The Importance of Love, Hope, Courage, and Compassion in Writing

Part A

Which central idea does William Faulkner develop in “Upon Receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1950”?

1. Writers must write about the fear of living in a time of the threat of nuclear war.
2. Faulkner states that writers of his time write only about lust and not about love or subjects of value.
3. Faulkner believes that writers need to write with love, hope, courage, and compassion.
4. Writers have forgotten that the only subjects worth writing about are problems of the heart in conflict with itself.

Part B

Which detail from the text best helps to develop the central idea in Part A?

1. “He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion.”
2. “It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.”
3. “Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it.”
4. “Until he learns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man.”

Answer:

William Faulkner believes that writers need to write with love, hope, courage, and compassion. He emphasizes that it is the writer's duty to remind people of the positive qualities that have been the glory of humanity's past.

Explanation:

The central idea that William Faulkner develops in his speech "Upon Receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1950" is that writers need to write with love, hope, courage, and compassion. Faulkner believes that writers have forgotten the value of writing about the problems of the heart in conflict with itself. He emphasizes that it is the writer's duty to remind people of the positive qualities that have been the glory of humanity's past.

One detail from the text that best helps to develop this central idea is the statement, "It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past." This highlights the writer's role in uplifting and inspiring people through their writing.

Faulkner's call for writers to focus on love, hope, courage, and compassion serves as a reminder of the enduring qualities of humanity that should be celebrated and preserved in literature. By incorporating these elements into their work, writers can contribute to a more compassionate and empathetic society.