Compare & Contrast Essay on Viktor Frankl’s Memoir
Man’s Search for Meaning
Minimum Requirements:
· This must be an essay that is written in 12 point font of either Times New Roman, Courier New, or Palatino type font.
· It must have your name in either the upper left or right hand corner.
· It must have a title centered.
· It must be at least 500 words in length or 2 pages long minimum.
· It must be double spaced, typed, and printed out.
· It be broken down into paragraphs, such as the following:
1. Introductions:
· Start with a hook: question, definition, quote, etc.
· Introduce the Holocaust.
· Introduce the author, Viktor Frankl.
· Introduce the book, Man’s Search for Meaning.
· State your topic sentence: one sentence that answers a burning question or that states the main meaning or lesson you got out of reading this book.
2. Paragraph on how this book is similar (compare) to Elie Wiesel’s book NIGHT.
· In what ways is NIGHT similar to Man’s Search for Meaning?
· What examples can you give from NIGHT that show how it’s similar to Frankl’s memoir?
· Did you have similar questions reading Frankl’s memoir that you did reading NIGHT? Examples?
· How is the way this book is written similar to NIGHT? Examples?
3. Paragraph on how Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is different (contrast) to Wiesel’s NIGHT.
· In what ways is Man’s Search for Meaning different from NIGHT?
· What examples from Frankl’s memoir could you give to show how it’s different from NIGHT?
· What questions did you have reading Man’s Search for Meaning that you didn’t have when reading NIGHT? Examples?
· How is Man’s Search for Meaning written differently than NIGHT? Examples?
4. Paragraph on what you learned about the Holocaust from reading Man’s Search for Meaning. This could take up several paragraphs, not just one.
· What did you learn about the Holocaust from reading Man’s Search for Meaning that you didn’t learn from reading NIGHT?
· What did you learn about people during the Holocaust from Man’s Search for Meaning? What are the victims like and why? What are the perpetrators like and why?
· What meaning did this new knowledge give you about the Holocaust?
· What new questions did this new knowledge about people make you think about?
5. Paragraph on genocide today. Use your video clip and class discussion notes here. This could take up several paragraphs, not just one. Give examples.
· If we remember, can we help stop future genocides? How?
· Is America vulnerable to possible genocide? How?
· What are Holocaust deniers and historical revisionists? Are they a problem?
· What are your thoughts on all of this?
· What did you learn from our class on the Holocaust and genocide?
· What can humans around the world learn from this?
· What questions do we still need answers to?
6. Conclusions:
· Start with your topic sentence, the same as in your introduction.
· Are there still burning questions about the Holocaust or genocide that you would like answered? What are they?
· What are the two or three most important ideas, lessons learned, or meanings that we can get out of having read this book? From the Holocaust research?
· End with a quote that you think sums up nicely the main idea learned from the book.
The Final Draft:
· Only turn-in a final draft that has been revised, improved, and proofread for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
· You can have more paragraphs than the ones outlined above. That’s just the minimum requirement.
· We must review your typed draft in a student-teacher writing conference BEFORE your final draft can be accepted for grading.
· It’s a great idea to have someone read your typed draft and give you tips for revising and improving it before you submit your final draft for grading.
· It’s also a great idea to take a moment to read your typed draft out-loud to yourself for sentence flow, structure, punctuation, and sense.
· If you don’t like the grade you receive on your final draft, see me about revising your typed draft for a better score.
· Pictures are great and enhance your overall paper. Cite the sources for your pictures though.
· If you use quotes or ideas from someone else other than yourself, cite your sources and use quotation marks for exact words that aren’t paraphrased.
· If sources are used other than class discussions or the book Man’s Search for Meaning, please have a SOURCES section at the bottom of the last page of your paper listing those out.
· Your paper will be graded on how well you meet these minimum requirements as well as how insightful your questions are, your references back to Frankl’s memoir, and the inclusion of your notes on ideas discussed in class or on examples from the video clips.
· Email me your final draft to so it can be uploaded on the Internet to our class blog at http://burkesenglish.wordpress.com
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