Eliezer's transformation over the course of Night, from a devout, curious teenager to someone hollowed out by suffering, gives students a clear narrative arc to analyze. It's a popular essay topic because the change is dramatic and well-documented in the text, but that same clarity can tempt students into a surface-level essay that simply describes the change rather than explaining how Wiesel constructs it.

A weak version of this essay reads almost like a timeline: Eliezer starts out one way, then experiences hardship, then ends up different. This isn't wrong, but it's not analysis either, since it doesn't examine the specific narrative choices Wiesel makes to show that change happening.

Stronger essays focus on specific textual mechanisms: shifts in Eliezer's language, changes in how he describes his own body or emotions, or moments where his internal monologue reveals a break from his earlier worldview. These essays treat the transformation as something the text constructs deliberately, not just something that happens to the character.

When grading, it's worth distinguishing between essays that narrate change and essays that analyze how that change is revealed through craft, since this distinction usually separates a middling essay from a genuinely strong one.

Key Moments Students Tend to Choose

Certain scenes come up constantly in these essays, including Eliezer's first night in the camp, his reaction to seeing infants burned, and his shifting relationship with prayer. Knowing these moments in advance makes grading faster, since teachers can quickly assess whether a student is using them well or just referencing them because they're expected.

• Track specific language changes in how Eliezer describes himself over time
• Analyze at least one scene involving prayer or faith directly
• Address the physical toll of the camps as tied to psychological change
• Avoid treating the transformation as complete or resolved by the book's end
• Connect the transformation to a broader theme, such as dehumanization or survival

Grading for Craft Awareness

A rubric line specifically addressing whether a student discusses Wiesel's narrative choices, rather than only the character's experiences, can push essays toward stronger literary analysis. This is a useful distinction to teach explicitly before the essay is assigned, since many students haven't yet learned to separate a character's story from the author's craft.

Feedback that names this gap directly, rather than simply asking for "more analysis," tends to produce more targeted revisions.

Avoiding an Overly Neat Conclusion

Because Night ends on a genuinely ambiguous note, essays that wrap up Eliezer's transformation too cleanly, suggesting full recovery or resolution, often misread the text's tone. Grading should reward students who acknowledge this ambiguity rather than forcing a tidy ending onto their analysis.

This is a small but important detail that can distinguish a careful reader from one who is pattern-matching to a typical character arc structure.