History 206 Paper Assignment

WARNING!!! This is not intended to be a re-telling of the books. I have read them both many times, so instead of describing “what” happened, analyze the meaning of what happened.

In a well-crafted 3-5 page essay (typed, double-spaced) you have the opportunity to answer one of the following questions.

For each question, you may want to consult some sources other than Levi, Solzhenitsyn, and class notes. You should feel free to read scholarly journals, other books, magazines, or even movie interpretations of this time period.

This essay will be uploaded to turnitin.com. (class id 9934682, password history)

DUE DATE: Friday, May 22

1.     FOOD: How important was food in the holocaust and in the gulag? Use Survival in Auschwitz and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, as well as any other relevant source, to explore the role of food in detention and death.

2.     RULES: Consider the rules of the Gulag and the rules of Auschwitz. Was resistance possible in such dominating systems?

3.     ATTITUDE: 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 and of the story of Ivan Denisovich, evaluate the validity of Frankl's statement. Would Primo Levi or Alexander Solzhenitsyn agree that certain shreds of human dignity might remain even in something like the Holocaust or the Gulag?

4.     RESILIENCE: Levi writes, “Man’s capacity to dig himself in, to secrete a shell, to build around himself a tenuous barrier of defence, even in apparently desperate circumstances, is astonishing.” (56) Considering the experiences of Primo Levi and of the story of Ivan Denisovich, evaluate the validity of Frankl's statement.

5.     YOUR OWN: Create your own theme, comparing some element from the two books. Clear this topic with me before moving forward.