Keep Memory Alive

Keep Memory Alive

​

Literary Analysis: Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing is nonfiction intended to convince people to take a particular action or agree with the author’s point of view. Persuasive writers present arguments, using reason to support their positions. They also use rhetorical devices, or patterns of words that create emphasis and stir emotion.

Literary Analysis: Persuasive Writing

Rhetorical devices include the following:

• Repetition—the reuse of a key word or idea for emphasis

• Parallelism—similar grammatical structures used to express related ideas

• Slogans and saws—short, catchy phrases

• Rhetorical questions—questions that are intended to have obvious answers and that are asked for effect

Open Ended

What sentence in Weisel’s speech sums up the point with which he wants his listeners to agree?

Open Ended

List a reasonable, persuasive element Wiesel uses to support his main point. Identify the type of argument or rhetorical device used.

Open Ended

Why is this message more powerful coming from Elie Wiesel than from someone else?

Open Ended

Why is it important to Wiesel to keep the memory of what happened to him and his people alive?

Reading: Test the Writer’s Logic to Evaluate Persuasive Appeals

When reading persuasive writing, evaluate the writer’s appeals to decide whether the writer makes a good case for his or her point of view. If a writer calls for a particular action or makes a specific claim, test the writer’s logic. To do this, consider whether the evidence and

reasoning the writer presents supports the point.

Reading: Test the Writer’s Logic to Evaluate Persuasive Appeals

For example, if a writer claims that fish make better pets than dogs, he or she needs to support this opinion with evidence and reasoning. A good supporting point might be that fish cannot dig up one’s yard. An illogical or poor argument might be that mice have a tendency to bite. This argument does not support the point that fish make better pets than dogs.

Open Ended

What is the main point with which Wiesel wants his audience to agree?

Open Ended

List an appeal from “Keep Memory Alive” and test its logic.

Multiple Choice

Why does receiving the Nobel Prize frighten Wiesel?

• because he thinks his fellow survivors will be jealous

• because he is worried that Nazis will find out and punish him

• because he had taken a vow of silence and will have to break it

• because he does not feel entitled to represent those who died

Multiple Choice

How does Wiesel represent those who have died?

• He is trying to find their descendants.

• He is calling for revenge for their deaths.

• He is dedicating his Nobel Prize to the survivors.

• He is telling the story of what happened to them.

Multiple Choice

Why does Wiesel feel that he does not have the right to speak for the dead?

• They would be angry at him.

• He did not know any of them.

• No one remembers them.

• No one can interpret his or her dreams.

Multiple Choice

Why does Wiesel say his Nobel Prize belongs to all Holocaust survivors and their children?

• He is relating their story as well as his own.

• He did not do anything to deserve the award.

• They would be angry if he did not mention them.

• They are more capable of speaking for those who died.

Multiple Choice

As a boy, what shocked Wiesel about the world’s response to the Holocaust?

• The world did not know about the Holocaust.

• The world acted so quickly to stop the Holocaust.

• The world remained silent and allowed it to happen.

• The world actively helped the Nazis commit genocide.

Multiple Choice

What does the “boy” ask the adult Elie Wiesel?

• He asks what Elie Wiesel has done with the boy’s future.

• He asks why Elie Wiesel is receiving the Nobel Prize.

• He asks about how many people died in the Holocaust.

• He asks how the world could let the Holocaust happen.

Multiple Choice

Wiesel claims that we all have a moral duty to remember what happened during the Holocaust. How does he support this claim?

• by stating that the Holocaust might happen again if we forget

• by explaining that silence encourages torments to occur

• by saying that if we forget, we are accomplices to the crime

• by pointing out that the dead would want to be remembered

Multiple Choice

What is the “fiery altar” Wiesel mentions in his speech?

• Jewish ghettos

• cattle cars

• gas chambers

• concentration camps

Multiple Choice

Wiesel mentions the “fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed.” What persuasive appeal is embedded in these words?

• Wiesel is indicating his distaste for all established religions and institutions.

• Wiesel is trying to make his audience sympathize with the plight of the Jewish

  people.

• Wiesel is attempting to scare his audience with frightening imagery and ideas.

• Wiesel is suggesting that the loss of Jews has affected the future of the world.

Multiple Choice

Why does Wiesel repeat the words “I remember” several times near the end of his speech?

• to entertain listeners with recollections of his youth

• to emphasize that he wants his audience to remember, too

• to point out that it does not matter if anyone else remembers

• to make it clear that he is not losing his ability to think clearly

Multiple Choice

What assumption does Wiesel make about a person’s main obligation to the community?

• We are all obligated to speak out against injustice.

• Each person is obligated to manage his or her life.

• Everyone is obligated to find out more about the Holocaust.

• Everyone is obligated to know what is going on in the world.

Multiple Choice

Wiesel writes, “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” What rhetorical device is he using?

• repetition

• parallelism

• slogans and saws

• rhetorical question

Multiple Choice

What is Wiesel’s central argument in “Keep Memory Alive”?

• People must speak out against all oppression and injustice.

• People must stay neutral in arguments that do not concern them.

• People must speak for the dead, who cannot speak for themselves.

• People must remember what happened when they were children.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes the persuasive technique Wiesel uses?

• He rages passionately about the awful things that happened during the Holocaust.

• He logically relates historical events from the twentieth century about the

  Holocaust.

• He describes his experience to bring home to others the horrors of the Holocaust.

• He explains that if others forget the Holocaust, they will share responsibility for it.

Multiple Choice

How can a reader test the logic of Wiesel’s appeals?

• by thinking about how another writer might support the same claims

• by identifying which rhetorical devices he uses most frequently

• by eliminating opinions from the essay and analyzing the facts for logic

• by considering whether the evidence he presents supports his points