1. WITNESS Acrostic Poem

2. INTRODUCTION
Many times in the “Preface” of Night, Elie Weisel discusses the importance of “bearing witness”, of how important it is that he describe what he experienced.

3. NEW DEFINTION PERHAPS…
DEFINTIONS OF WITNESS
Noun = someone who can give a first- hand account of a seen, experience, or something heard
NEW DEFINTION PERHAPS…
Verb = to describe a personal account, to testify, to give info as evidence

4. QUOTATIONS
“Convinced that this period in history would be judged one day, I knew that I must bear witness. I knew that, while I had many things to say, I did not have the words to say them.”
“Deep down, the witness knew then, as he does now, that his testimony would not be well received. After all, it deals with an event that sprang from the darkest zone of man.”

5. QUOTATIONS
“For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would not only be dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time…The witness has forced himself to testify. For the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. He does not want his past to become their future.”

6. ASSIGNMENT
An acrostic is a poem that spells a word down the left margin of the paper.
Each line describes a element of the chosen word and how it relates to the subject matter.
In addition to developing the acrostic word, you should attempt to incorporate other types of literary and poetic devices…examples are listed on the next slide.

7. ASSIGNMENT Cont’d. Rhyme Rhythm Alliteration Metaphor Onomatopoeia
Personification
Simile

8. ASSIGNMENT You are going to write an acrostic,
using WITNESS as your word.
OPTION 1: You will describe what ELIE WEISEL has WITNESSED thus far in the novel.
OPTION 2: You will describe what MOISHE THE BEADLE actually attempted to WITNESS to the people of Sighet.

9. ACROSTIC SET-UP W I T N E S