<span>The oratory of African Americans has been judged by a primarily epideictic, aesthetic character since the "principal motif of African American discourse has necessarily been the subject of appearance sheer physical appearance and its fateful effects on public life". Douglass' characterization as an epideictic orator may also be in part due to his fiery style and his tendency to appropriate epideictic occasions for his oratory. This reduction of Douglass' rhetoric to an epideictic or ceremonial function is limiting and no doubt has contributed to the lack of scholarship and critical inquiry surrounding his oratory.</span>
<span>Near the close of 1941, twelve-year-old Elie Wiesel — son of a devout Romanian shopkeeper and brother to three girls, two older and one younger — recounts his avid pursuit of Hasidic Judaism through study of the Talmud and the cabbala. Lacking a mentor to guide his contemplation of religious mysticism, he turns to Moshe the Beadle, a very poor and pious loner who works as a handyman at the synagogue in Sighet. After other worshippers depart the synagogue following the evening service, Moshe shares private time with Elie. He wisely encourages the impressionable boy to pursue God through questions, but to expect no understanding of God's answers, which remain unsatisfied in the soul until death. Moshe insists that each seeker must rely on inborn traits that will open the way to comprehensible answers suited to the individual. Hope this helped in one way, i think.</span>
