Reaction to Salvation by Langston Hughes
Reaction Paper Non Fiction
ENG 125
September 24, 2012
Heather Carpolio
Reaction Paper Non Fiction “Salvation” By Langston Hughes "My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul." ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011) Langston Hughes ' short story uses allegory to redefine the word "see", when his aunt tells him hat he will see Jesus, Langston Hughes believes he will actual see the the bodily figure of a man appear before him. "Still I kept waiting to see Jesus." ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011) Throughout the story Hughes plays to the irony of the church and the people around him writing that he was surrounded by sisters and deacons crying out in gospel tones begging him to come to Jesus and be saved at this moment the reader can not help but to succumb to Hughes ' appeal to emotion and the appeal to pathos for we all know what it is like to be in that moment where friends and family are pressuring you to except something that doesn 't make complete sense. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011) Langston Hughes ' aunt set out to give him a relationship with Jesus and a feeling of acceptance in the world around him, but unfortunately the only thing that being "saved" gave Langston Hughes was an understanding that religious belief must come from within, because even in our greatest hour of need the god to whom we have pledged our faith will remain unseen to our eyes. Langston Hughes learned that it is easier to lie and be excepted than to question the motives behind others ' beliefs and what is known as the status quo in exceptable public behavior. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I 'd better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved. ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011)
ENG 125
September 24, 2012
Heather Carpolio
Reaction Paper Non Fiction “Salvation” By Langston Hughes "My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul." ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011) Langston Hughes ' short story uses allegory to redefine the word "see", when his aunt tells him hat he will see Jesus, Langston Hughes believes he will actual see the the bodily figure of a man appear before him. "Still I kept waiting to see Jesus." ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011) Throughout the story Hughes plays to the irony of the church and the people around him writing that he was surrounded by sisters and deacons crying out in gospel tones begging him to come to Jesus and be saved at this moment the reader can not help but to succumb to Hughes ' appeal to emotion and the appeal to pathos for we all know what it is like to be in that moment where friends and family are pressuring you to except something that doesn 't make complete sense. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011) Langston Hughes ' aunt set out to give him a relationship with Jesus and a feeling of acceptance in the world around him, but unfortunately the only thing that being "saved" gave Langston Hughes was an understanding that religious belief must come from within, because even in our greatest hour of need the god to whom we have pledged our faith will remain unseen to our eyes. Langston Hughes learned that it is easier to lie and be excepted than to question the motives behind others ' beliefs and what is known as the status quo in exceptable public behavior. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I 'd better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved. ( Barnet, Burto & Cain, 2011)
References: Salvation By Langston Hughes and "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" written by Dr. Martin Luther King Barnet, S., Burto, W., & Cain, W. E. (2011). Literature for composition. (9th ed.). Bloomington: Longman.