Lesson 4 Night

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Anne Mooney

Grade: 10, honorsGrade: 10, honors

Key Text: Night

Anne Mooney

Lesson 4

Finding Evidence: Traumatic Memory in Literature about Genocide

Salem State University

School of Education

I. Setting the Stage: What are your measureable objectives and assessment?

A. Curriculum Framework Standards: Which MA Curriculum Frameworks address

your topic content and objectives?

9-10.RL.MA.8.A Relate a work of fiction, poetry, or drama to the seminal ideas of its time.

9-10.RL.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text saysexplicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

B.

Generative Topic: What is the focal concept or skill of the lesson?Finding Evidence: Traumatic Memory in Literature about Genocide

C. Measurable Objectives: What do you want students to know and be able to do?

o Students will be able to relate “Death Fugue” and Night to the Holocaust and traumatic

memory

o Students will be able to cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support an analysis

of the traumatic memory in “Death Fugue” and Night

D. End of Lesson Assessment: How are you going to assess student’s understanding?

o

Students will answer the following question on a piece paper and pass it in: “How did theconcept of ‘traumatic memory’ enhance your reading of “Death Fugue?”

II. Content of the Lesson

A. Content and Skills: What do you know about what you are planning to teach?

o Trauma: wound (in this case, a wound of the mind)

o Memory: the mind’s ability to retain revive facts, events, impressions, etc.

o Traumatic memory: Memory of an event that is too overwhelming to remember in a

traditional memory; traumatic memories lead to the “double wound” in which there isn’t

only the trauma but also the constant reliving of the trauma through the uncontrollable

memory, which can be triggered by anything and consume the individual.

o Traditional memory versus Traumatic memory

• Traditional: Chronological, Factual, Literal

• Traumatic: Non-chronological, Figurative, Image-based

o Testimony: undoing the entrapment; sharing one’s story is the only way to heal because

one must piece together that traumatic memory in order to claim it and, therefore, take

control of it rather than it controlling the person. Testimonies (reconstructions of


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traumatic memory) are often done through writing-fiction, art, music, photography,

poetry.

o Witness: the important role the reader has. The witness must listen to the traumatic

memory and empathize with the person. The witness must not expect concrete facts or

perfectly constructed memories.

o Allusions of the poem:• Margareta: from Goethe’s Faust; perfect Aryan woman

• Shulamite: female protagonist in “song of Songs” from the Hebrew Bible; also close to

the word Shalom; Jewish feminine ideal

• Fugue: a musical composition in which 1-2 themes are repeated or imitated by

successively entering voices and developed as a continuous interweaving of voice

parts

B. Rationale: Why teach the lesson?

Reading literature about the Holocaust is important because it introduces students

to an important topic through a different lens. In history class, students learn about theHolocaust when they study World War II, yet when they study it, they look at the reasons

why the Germans perpetrated this atrocity. It is important to teach students to see this

issue not as an economic issue but as a very human issue, to make sure they understand

the very human emotions and traumas related to the Holocaust. Furthermore, it is critical

to have students realize why it is important to ‘witness’ these traumas, and what being a

witness means (something we discussed last class) as well as helping students realize that

these atrocities are still happening today.

Furthermore, Deborah Appleman says, “[B]y teaching literature along with

theory, we help students learn to decipher the world inscribed within the texts they study

as well as help them learn to read the world around them” (10). Last class, students wereintroduced to the theoretical concepts of “traumatic memory,” “testimony,” and

“witness.” These theoretical terms will shape how students read literature about the

Holocaust, enabling them to understand the important human role they hold when reading

literature about genocide, a role that extends outside the classroom to atrocities occurring

today.

In addition, the RAND Reading Study Group defines “reading comprehension as

the interaction of a particular reader with a particular text and activity within a larger

sociocultural context” (Ipolito 11). Students will be able to relate the traumatic memory

they see happening in the literature to the traumatic memories of people not only in their

own lives and country but also in countries where atrocities, wars, mass-murders (etc.)

are occurring today. Moreover, Ipolito and Lawrence argue that purpose in reading is

crucial. Having a graphic organizer that also guides students’ readings provides a purpose

for their reading. It gives them something to focus on while they reflect on their reading,

which will in turn improve their comprehension.

III. Knowledge of Students: Why does knowing your students matter?


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o There are 29 students in the class, including: 16 females and 13 males. Three of the

students are on 504s for anxiety related issues.

o The students are allowed to work in groups, which helps the students with anxiety feel

more comfortable with any work they are doing. Furthermore, in groups, the teacher

checks in with these students to make sure they are doing okay (especially considering

the heaviness of the topic).

IV. Preparation for the Procedures:

Materials: What materials, resources, and technology will you need?

o Teacher will have extra copies of “Death Fugue” in case students forgot it or someone

was absent when it was first passed out.

o Activity instructions will be written on the board for students to read as they work.

Sequence of Teaching-Procedures

A.

Beginning of the Lesson: How will you immediately engage all of your students in thecontent? (10 minutes)

o Students will share their dialectical journals for chapters 4 and 5 (done for homework) in

their groups. Each group will share one of these insights with the class.

o When students finish sharing with their group, they should then answer the following

question with their group and write down something to share with the class: How did the

concepts of “traumatic memory” and “witnessing” enhance their understanding of Night .

o Teacher will also quickly go over what fiction is in terms of how the guest speaker

discussed it last class.

B.

Middle of Lesson: What are your students doing (e.g., speaking, writing, drawing,performing, documenting, observing) to explore the content? (45 minutes)

o Teacher will read “Death Fugue” aloud to the class (this was done before, so it only

needs to be read once this class).

o In groups of about 4 (of students who sit near each other), students will answer the

following questioning (considering the parts of the narrative style chart they did for Night

the previous class): How is “traumatic memory” represented in “Death Fugue?” Use

textual evidence, and be sure to fully explain how the evidence represents “traumatic

memory?”

C. Extension and Enrichment Activities during Class Time: How will you extend the

learning of students who finish tasks early?

o If students finish early, then they should consider how “traumatic memory” is represented

in both Night and “Death Fugue.” Compare and contrast these representations using

textual evidence—remember to explain fully.

D. End of Lesson: How will you help all students process the experience? (about 18

minutes)


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o Students will share out one piece of evidence from “Death Fugue” that their group

thought represented traumatic memory well and why.

o Students will answer the following question on a piece paper and pass it in: “How did the

concept of ‘traumatic memory’ enhance your reading of “Death Fugue?”


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Appendix A Supplementary Materials: Handouts


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Figure A.1: “Death Fugue” by Paul Celan


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Figure A.2: Elements of Narrative Style Chart


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Appendix B Supplementary Materials: Writing on the Board


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Figure B.1: Writing Prompt # 1


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Figure B.2: Group Work


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Figure B.3: “Death Fugue” Explained


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Figure B.4: Writing Prompt # 2

Lesson 4 Night

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Transcript of Lesson 4 Night