Anne Mooney

Grade: 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.1

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly 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 students understanding?
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?
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 minds 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 isnt
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 ones 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

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

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 Goethes 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 the
Holocaust 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 were
introduced 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?

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night
o There are
o

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

students are on 504s for anxiety related issues.
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 the
content? (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 evidenceremember to explain fully.
D. End of Lesson: How will you help all students process the experience? (about 18
minutes)

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night
o Students
o

will share out one piece of evidence from Death Fugue that their group
thought represented traumatic memory well and why.
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?

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Appendix A
Supplementary Materials: Handouts

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Figure A.1: Death Fugue by Paul Celan

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Figure A.2: Elements of Narrative Style Chart

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Appendix B
Supplementary Materials: Writing on the Board

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Figure B.1: Writing Prompt # 1

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Figure B.2: Group Work

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Figure B.3: Death Fugue Explained

Anne Mooney
Grade: 10, honors
Key Text: Night

Figure B.4: Writing Prompt # 2