ipl-logo

How Does Langston Hughes Use Syntax In Salvation

601 Words3 Pages

Few religions outline the exact steps towards salvation. They follow this practice with the belief that no mortal can truly know whether they will see heaven’s pearly gates, even if he or she spends years knocking on doors with tracts and Bibles in hand. In Langston Hughes’ “Salvation,” however, a church in the midst of a revival pleads and shouts that a young Hughes simply needs to see Jesus to be saved. But when Hughes can’t see Jesus, he loses faith in both salvation and himself. To help his readers understand his younger self’s reasoning for his loss of faith, Hughes manipulates his syntax to immerse the audience in his naive 13-year-old mind. This syntax rightly mimics a speech pattern of a young boy excited to be saved. For weeks, Hughes’

Show More
Related

  • Langston Hughes Use Of Rhetorical Devices

    1097 Words  | 5 Pages

    1) The main point of the essay is revealed in paragraph two where it states, “The cause of my anguish is that I am the lone bastion of testosterone in a household that contains two females undergoing estrogen-related Armageddon’s of biblical proportion.” Hughes’ main point is the troubles a man faces in a family with two females. He sets up an illustration comparing his household to a “war zone where every word [he utters] is a potential grenade threatening to blow up in [his] face.” This comparison exaggerates the position the author is in through the metaphor he uses of the war zone to capture his family dynamic. 2) Hughes secondary point in the essay is the “existential question: ‘What the heck went wrong here and what do I do about it?’”

    Read More

  • How Does Langston Hughes Use Personification In Salvation

    189 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Langston Hughes’ piece “Salvation,” he implemented personification to amplify the impassioned, but manipulative, environment of the church during the revival. 2. “And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning, some poor sinners to be saved” (par. 4). “And the whole building rocked with prayer and song” (par. 4).

    Read More

  • What Is The Truth By Josh Dowel Chapter 1 Summary

    1663 Words  | 7 Pages

    Chapter One: My Story In the very beginning of this book, the author, Josh Dowel, relates a story from his childhood in which he couldn’t find satisfaction from his church, and thereby abandoned attending church. He quotes a country saying “when something doesn’t work, get rid of it” as a way of explaining his attitude toward church, and consequently, religion. Later in this chapter, Dowel explains a revelation which led him to once again explore Christianity. He realized a valuable truth: Jesus Christ and religion are two separate entities.

    Read More

  • Summary Of A Prayer For Owen Meany

    1669 Words  | 7 Pages

    Religion is a confusing and controversial subject that many people struggle with, much like John Wheelwright. A Prayer for Owen Meany expresses an honest political view of America and their military actions while telling a story of a child becoming a Christian. A little boy full of doubts about his faith meets a miracle of a child named Owen Meany and makes him his best friend. It's not his small size or high-pitched voice that makes Owen unique; it’s his fate. Through the eyes of a man named John Wheelwright we witness the events that change a skeptical little boy to a faithful Christian.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Salvation Theme

    964 Words  | 4 Pages

    Langston Hughes short story “Salvation” epitomizes what is an internal struggle for many people, especially children, who want so badly to believe what they have been taught all their lives by their relatives, elders in the church and the preacher; that to have a relationship with God, you must be saved and only then will you be able to see him. Hughes’ Aunt Reed paints such a vivid picture of that idea beginning in the story’s second chapter: “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.”

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Salvation Analysis

    439 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, he recalls a time from his childhood when he was at church. All the children of the church were being “saved” until he was eventually the last one who wasn’t. Feeling tired and pressured, Langston stood, declaring he had been saved. He felt horrible for lying, but the pressure placed upon him by the entire church outweighed the feeling of guilt. Similarly, people of all types experience a feeling similar to Langston’s; something called peer pressure.

    Read More

  • Imagery And Irony In Langston Hughes's 'Salvation'

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Hughes’s short essay, which he ironically titles “Salvation,” he tells the reader about one of his most significant childhood memories. Hughes provides background about a huge revival at his aunt’s church. He flashes forward to the day where he was supposed to be called upon by Jesus and greeted by a bright light his aunt repeatedly tells him about. Hughes recalls that he sat on the mourners’ bench right in the front row with the rest of the unsaved children.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis On Salvation

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    Langston Hughes used rhetoric words in his story “Salvation,” to provide foreshadows, and emotional appeals to his struggles in becoming religiously saved. Hughes began his story by stating “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen (179).” The irony in this opening is that Hughes initially believed in the presence of Jesus, but unexpected pressures pushed him to betray and deceive his faith. The setting of Hughes struggles took place in a religious ceremony in his Auntie Reed’s church. In this service, many young children like Hughes were gathered to be spiritually cleansed by the light of Jesus.

    Read More

  • Shifting Attitude Toward Salvation In Langston Hughes's Essay '

    102 Words  | 1 Pages

    Langston Hughes 's shifting attitude toward salvation in his essay was disappointing and at the same time upsetting. He 's disappointed and upset because he was forced to believe in the situation that something will happen to him inside before he accept Jesus but instead it did not happen. Most of the time we are pressured to accept an idea of what others belief, not because we agree to it but instead we intentionally do it for them to stop asking. Some felt the guilt after, and do something about it but most of the time we just let it go and move on.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Figurative Language

    157 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are many talented poets, but there is something special about Langston Hughes that makes him unique. He has many eye-opening poems. Langston Hughes is definitely one of a kind. The poems Cross and Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, use figurative languages such as imagery and syntax to provide more climax. Imagery.

    Read More

  • Peer Pressure In Langston Hughes's 'Salvation'

    1086 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the essay “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, Hughes argues that one should make decisions themselves instead of being forced by other people in your life. At the start of the essay, Hughes explains to the reader that his aunt was excited about anl at church where kids would get saved. Seeing Jesus,Hughes aunt told him, means you are saved and have accepted Jesus into your life. Right there is where the pressure starts for

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes I Too Analysis

    858 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis Of Salvation By Langston Hughes

    757 Words  | 4 Pages

    We can define the word salvation as deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ. One can be saved by accepting Jesus Christ into your life, but this wasn’t the case for Langston Hughes when he wrote “Salvation”. Having portrayed himself as a young teenage boy when this piece was written and using the first person perspective, the pressure he felt wanting to actually see and feel Jesus is the main reason why he ruined it for himself, and he was not “saved”. The first two lines even say “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved.”

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Cross Literary Devices

    776 Words  | 4 Pages

    The most important literary devices that Langston Hughes uses in “Cross” are denotation and connotation. The title, “Cross”, is an example of Hughes using these devices. One definition of cross is something that results from crossbreeding, like a hybrid. Cross can also be the object that Jesus carried and was crucified on. The title emphasizes that the speaker is half black and half white and is therefore different from others and feels like a crossbreed.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Figurative Language

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem that I chose was Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes I chose this poem because it’s a very confusing and very difficult to understand but if you treat it like a puzzle and take the small parts and put them together and understand what they mean you put the whole picture together. The theme of Dream Deferred was the limitations that African Americans had at the time to come and have the so-called “American Dream”. A simile in the text would be “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun”The author uses this to help his theme by stating that the raisin will become smaller and smaller but it won't disappear. Another part of the poem that contributes is“fester like a sore and the run” this means rejected dream almost physically painful and gets infected and becomes a gross reminder. Finally, the last piece of evidence I could find is “or does it explode” this means that everything is gone and the dream is blown to bits”.

    Read More

More about How Does Langston Hughes Use Syntax In Salvation

Open Document