollo Program was the entirety of NASA’s 1960’s efforts in space flight.

B. Supporting detail 1. Project Mercury.2. Project Gemini3.Apollo Project

C. The intensive effort responding to JFK’s call led to one of man’s greatest feats.


IV. 3rd Body Paragraph

A. Apollo Program lead to many of man’s advancements.

B. Supporting detail 1. Technological Advances.2. Medical Advances3.Consumer Advances

C. All areas of life benefited from the space program.


V. Concluding Paragraph

A. …the reasons behind the program, the process, and the effects.

B. Two reasons for starting this program,

3 separate projects, and advances in in technology, medicine and consumer goods.

C. “..one giant leap for mankind.”

A Giant Leap for Mankind

“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” With these words, Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969 marking the climax of an eight year commitment by the United States to land a man on the moon. This historic achievement by the crew of Apollo 11 was the first of six lunar visits American Astronauts would make. The significance of the Apollo Program’s achievements can best be appreciated by studying the reasons behind

the program, the projects involved in this achievement and the effects it has had on our world. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy stated, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." This monumental challenge issued as the “Cold War” heated up was the response to two major world events. Just a month earlier on July 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had completed a 108 minute orbit of

Earth. President Kennedy felt that the US needed to exceed the advances of the Soviet Union. In addition, the perception existed that there was a “missile gap” between the Soviets and the Americans, and a strong space program would greatly enhance the missile force of the United States. Kennedy’s challenge issued in a remarkable 11 years of space exploration. The Apollo flights were in the final stage of this national effort to place a man on the moon. The initial phase, Project Mercury, launched astronaut Alan Shepard into fame as the

first American in space. Less than a year later in February of 1962, Project Mercury succeeded in placing John Glenn into an Earth orbit and safely returning him. Following Mercury, Project Gemini produced ten flights that taught astronauts the many procedures a manned flight to the moon would demand. Gemini’s highlight was a spacewalk by Edward White on June 3, 1965. With the moon as its goal, NASA was ready for the final stage of the Apollo Program, Project Apollo. Consisting of 12

missions, Project Apollo conducted six manned trips to the moon. This, however, came at a heavy cost when three astronauts tragically died during an Apollo 1 pre-launch test. Yet, the Apollo Program perservered until December 14, 1972, when Apollo 17 sent the last manned mission to the moon; no one has visited since. However even today we benefit from so much the Apollo Program produced.

The technological, medical and consumer products fields are just three of the many areas of modern life that have prospered because of

the Apollo Program. So much of what we take for granted today comes from this magnificent endeavor. Computer software and hardware, design graphics, virtual reality, advanced communications, aircraft controls and laser surveying are just a few of the technological advancements coming from the Apollo Program. Medical advances such as ultrasound scanners, portable x-ray devices, programmable pacemakers, MRI, laser angioplasty and the automatic insulin pump are just a few of the many inventions medicine

obtained from NASA. Even consumers have benefited from the exploration of space. Enriched baby food, water purification systems, scratch resistant lenses, smoke detectors, food packaging, high performance sportswear, athletic shoes, and flat panel televisions are everyday products that Apollo helped create for us. The list of recipients of discoveries and inventions coming out of the 60’s space program also includes industry, public safety, research, transportation, and the military. Aside from its historic achievements, the Apollo Program has influenced every aspect of our modern life.

By studying the reasons behind the Apollo Program, the process involved in achieving its goals and the effects it has had on our world, people can appreciate the incredible success of this eleven year program. From the “space race” of the cold War to the dangerous and nearly miraculous accomplishments of the brave astronauts and ending with an entire new world of technologies and advancements, the Apollo Program has impacted everyone’ lives. The Apollo Program was truly a “giant leap for mankind.”

Internet Referenceshttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.step.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html

http://www.uah.edu/colleges/liberal/education/S1998/jem.html#KENNEDY'S ASPIRATIONS

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/NASA/Tech2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level1/gagarin.html

http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.step.html



http://www.uah.edu/colleges/liberal/education/S1998/jem.html#KENNEDY'S%20ASPIRATIONS











The Writing Process


Biography

A true account of a person’s life written by someone other than that person.

Why a Biography?

We learn from other people’s lives.

They are interesting, inspiring, informative.

Biographies are objective, full disclosure.

They are a public record of achievement.

Elie Wieselhttp://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/eliewiesel.aspx

http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/eliewiesel.aspx

Elie Wiesel by Shira Schoenberg

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Wiesel.html

Elie (Eliezer) Wiesel is a novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize winner. He was born an Orthodox Jew in Rumania, survived the concentration camps and wrote about his experiences. He became a spokesman for survivors and dedicated his life to recording the horrors of the Holocaust and helping victims of oppression and racism.


Wiesel was born in Sighet, a Rumanian shtetl, on September 30, 1928. His parents, Shlomo and Sarah, were Orthodox Jews who owned a grocery store. He had two older sisters, Hilda and Bea, and a younger sister, Tsiporah. When he was three years old, Wiesel began attending a Jewish school where he learned Hebrew, Bible, and eventually Talmud. His thinking was influenced by his maternal grandfather who was a prominent Hasid. He also spent time talking with Moshe, a caretaker in his synagogue who told Wiesel


about the Messiah and other mysteries of Judaism. In 1940, the Nazis turned Sighet over to Hungary. In 1942, the Hungarian government ruled that all Jews who could not prove Hungarian citizenship would be transferred to Nazi-held Poland and murdered. The only person from Sighet who was sent to Poland and escaped was Moshe, who returned to Sighet to tell his story. He told of deportations and murder, but the people thought he was crazy and life went on as usual. In 1942,


Wiesel celebrated his bar mitzvah. He continued studying the Bible and other Jewish books, and became particularly attracted to Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. To further this study, he learned about astrology, parapsychology, hypnotism and magic. He found a kabbalist in Sighet to teach him. In March 1944, German soldiers occupied Sighet. They forced the Jews to wear yellow stars. The Nazis closed Jewish stores, raided their houses and created two ghettos. In


May, deportations began. The Wiesel’s Christian maid, Maria, invited them to hide in her hut in the mountains, but they turned her down, preferring to stay with the Jewish community. In early June, the Wiesels were among the last Jews to be loaded into a cattle car, with eighty people in one car. Wiesel later wrote, "Life in the cattle cars was the death of my adolescence."1

After four days, the train stopped at Auschwitz. Wiesel, then 15, followed the instructions of a fellow prisoner and told the


waiting SS officer that he was eighteen, a farmer and in good health. He and his father were sent to be slave laborers. His mother and younger sister were taken to the gas chambers. Wiesel and his father survived first Auschwitz and then the Buna labor camp for eight months, enduring beatings, hunger, roll calls and other torture. Wiesel witnessed hangings and once, a "trial" by three religious rabbis against God. Yet he still prayed every day. Like other inmates, Wiesel was stripped of his identity and


became identified only by his number: A-7713. In the winter of 1944-1945, Wiesel’s right knee swelled up. He went to a camp doctor who operated on him. Two days later, on January 19, the SS forced the inmates of Buna on a death march. For ten days, the prisoners were forced to run and, at the end, were crammed into freight cars and sent to Buchenwald. Of the 20,000 prisoners who left Buna, 6,000 reached Buchenwald. Upon arrival on June 29, Wiesel’s father, Shlomo,


died of dysentery, starvation and exhaustion. Wiesel was sent to join 600 children in Block 66 of Buchenwald. As the end of the war approached, on April 6, 1945, the guards told the prisoners they would no longer be fed, and began evacuating the camp, killing 10,000 prisoners a day. On the morning of April 11, an underground movement rose from within the camp and attacked the SS guards. In early evening, the first American military units arrived and liberated the camp.


After liberation, Wiesel became sick with intestinal problems and spent several days in a hospital. While hospitalized, he wrote the outline for a book describing his experiences during the Holocaust. He was not ready to publicize his experiences, however, and promised himself to wait 10 years before writing them down in detail. When Wiesel was released from the hospital, he had no family to return to. He joined a group of 400 orphan children being taken to France. Upon arrival, he tried to


immigrate to Palestine but was not allowed. From 1945 to 1947, he was in different homes in France found for him by a Jewish group called the Children’s Rescue Society. He remained an Orthodox Jew in practice, but began to have questions about God. In 1947, he began to study French with a tutor. By chance, Wiesel’s sister, Hilda, saw his picture in a newspaper and got in touch with him. Months later, Wiesel was also reunited with his sister Bea in Antwerp. In France, Wiesel met a Jewish scholar


who gave his name simply as Shushani. Shushani was a brilliant yet mysterious man who enchanted his audience with his insights in all areas of Jewish and general knowledge, but did not reveal any information about his personal life. Wiesel became his student and was deeply influenced by him. Shushani taught Wiesel to question and made Wiesel realize how little he actually knew. In 1948, Wiesel enrolled in the Sorbonne University where he studied literature,


philosophy and psychology. He was extremely poor and at times became depressed to the point of considering suicide. In time, however, he became involved with the Irgun, a Jewish militant organization in Palestine, and translated materials from Hebrew to Yiddish for the Irgun’s newspaper. He began working as a reporter and in 1949, traveled to Israel as a correspondent for the French paper L’Arche. In Israel, he secured a job as Paris correspondent for the Israeli paper


Yediot Achronot and in the 1950s he traveled around the world as a reporter. He also became involved in the controversy over whether Israel should accept reparation payments from West Germany. A turning point in Wiesel’s life came in 1954 when Wiesel interviewed the Catholic writer Fancois Mauriac. During the interview, everything Mauriac said seemed to relate to Jesus. Finally, Wiesel burst out that while Christians love to talk about the suffering of Jesus, "…ten years ago, not


very far from here, I knew Jewish children every one of whom suffered a thousand times more, six million times more, than Christ on the cross. And we don’t speak about them."2 Wiesel ran from the room, but Mauriac followed him, asked Wiesel about his experiences and advised him to write them down. Wiesel then spent a year drawing on the outline he had written in the hospital to write an 862-page Yiddish manuscript he called And the World Was Silent. He gave it


to a publisher in Argentina and it came back as a 245-page book called Night. The book, published in France in 1958 and in the U.S. in 1960, was autobiographical and told of his experiences from his youth in Sighet through his liberation from Buchenwald. It is also a personal account of his loss of religious faith. In 1955, Wiesel moved to New York as foreign correspondent for Yediot Ahronot. It was around this time that he decided to stop attending synagogue, except on the High Holidays and to say yizkor, as a protest


against what he concluded was divine injustice. One night in July 1956, Wiesel was crossing a New York street when a taxi hit him. He underwent a 10-hour operation. Once he recovered, he began to concentrate more on his writing. He dedicated four hours every morning, from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. to writing. After Night was published, he wrote a second novel in 1961, Dawn, about a concentration camp survivor. In quick succession he wrote The Accident (1961),


about a survivor hurt in a traffic accident, The Town Beyond the Wall (1962), The Gates of the Forest (1964), and Legends of Our Time (1966), all novels chronicling Jewish suffering during and after the Holocaust. In 1965, he visited the Soviet Union and wrote a book entitled The Jews of Silence (1966) about the plight of Soviet Jewry. After the 1967 war in Israel, he wrote A Begger in Jerusalem (1968) about Jews responding to the reunification of Jerusalem. This book earned him the Prix Medicis, one of France’s top literary rewards. In


these books, he portrays characters in situations that are exclusively Jewish. He perceives reality through the lens of Talmud, Kabbalah, and Hasidism. His books “mingle tales and legends with testimony, recollection and lament.”3

In 1969, Wiesel married Marion Erster Rose, a divorced woman from Austria. She translated all of Wiesel’s subsequent books. In 1972, they had a son who they named Shlomo Elisha Wiesel, after Wiesel’s father. Wiesel continued writing through the 1970s and 1980s. His book The Trial of God (1977)


depicts a trial in which a man accuses God of "hostility, cruelty and indifference."4 Wiesel, throughout his life, refused to completely abandon his belief in God as caretaker of His people, while at the same time he questioned God’s seeming indifference to Jewish suffering. His cantata Ani Maamin (1973) presents a dialogue between the Jewish forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who have the responsibility of directing God’s attention to Israel’s suffering throughout the generations. Other books


include One Generation After (1972), Four Hasidic Masters (1978), The Testament (1980) and two volumes of his memoirs (1995 and 1999). Wiesel was outspoken about the suffering of all people, not only Jews. In the 1970s, he protested against South African apartheid. In 1980, he delivered food to starving Cambodians. In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize as “a messenger to mankind,”5 and “a human being dedicated to humanity.”6 He explained his actions by


saying the whole world knew what was happening in the concentration camps, but did nothing. “That is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.”7

From 1972 to 1978, Wiesel was a Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City University of New York. In 1978, he became a Professor of Humanities at Boston University. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter asked him to head the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, which he did for six years.


In 1985, Wiesel was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement. In 1988, he established his own humanitarian foundation, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, to explore the problems of hatred and ethnic conflicts. In the early 1990s, he lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of victims of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Wiesel has received numerous awards and approximately 75 honorary doctorates. In 1993, Wiesel spoke at the dedication of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in


Washington, D.C. His words, which echo his life’s work, are carved in stone at the entrance to the museum: “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”8

Notes1Aikman, p. 326.2Aikman, p. 342.3Encyclopedia Judaica.4Cohn-Sherbok, p.128.5Pariser, p. 40.


6Aikman, p. 354.7Pariser, p. 40.8Pariser, p. 43.

SourcesAikman, David. Great Souls. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998.Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. Fifty Key Jewish Thinkers. New York: Routledge, 1997.Encyclopedia Judaica. "Wiesel, Elie". CD-ROM Edition, Judaica Multimedia (Israel) Ltd.


Pariser, Michael. Elie Wiesel. Brookfield: The

Millbrook Press, 1994.Wiesel, Elie. All Rivers Run to the Sea:

Memoirs. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.The World Book Encyclopedia. "Wiesel, Elie". Vol. 21, 1988 Edition.

Elie Wieselhttp://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/eliewiesel.aspx

The 5 Paragraph Essay

Introductory Paragraph1st Body Paragraph2nd Body Paragraph3rd Body ParagraphConcluding Paragraph

The Writing Process


English 9 Mr. Rinka - Lesson #57 Expository Essay and Biography of Elie Wiesel.

Documents

Transcript of English 9 Mr. Rinka - Lesson #57 Expository Essay and Biography of Elie Wiesel.