What’s It All About? Assessment: William Faulkner’s 1950 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
- Central Idea: In one sentence, state the central idea of your speech.
- Central Idea Development: In 2–3 sentences, explain how the author developed this central idea in the beginning, middle and end.
- Author’s Purpose: Was the purpose to explain, express, inform or persuade? In one sentence, explain how you determined it.
- Text Structure: Identify the structure (cause and effect, compare and contrast, chronological, description, problem/solution or sequence). In 2–3 sentences, explain how you determined it.
- Text Feature: What text feature could be added to a printed version to enhance understanding? In one sentence, explain how it would enhance the audience’s experience.
Delivered December 10, 1950, in Stockholm during the early nuclear age
Writers must write about the human heart because humanity will prevail
Persuade
Model answers
Original example for study purposes. Answers follow the required sentence counts.
Central Idea
William Faulkner argues that, despite the fear of nuclear destruction, writers must write about the human heart and timeless values because humanity will not merely endure but prevail.
Central Idea Development
At the beginning, Faulkner accepts the prize on behalf of his work and dedicates it to young writers struggling with the same challenges he faced. In the middle, he describes the problem of a generation paralyzed by the fear of being “blown up” and urges writers to return to “the old verities and truths of the heart,” such as love, honor, pity, pride, compassion and sacrifice. At the end, he declares his belief that “man will not merely endure: he will prevail,” and says the writer’s duty is to help humanity endure by lifting its heart.
Author’s Purpose
Persuade. I determined that his purpose was to persuade because he directly addresses young writers and urges them to change what and how they write, using a hopeful message to convince them that their work matters.
Text Structure
Problem/solution. Faulkner presents a problem, that fear of nuclear annihilation has caused writers to forget the human spirit and write without meaning. He then offers a solution: writers should focus on the human heart and universal values, which will help humanity endure and prevail. The speech moves clearly from the problem to the solution.
Text Feature
A footnote or sidebar explaining the early Cold War and the fear of atomic bombs in 1950. Historical context would help modern readers understand why Faulkner believed fear was such a powerful problem for his generation.
Background for understanding the speech
William Faulkner, an American novelist from Mississippi, received the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in 1950. He delivered his short acceptance speech in Stockholm only five years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at a time when the Soviet Union had just tested its first atomic bomb. His speech is considered one of the greatest Nobel lectures. Quote only short phrases, as the speech is protected by copyright.
Tip: explain the significance of the contrast between “endure” and “prevail”; it is the key to Faulkner’s hopeful central idea.
Related reading: Queen Elizabeth I at Tilbury, Vince Lombardi’s “What It Takes to Be Number One” and William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech