What role has cutural difference played in the lives of 20th century europeans?

Based on the readings of Night and Cafe Europa, what role has cultural difference (real or perceived) played in the lives of Europeans in the 20th century?

3-5 Page paper for European history class.

This is such a broad topic. I don't know where to start or what to focus on throughout the paper. What are some ideas?

I'm a good persuasive writer so when i don't have a clear and specific prompt i get scattered easily. I feel that I'm just lacking information. I need some direction. Where should i go with this?

It doesn't have to do a whole lot with the two readings; it just has to refer to them from time to time.

It *is* a broad topic! I have read Night, but not Cafe Europa. Lay out the basic themes of the books (maybe in list format?) and decided which ones you want to focus on. Night is about the Holocaust and how the Jewish population was systematically subjugated under the Nazis. Cafe Europa (I believe), is more about how Eastern Europe fell into ruin after the fall of Communism. It might be interesting to focus on how one was a program design to eradicate a population through government action and the other was the suffering of people through lack of action.

Sorry I can't be of more help! Having only read one of the books puts me at a disadvantage.

Unfortunately thats nothing i do not already know.

What are some ways this affected Europe as a whole throughout the century?

Affected Europe as a whole?

There was a great shift in population. Not only did Europe lose a large number of its men to war, but they lost a very large percentage of their Jewish population to the Holocaust. Not only that, but many Jews immigrated following the war. Elie Wiesel talks (in his later books) about how the Jews were looked down upon as a burden to society in European countries following the war—most notably France where he lived before coming to the United States.

With cultural differences, I imagine that various cultures were affected by the war (and the Holocaust) very differently. The end of World War II established boundaries (and spheres of influence) that determined future political and economic systems for those regions.

It might be easier to limit your topic to two group talked about in the novels—Jews and Croatians. Croatia has had its own issues with ethnic cleansing. Not having read the book, I don't know how much the author explores those issues. As Croatia seeks admittance into the EU, Croatians are experiencing discrimination from Europeans who believe that Croats will bring them down. Croatia wasn't a democracy until the early 1990s . . .

Again, not having read the book, I don't know what the main points were or how they relate to Night.

As for Night, the whole point of the holocaust was to wipe out certain cultures. The countries invaded by Germany were subjugated to extreme discrimination based on cultural and racial differences. For Europeans in the 20th century, culture practically defined everything. Whether or not you would need to flee your homeland, whether or not you could get good jobs or social status, what side you had to take during WWII, etc. In a sense, culture played the role of deciding the fate for millions of people in Europe in the 20th century, especially for the two pieces of literature you must focus on.

Well, it is not so broad if you are focusing on those books.

Make a List and Connect the Dots

Skim through Night and Cafe Europa, and take note of every occurrence of an interaction in which people judge one another based on culture, or make a decision based on a cultural value, etc.

You will have a long list of ideas and quotations with page references. When you do, fill in the space between them with brilliant writing. Turn every item from the list into a paragraph.

That's my best advice for this... I hope it helps!!!