ECR - Wiesel and Hughes
Elie Wiesel’s “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” (1986)
Elie Wiesel was a Holocaust survivor who devoted his life to speaking out against injustice and human suffering. In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to ensure that the world would not forget the atrocities of the Holocaust and for advocating on behalf of oppressed people everywhere.
In his acceptance speech, Wiesel reflects on his experiences during the Holocaust and talks about the responsibility survivors have to speak for those who cannot. His speech is both emotional and urgent. He emphasizes compassion, the importance of remembering history, and the moral duty people have to act when they witness injustice. The tone of the speech is serious, passionate, and hopeful—Wiesel acknowledges the pain of the past but urges the world to choose justice and humanity moving forward.
Langston Hughes’ poem “I Look at the World” (published 1930s)
Langston Hughes was a leading poet of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement in the 1920s–1930s that celebrated African American culture, identity, and creativity. Much of his writing focuses on racial inequality in the United States and the hope for a more just future.
In “I Look at the World,” Hughes speaks as someone who sees barriers created by racism and discrimination, yet refuses to accept them as permanent. The poem expresses a strong desire for equality and freedom. Hughes uses a reflective but determined tone, showing frustration with the limits placed on him while also expressing hope and confidence that change is possible. The poem encourages readers to take action to break down these “walls” and build a fairer world.
Group 1
Directions: Write a well-organized informational comparative essay. Your essay should:
- Explain how the authors of both selections use naming and/or identity to help each character grow in confidence.
- Use specific evidence from both selections to support your answer.
- Be clearly organized and address both texts.
You may use the excerpts above as evidence in your essay.
Source 1.1
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech (1986)
by Elie Wiesel
1 It is with a profound sense of humility that I accept the honor you have chosen to bestow upon me. I know: your choice transcends me. This both frightens and pleases me.
2 It frightens me because I wonder: do I have the right to represent the multitudes who have perished? Do I have the right to accept this great honor on their behalf? I do not. That would be presumptuous. No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions.
3 It pleases me because I may say that this honor belongs to all the survivors and their children, and through us, to the Jewish people with whose destiny I have always identified.
4 I remember: it happened yesterday or eternities ago. A young Jewish boy discovered the kingdom of night. I remember his bewilderment, I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car. The fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed.
5 I remember: he asked his father: “Can this be true? This is the 20th century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?”
6 And now the boy is turning to me: “Tell me,” he asks. “What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?”
7 And I tell him that I have tried. That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.
8 And then I explained to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
by Elie Wiesel
Source 1.2
I Look at the World (1930's)
by Langston Hughes
I look at the world
From awakening eyes in a black face—
And this is what I see:
This fenced-off narrow space
Assigned to me.
I look then at the silly walls
Through dark eyes in a dark face—
And this is what I know:
That all these walls oppression builds
Will have to go!
I look at my own body
With eyes no longer blind—
And I see that my own hands can make
The world that’s in my mind.
Then let us hurry, comrades,
The road to find.
I Look at the World
by Langston Hughes
Question 1a
Explain how Wiesel’s tone in “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” and Hughes’ tone in “I Look at the World” are similar.
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