CHANDLER UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUGGESTED RESOURCE GUIDE FOR REQUIRED TEXTS
EXTENDED TEXT:
GRADE LEVEL:
“Hope, Despair and Memory”
Elie Wiesel
Title
Author
online essay (lecture)
ISBN
10th Grade English/ 10th Grade Honors English
SYNOPSIS:
In addition to his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Elie Wiesel’s delivered this Nobel lecture dated 11 December 1986.
Wiesel shares with his audience the importance of peace and completes this through the use of present day and Holocaust-era
storytelling.
BACKGROUND:
Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in the town of Sighet, now part of Romania. During World War II, he, with his family and other Jews
from the area, were deported to the German concentration and extermination camps, where his parents and little sister perished.
Wiesel and his two older sisters survived. Liberated from Buchenwald in 1945 by advancing Allied troops, he was taken to Paris
where he studied at the Sorbonne and worked as a journalist.
In 1958, he published his first book, La Nuit, a memoir of his experiences in the concentration camps. He has since authored
nearly thirty1 books some of which use these events as their basic material. In his many lectures, Wiesel has concerned himself
with the situation of the Jews and other groups who have suffered persecution and death because of their religion, race or national
origin. He has been outspoken on the plight of Soviet Jewry, on Ethiopian Jewry and on behalf of the State of Israel today2.
Wiesel has made his home in New York City, and is now a United States citizen. He has been a visiting scholar at Yale University,
a Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City College of New York, and since 1976 has been Andrew W. Mellon
Professor in the Humanities at Boston University where he teaches "Literature of Memory." Chairman of the United States
Holocaust Memorial Council from 1980 - 1986, Wiesel serves on numerous boards of trustees and advisors. (Source:
nobelprize.org).
This speech is in addition to his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Wiesel writing style is characterized by his reflective tone
on his personal life experiences and those he closely remembers. For more information on Wiesel or the Nobel Prize, visit:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1986/wiesel-lecture.html
TEXT COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS:
In the Reader and Task section, include specific concerns, modifications, scaffolding, or opportunities for differentiation—address
how the text should be approached for diverse learners (gifted, honors, ELL, SPED).
Quantitative:
In addition to Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech (McDougal Little Literature Grade 10 p.
860), this text is listed as an exemplar text (in Appendix B of the Common Core) placed in the 9-10
grade band. However, quantitatively the text scores low for both readability measures. For ATOS (8.5)
and Flesh Kincaid (7.8) this text falls within the 6-8 grade band for quantitative complexity.
Qualitative:
While the purpose of this text is easy to identify, the message and complexity of it lie in its expert use
of language and organization. The piece is ideal for rhetorical study. If used as a rhetorical analysis,
the speech’s qualitative measures are characterized by the author’s argument which is completed
through an ethical appeal to his audience. While somewhat narrative in structure, the narration shifts
occasionally lending to middle-high complexity. However, high knowledge demands are acknowledged
for Wiesel’s exploration of Judaic and Hebrew language/cultural understanding.
Reader and Task: Because this text is relatively easy to understand, the tasks demanded by the teacher’s lessons and
classroom activities must be challenging. The text is perfect for rhetorical analysis, even for struggling
readers. However, if a student is far below reading level, the teacher may consider limiting the amount
of text offered for study – maybe just focus on Wiesel’s message or the lecture’s theme.
MOTIFS/THEMES/ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Themes:
Society is constantly struggling to make sound decisions.
“Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures, it’s our gift to each other.”
Essential Questions:
Can humanity triumph over evil?
What’s the importance of remembering or the consequences of forgetting our past?
LANGUAGE:
Identify important vocabulary. Provide a focus standard for grammar/mechanics that works nicely with the extended text.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Tier 2 Vocabulary
Tier 3 Vocabulary
(if applicable)
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transcend (paragraph 3)
opaque (paragraph 3)
accursed (paragraph 7)
aberration (paragraph 8)
xenophobia (paragraph 8)
abhorrence (paragraph 13)
Apartheid (paragraph 25)
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Hasidic (paragraph 1)
Auschwitz (paragraph 8)
Torah (paragraph 13)
Talmud (paragraph 13)
Treblinka (paragraph 19)
Conventions of Standard English or Knowledge of Language focus standard:
Standard Code
9-10.L.4
Standard Text
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases.
d. Verify the preliminary determination of the
meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by
checking the inferred meaning in context or
in a dictionary).
Description of where and how
it fits with the extended text
Unfamiliar words and
phrases used in text should
be checked for inferred
meaning to aid in the
understanding of the essay.
COMPANION TEXTS:
Provide a series of short companion texts that will supplement the extended text and provide students with a deeper
understanding of the themes, motifs, or context of the extended text.
1-3 Short Informational Texts
Text Title and Author
A short description of the text
and how it relates to the extended text
Label Difficulty:
 Advanced
 Grade Level
 Meant for Scaffolding
1. Speech by Elie Wiesel
1. A 23-minute video recording of a speech at the Nobel Centennial
Symposia in Olso, Norway dated 7 December 2001.
http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1283
1. Grade Level
2. Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
by Elie Wiesel
2. McDougal Little Literature Grade 10 p. 860 or at
http://www.pbs.org/eliewiesel/nobel/
2. Grade Level
1-3 Short Literary Texts
Text Title and Author
1. from Night by Elie Wiesel
A short description of the text
and how it relates to the extended text
1. Suggestion: Use excerpt from (McDougal Little Literature Grade
10 p. 854). This reading passage sheds light on a similar Wiesel
theme – society’s struggle to make good decisions or the
violation of human rights.
Label Difficulty:
 Advanced
 Grade Level
 Meant for Scaffolding
1.
Meant for Scaffolding
STANDARDS-BASED ACTIVITIES:
This activity will assist in the instruction of the extended text (consider: comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, close reading, etc.).
Some materials (rubrics, graphic organizers, printables, handouts, student directions, etc.) will be added to the end of this
document.
Description
ACTIVITY: CLOSE READING OF NOBEL LECTURE, “HOPE, DESPAIR AND
MEMORY”
Resources:
 “Hope, Despair and Memory”
 Literary Analysis Terms
 Text Dependent Questions
In this close reading activity, students will first read the text independently,
highlighting any portion of the text (including words or phrases) that are
unfamiliar. Next, the students will hear the teacher read the essay aloud, this time Standards Addressed:
TSW make annotated notations inferring the meaning of those words or phrases
 9-10.L.4d
during the reading. Next, TSW identify 5-8 literary analysis devices and then
 9-10.L.3
determine the meaning of that are evident to them and will serve as a basis for a
 9-10.RI.4
discussion. The teacher will then group students (4); two groups of two will share
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their findings and then turn to share with others. Lastly, the teacher will assign

text dependent questions to guide their rhetorical discussions.
WRITING PROMPTS:
Argument/Opinion Prompt:
o What does Wiesel’s essay reveal about humanity? Using rhetoric, write an essay that argues whether or not
remember or forgetting our past is essential.
Informational/Explanatory Prompt:
o Explain how Wiesel’s essay is both similar and different from some of his other works.
Narrative Prompt:
o Based on personal experiences, describe a time in your life where __________.
Research Prompt:
o Research another Nobel Prize speech by any author. How do these authors, their accomplishments, and their
writing compare?
o
As outlined by PARCC, the prompts above may occur in a variety of writing environments. Teachers should consider:
 Incorporating a mix of on-demand and review-and-revision writing assignments
 Including routine writing, such as short constructed-responses to text-dependent questions, to build content knowledge and provide opportunities for
reflection on a specific aspect of a text or texts
 Integrating of a number of analytic writings that places a premium on using evidence, as well as on crafting works that display some logical
integration and coherence. These responses can vary in length based on the questions asked and task performed, from answering brief questions
to crafting longer responses, allowing teachers to assess students’ ability to paraphrase, infer, and ultimately integrate the ideas they have gleaned
from what they have read. Over the course of the year, analytic writing should include comparative analysis and compositions that share findings
from the research project
 Include narrative writing to offer students opportunities to express personal ideas and experiences; craft their own stories and descriptions; and
deepen their understandings of literary concepts, structures, and genres (e.g., short stories, anecdotes, poetry, drama) through purposeful imitation.