Miss
French/Mrs.
Thorsen
English
10/Adv
Engl
10
The
Danger
of
Silence
Lesson
Night
Unit,
Day
7
2/7/12
Essential
Questions:
• How
can
rhetoric
and
persuasion
be
used
to
manipulate
an
entire
nation?
How
can
it
be
used
to
persuade
those
who
turn
a
blind
eye?
• Do
bystanders
to
atrocities
hold
any
responsibility
for
the
continuation
of
evils?
Behavioral
Objectives:
Students
will
spend
time
discussing
a
set
of
quotes/poetry
as
a
class.
They
will
then
quietly
work
on
writing
their
letters.
Standards
Addressed:
1.4.10.C:
Write persuasive pieces.
• Organize ideas and appeals in a sustained and effective fashion.
• Use specific rhetorical devices to support assertions, such as appealing to logic through
reasoning; appealing to emotion or ethical belief; or relating a personal anecdote, case
study, or analogy.
• Clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence.
•
Address readers’ concerns, counterclaims, biases, and expectations.
Materials
and
Media
Needed:
• Computers
and/or
paper
and
pencil
"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never
the victim. Silence encourages the
Lesson
Procedures:
tormentor, never the tormented.
Sometimes we must interfere. When
1. Lead
In:
Put
the
two
quotes
in
the
right
hand
column
along
with
the
“First
they
came
for…”
poem
on
the
screen
human lives are endangered, when
human dignity is in jeopardy, national
in
the
front
of
the
classroom.
Ask
students
to
read
these
borders and sensitivities become
quotes
aloud
and
think
about
the
atrocities
that
Elie
witnesses
upon
arrival
at
the
camps.
Explain
to
them
that
irrelevant. Wherever men and women
are persecuted because of their race,
even
though
many
people
didn’t
know
the
full
truth
of
what
was
occurring
at
the
camps,
others
did
and
turned
a
religion, or political views, that place
must — at that moment — become the
blind
eye.
Focusing
on
the
first
quote,
ask
students
to
center of the universe… And action is
divide
into
small
groups
and
answer
the
following
the only remedy to indifference, the
questions
(15
mins)
1.
Do
you
agree
with
this
statement?
Why
or
why
not?
most insidious danger of all." — Elie
2.
Can
you
think
of
any
experiences
you
have
had
that
Wiesel, Nobel Prize acceptance
speech, 1986
validate
or
contradict
this
idea?
3.
What,
if
any,
are
the
personal
implications
of
this
statement?
4.
What
questions
do
you
have
about
this
statement?
"The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."
2. Instructional
Procedures:
Each
student
will
then
pretend
to
be
Elie
Wiesel
writing
a
“First they came for the…” Poem
letter
from
within
the
camp
to
be
sent
to
an
outsider
(this
obviously
couldn’t
have
happened,
but
it’s
a
hypothetical).
The
letter
should
be
a
persuasive
piece
in
which
Elie
pleads
bystanders
to
understand
the
importance
of
interfering
and
not
remaining
silent.
Remind
students
about
the
rhetorical
devices
we
learned
during
the
speech
unit
and
tell
them
to
use
them
to
make
their
letters
persuasive.
The
letters
should
also
include
specific
details
from
the
text
that
demonstrate
the
horrors
Elie
has
witnessed,
and
it
should
appeal
to
the
reader
to
take
a
specific
action
or
speak
out
in
a
specific
way.
(35
mins)
Assessment/Check
for
Understanding:
The
letters
will
be
graded
based
upon
adequate
completion
of
the
following
three
requirements.
Letters
must
be
at
least
one
double‐spaced,
typed
page.
1. Specific
references
to
Elie’s
experiences
as
read
in
Night
2. Use
of
logos,
ethos,
or
pathos,
along
with
other
rhetorical
devices
3. Direct
appeal
to
the
reader
(What
do
you
want
them
to
do
after
reading
your
letter?)
Reflections:
Remember
to
ask
students
to
jot
down
answers
to
the
four
discussion
questions
in
order
to
make
sure
they
aren’t
chatting
about
unrelated
topics.