Salvation by Langston Hughes Fall 2005 Designed by

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes Fall 2005 Designed by Daphne Shuo-Yin Lin English Department, Fu Jen Catholic University

Cultural Background • Christianity – Who • a Christian congregation • 13 -year old Hughes – Where: a revival – What: biblical allusions • ¶ 1 – “to bring the young lambs to the fold” • ¶ 3 – “the ninety and nine safe in the fold” (Matthew 18: 12 -13) • African American community – The social class of the congregational members • ¶ 4 -6

Timeline • Check out the worksheet that requires you to complete the timeline of the story. • Drag and drop the incidents provided on the top of the worksheet to the appropriate lines of the timeline. • Two incidents are missing. Write a sentence for each incident. Place the two sentences you write on the appropriate lines of the timeline.

Questions for Response 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. How significant do you think Hughes's age played in his experience of this event? When the aunt said a person who would be saved would see Jesus Christ, she was saying it metaphorically. How did her metaphorical explanation induce Hughes's conflict? Read Paragraphs 3 and 4. What mood and emotions are invoked in you? What types of images come into your mind? Describe the images in your own words. Read Paragraph 5. The word "still" may have two meanings. – What are the two meanings you find? – The use of "still" here may be rhetorically considered as a double entendre. What effect do you think this double entendre has? Read Paragraphs 4 and 6. – What social class do you think the congregation (the people of Aunt Reed's church) belonged to? – Why do you think the writer has to specify that Westly was a rounder's son? Read Paragraphs 7 -12. What do you think caused Hughes to fake his salvation? Finish reading the essay. What exactly do you think caused Hughes to lose his faith?

Literary Terms • Allusion [典故]: a stylistic device in which one implicitly references a related object or circumstance that has occurred or existed in an external context. An allusion is understandable only to those with prior knowledge of the reference in question (as the writer assumes the reader has). Types of allusions may include: – Literary allusion (e. g. mythological allusion) – Historical allusion – Biblical allusion • Metaphor [暗喻] – A figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things essentially unalike. (e. g. Life is a burning candle. ) • Irony [反諷]: In literature, there are three types of irony. – Verbal irony: a figure of speech when an expression used is the opposite of the thought in the speaker's mind, thus conveying a meaning that contradicts the literal definition. – Dramatic irony: a literary or theatrical device of having a character utter words which the reader or audience understands to have a different meaning, but of which the character himself is unaware. – Situational irony: when a situation occurs which is quite the reverse of what one might have expected. (Please click on the linked terms for the sources of the explanations. )

Questions for Analysis – Literary Skills 1. Consider the following rhetorical skills that Langston Hughes uses in this essay. – – biblical allusions: Hughes uses allusions to the Bible. (Refer to the cultural notes to understand these allusions. ) What effects do these allusions create? metaphors: The aunt's explanation in Paragraph 2 and the description about the ecstasy (extreme happiness) in Paragraph 13 are both metaphors. What effects do the metaphors create? irony: You may find the use of situational irony in Paragraph 6 and that of dramatic irony in Paragraph 15. Explain the two types of irony in this essay. Also, discuss the effects they create. repetition: Find out expressions or passages that are repeated in the essay; highlight them in the text. What effect do you think the skill of repetition creates?

Questions for Analysis 2. Identify all of the images in this essay and discuss the dominant impression these images create. 3. Read the essay aloud or listen to Mr. Monroe B. White read the essay by checking out the audio aids. You may find that many passages in the essay are rhythmical. How do the rhythmical passages help to create the dominant impression? 4. Refer to your answers to Questions 1 -3 in this part. What do you think the main idea is of the essay?

Questions for Application • Have you ever taken a metaphorical explanation literally? What happened? What was the result?

A Comparative Study – “The Pie” & “Salvation” You may compare the following topics: • Age of the main characters • Incidents • Main idea • Writing skills