First Reading Response Prompt: Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz

All reading responses are due in class on Tuesday 1 February, or by 5 PM in Avery 475.

Directions: choose one of the following questions and answer in a typed, double-spaced response of 2-3 pages. You must include a direct, identifiable thesis in your response.

1. Survival in Auschwitz employs a number of themes to paint a vivid portrait of camp life. Some of those themes include the difficulty of communicating, loss of identity and loss of humanity. Choose one theme from the text that see as the most important (and effective) in relating to you the horrors of life in Auschwitz. Why does this particular theme stand out, and what examples of events, scenes or characters explore your chosen theme?



2. How is life in Auschwitz different from the world outside the concentration camps? What specific events and characteristics of the camp illustrate your view?



3. Levi describes the process of dehumanization that occurs almost immediately upon arrival to the camp. Of all the factors that are meant to dehumanize the inmates, which one(s) is/are the most striking to you? Incorporating appropriate evidence, why are these factors effectively dehumanizing?