PRIMO LEVI ASSIGNMENT

Dr. Schmoll Primo Levi Essay Assignment
Reading Due: Monday 3/2 Essay Due: Monday 3/9
WARNING!!! This is not intended to be a re-telling of the book. I have read it many times, so instead of describing “what” happened, analyze the meaning of what happened.

In a well crafted 3 page essay (typed, double-spaced) you must answer one of the following questions. For each question, you may want to consult some sources other than Levi and class notes. You should feel free to read scholarly journals, other books, magazines, or even movie interpretations of this time period.
1. Look at other experiences of the Holocaust. Considering these other experience, is Levi’s account typical?
http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/survivors.php
http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/children_main1.asp
http://www.tellingstories.org/

2. Is Survival in Auschwitz an optimistic or pessimistic book?

3. Look at other experiences of genocide in the 20th century. What are the common elements that define genocide?
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/index.html http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/genocide_massacre.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/rwanda/reports/dsetexhe.html
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/64283/first-genocide-of-the-20th-century-herero-and-nama-genocide.html

4. Watch at least three films on the Holocaust and discuss which issues have been most important in the film interpretation of this time period. After reading Levi, how do you feel that Levi would respond to such film depictions of something like the Holocaust? (Europa, Europa, Life is Beautiful, Schindler’s List, The Pianist)

5. Why study the holocaust? Use Levi as a central source for this question.
(beware, warning, take cover, ahhh)

6. Holocaust survivor and renowned psychologist Victor Frankl said, "We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man or woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way."
Considering the experiences of Primo Levi, evaluate the validity of Frankl's statement. Would Levi agree or disagree that certain shreds of human dignity might remain even in something like the Holocaust?

7. CREATIVE OUTLET: Choose one of the non-Jewish Germans in Survival in Auschwitz and imagine a post-war conversation between that person and Levi. Your entire essay for this option will be the text of that conversation.
TURNITIN.COM
ü A paper copy of your paper is due at the beginning of class.
ü An electronic copy of your essay is due at turnitin by midnight on the due date.
ü You do not need to print out anything at all from turnitin.
ü Remember, whatever outside sources you use MUST BE CORRECTLY
ATTRIBUTED in your essay. You may use any citation format.
ü Also, remember, there are many Levi essays on the web and floating around campus. Don’t be lured in by such stupidity. If nothing else, be original.BEWARE!!!!! This option is dangerous!!!