Anchor Text with Text-Dependent Questions:
“Hope, Despair and Memory.” By Elie Wiesel. This is an excerpt from the text of the speech Elie Wiesel
made when he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. The speech refers to his Holocaust experience and the
obligations we have to remember such events. http://sites.google.com/site/nightcclsmodule/
Text, page or paragraph
reference
It is with a profound sense of
humility that I accept the honor –
the highest there is – that you
have chosen to bestow upon me.
I know your choice transcends
my person.
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. No one may
speak for the dead, no one may
interpret their mutilated dreams
and visions. And yet, I sense
their presence. I always do –
and at this moment more than
ever. The presence of my
parents, that of my little sister.
The presence of my teachers, my
friends, my companions….
Text-dependent questions
CSO’s addressed
Using context clues, what can
you determine about the
meaning of the word bestow?
Scaffolding:
What is the occasion of the
speech?
What does it mean to accept an
honor?
ELA.9.L.C17.3 acquire and use
accurately general academic
and domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading,
writing, speaking and listening at
the college and career readiness
level; demonstrate
independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
What other words might have
hindered your reading of this
paragraph?
Scaffolding:
What does hindering mean?
How can word hinder reading?
What does the word transcends
mean?
How does Wiesel’s use of
rhetoric advance the point of
view?
Scaffolding:
What is rhetoric?
What are the rhetorical
questions?
ELA.9.R.C2.6 determine an
author’s point of view or purpose
in an informational text and
analyze how an author uses
rhetoric to advance that point of
view or purpose.
Why does Wiesel sense the
presence of his parents, sister,
teachers, friends and
companions?
Scaffolding:
What does Wiesel say about the
dead and their dreams, visions
and presence?
How is the use of the word
mutilated effective in the
comprehension of this sentence?
Scaffolding:
What does mutilate mean?
How can you mutilate a dream or
a vision?
ELA.9.L.C17.3 acquire and use
accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading,
writing, speaking and listening at
the college and career readiness
level; demonstrate
independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
This honor belongs to all the
survivors and their children and,
through us to the Jewish people
with whose destiny I have always
identified.
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.
Why does this honor belong to all
the survivors?
In understanding the author’s
purpose, why is it important to
know with whom Wiesel aligns
his destiny?
Scaffolding:
What is a survivor?
What does “align” mean?
Have you ever “aligned” with any
person(s) or groups?
ELA.9.R.C2.6 determine an
author’s point of view or
purpose in an informational
text and analyze how an author
uses rhetoric to advance that
point of view or purpose.
ELA.9.R.C2.6 determine an
author’s point of view or purpose
in an informational text and
analyze how an author uses
rhetoric to advance that point of
view or purpose.
What might the “Kingdom of
Night” represent?
Scaffolding:
What connotations do we
associate with the word “night”?
Why is “Kingdom” capitalized?
ELA.9.L.C17.3 acquire and use
accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading,
writing, speaking and listening at
the college and career readiness
level; demonstrate
independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
What is deportation?
Scaffolding:
How can you break the word
apart? What does deport mean?
How does the writer use parallel
structure in his speech?
ELA.9.L.C15.1 demonstrate
command of the conventions of
standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.

How is this passage symbolic?
Why does he refer to “the future
of mankind”?
Scaffolding:
How is “fiery altar” symbolic?
What is the extended metaphor
in the passage?
Scaffolding:
What is an extended metaphor?
How does the passage you
selected fit this definition?
use parallel structure.
ELA.9.SL.C13.1 initiate and
participate effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–
10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.

I remember he asked his father:
“Can this be true? This is the
twentieth century, not the Middle
Ages. Who would allow such
crimes to be committed? How
could this world remain silent?”
Where does the shift in narration
occur?
Why is the shift effective?
Scaffolding:
What is third person?
(Note to teacher: the next
paragraph will continue this shift
process and further explanation
will be needed)
What does the boy mean when
he says, “This is …..not the
Middle Ages.”?
Scaffolding:
Why is the comparison of time
periods important?
What are the crimes to which he
refers?
Scaffolding:
Why is the time period
important?
How are these crimes different
from what we usually consider a
“crime”?
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?”
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.
Who is the young boy?
Scaffolding:
What clues are you given to the
young boy’s identity?
How does the previous
paragraph help us understand
who the boy really is?
What is the “memory”?
Scaffolding:
Why is it important for the
propel conversations
by posing and
responding to
questions that relate
the current discussion
to broader themes or
larger ideas; actively
incorporate others into
the discussion; and
clarify, verify or
challenge ideas and
conclusions.
ELA.9.SL.C13.1 initiate and
participate effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–
10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.

respond thoughtfully to
diverse perspectives,
summarize points of
agreement and
disagreement, and, when
warranted, qualify or
justify their own views
and understanding and
make new connections
in light of the evidence
and reasoning
ELA.9.SL.C13.1 initiate and
participate effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–
10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly
narrator to let the boy know he
kept the memory alive?
and persuasively.

What is an accomplice?
How does forgetting make “we”
guilty of being accomplices?
Scaffolding:
Who are the people referred to
as “we”?
How can the victims become
accomplices?
Scaffolding:
Why are these people victims?
respond thoughtfully to
diverse perspectives,
summarize points of
agreement and
disagreement, and, when
warranted, qualify or
justify their own views
and understanding and
make new connections
in light of the evidence
and reasoning
presented.
ELA.9.L.C17.3 acquire and use
accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading,
writing, speaking and listening at
the college and career readiness
level; demonstrate
independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
ELA.9.SL.C13.1 initiate and
participate effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–
10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.

respond thoughtfully to
diverse perspectives,
summarize points of
agreement and
disagreement, and, when
warranted, qualify or
justify their own views
and understanding and
make new connections
in light of the evidence
and reasoning
presented.
And then I explain 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 human beings
endure suffering and humiliation.
We must take sides. Neutrality
helps the oppressor, never the
victim. Silence encourages the
tormentor, never the tormented.
Sometimes we must interfere.
When human lives are
endangered, when human dignity
is in jeopardy, national borders
and sensitivities become
irrelevant. Wherever men and
woman are persecuted because
of their race, religion, or political
views, that place must – at that
moment – become the center of
the universe.
How does neutrality help the
oppressor, never the victim?
Scaffolding:
What is neutrality?
What does “oppressor” mean?
ELA.9.SL.C13.1 initiate and
participate effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–
10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.

What does naïve mean?
Scaffolding:
Why does the speaker think they
were naïve?
How does the word interfere
change connotation in this
passage?
Scaffolding:
How does the word “interfere”
change from a negative to a
positive connotation?
What does Wiesel mean when
he says, “…national borders and
sensitivities become
irrelevant…”?
Scaffolding:
What are national borders?
What is meant by “sensitivities”?
What does irrelevant mean?
respond thoughtfully to
diverse perspectives,
summarize points of
agreement and
disagreement, and, when
warranted, qualify or
justify their own views
and understanding and
make new connections
in light of the evidence
and reasoning
presented.
ELA.9.L.C17.3 acquire and use
accurately general academic
and domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading,
writing, speaking and listening at
the college and career readiness
level; demonstrate independence
in gathering vocabulary
knowledge when considering a
word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
ELA.9.SL.C13.1 initiate and
participate effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–
10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.

propel conversations
by posing and
responding to
questions that relate
the current discussion
to broader themes or
larger ideas; actively
incorporate others into
the discussion; and
clarify, verify or
challenge ideas and
conclusions.
Writer’s Notebook
The following questions can be used for reflective writing in the Writer’s Notebook:
Explain why Hope, Despair and Memory is an appropriate title for the speech?
How does Wiesel use his speech as a “call to action”?
Think of a time when your lack of action might have made you an accomplice. Describe the incident and
the feelings you had.