Slide 1

Salvation

 By Langston Hughes


Slide 2

Building Vocabulary
 1. ISR
 2. Revival, church, preaching, praying

(1); Jesus, God (2); preacher, sermon
(3); alter, deacons, sisters (6);
congregation (7); minister (8); Holy
Ghost (15)


Slide 3

Building Vocabulary
 3. Lambs are compared to “unsaved

children.” The lamb is the traditional
religious symbol for Jesus or for a
member of his “flock,” or followers


Slide 4

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 1. It is a rhythmic, moving, and

boisterous event in which the entire
congregation gets swept up. The
“sinners” and “young lambs” also get
swept up and are “brought to Christ.”


Slide 5

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 2. Because he is tired of sitting around in the

hot church in all the commotion. He thus
decides to pretend to “see Jesus” much to
the delight of the congregation (6). Hughes
comes to Jesus because he was feeling
ashamed at being the only “lamb” left and he
noticed that Westley had not seen struck
dead for lying about his salvation. (11, 12)


Slide 6

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 3. He feels even more ashamed

because of his lie. The next to the last
sentence states that he no longer
believes in Christ since he received no
divine help during the revival meeting.


Slide 7

Understanding the Writer’s
Techniques
 1. AMV. Either the very first or the very

last sentences are the thesis.
 2. By setting the scene through
providing a vivid description of the
action, a minimum of background
material, and a time placement with
Hughes’s life.


Slide 8

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 3. To emphasize the intense emotional

and social charge of the atmosphere.
Examples:
 “The preacher…cold.” (3)
 “A great many…work-gnarled hands.”
 “The whole…moans and voices.” (7)
 Par. 13


Slide 9

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 4. The main narration begins with the

last sentence of par. 2 when Langston
begins to wait for Jesus. The entire
narration takes place in on evening.
 5. that night (1); Then (3); Still (5);
Finally (6); Now (11); So (12); Suddenly
(13); When (14); That night (15)


Slide 10

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 6. Examples of transitions within a single

paragraph occur in par. 15, which starts with
the time indicator “That night,” proceeds
through the action to the opposition
conjunction :But,” and then again to the time
indicator “Now.” The words listed for question
5 connect paragraphs by moving the action
from one incident to another within the time
frame.


Slide 11

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 7. First person emphasizes the personal

impact and allows for greater authority by the
narrator.
 8. It suggests that the 12-year-old Hughes
was starting to become an adult, basing his
beliefs on his person experiences rather than
on what others would like him to believe. It
clearly shows a misunderstanding by his aunt
and uncle of his actions and beliefs.


Slide 12

Understanding the Writer’s Ideas
 9. In religious terms, it means “an

experience associated with a definite
and decisive adoption of religions.” This
contrasts with the nonreligious
connotation of a simple transformation
from one form to another. The real
conversion that takes place is Hughes’s
change from a boy to a man.


Slide 13

 Revival meeting
 http://www.lowcostprints.com/Merchant2

/prod/revivalmeeting_t.jpg