Similarities Between Edwards And Mckay

Snowflakes are all scientifically unique in some way, yet these icy forms possess a common trait: each is made of a frozen complex of water. Much like snowflakes, literature, while seemingly unique, contains similarities. These kinds of literary parallels can be seen in Jonathan Edwards’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die”. These two pieces of literature are from two different eras, Edwards’s is from the Puritan era of American Literature. The Puritan era was focused on facing the pain dealt with due to religious wrongdoing. These ideals clash with McKay’s era, the Harlem Renaissance: an era of change, blooming art and popular culture, and pride. Throughout Edwards’s sermon, he demonstrates to listeners

Despite these differing messages, both Edwards and McKay use kairos leading to an emotional response, acknowledgment of punishment, and purposeful point of view to connect to their respective audiences. Both authors utilize kairos in their works to persuade readers and listeners. In McKay’s poem, he uses the fight for the civil rights of Black Americans to build kairos in readers. He believes that “We must meet the common foe!/ Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave” (McKay 9-10). By pointing out a common enemy between the groups of McKay himself and his readers vs. oppressors, he puts a want to fight for more into the readers' minds. In Edwards’s spoken piece, he uses the possibility of holy judgment from God to build kairos in his Christian listeners. In his execution of the appeal, he describes a “Lake of burning brimstone [that] is extended under you. that dreadful pit of the glowing flames of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open” (Edwards 80). This description of future judgment panics listeners and keeps them listening intently to his words. In both instances, they were used to invoke emotion through panic, a call to action, or

In Edwards’s sermon, he uses the concept of punishment as a negative reaction to the listener’s negative actions. He portrays that “The bow of God’s wrath is bent and the arrow made ready on the string. but the pleasure of God, and that of an angry God. Keeps the arrow. from being made drunk with your blood” (Edwards 80-81). This depiction of punishment shows it in its more common connotation, negative and painful. Paralleling that portrayal, McKay uses the concept of punishment to show that it is not always rightfully given, and may be the thing that causes a difference. McKay explains that even “If we must die, O let us nobly die,/ So that our precious blood may not be shed/In vain” (McKay 5-7). Although blood is shed, and lives are lost, they are not in vain as they allow for future change to commence. In each piece, punishment is described, although, in differing light. In one it is used to show how it will lead to pain and strife, with a description of the torturous consequences. In the other, it is used to show how it can be the effect of doing the right thing, with. This addressing of punishment shows similarities between “If We Must Die” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry