...Salvation", Langston Hughes Langston Hughes paints a picture of himself as a little boy whose decisions at a church revival directly reflect mans own instinctive behavioral tendencies for obedience. A young Langston whose congregation wants him to go up and get saved, gives into obedience and ventures to the altar as if he has seen the light of the Holy Spirit. Hughes goes on to say: " So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd rather lie, too, and say that Jesus had come ,and get up and be saved ." In saying this, Langston has obviously overlooked his personal belief to meet the level of obedience laid out by the congregation. It leads us to fact that people may believe strongly in an idea or thought but will overlook that belief to be obedient. One can make a justified assumption that everyone in society has at one time or another overlooked his or her personal feelings to conform this occurrence whether it is instinctive or judgmental is one that each individual deals with a personal level. He was a young boy who wanted to see Jesus, who wanted to earn salvation, but when he couldn't see Jesus, when everyone else saw,he found himself in the terrible position of disappointing not only himself but everyone in his community.He finally "saved" himself by pretending to see Jesus . He was saved not by love of Jesus as a congregation or preacher intended but by pretending to be other that who he was. One wanders what would have happened if he didn't stepped forward...
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...Brandi Charlot March 8, 2015 Introduction to Literature Powerless Colors An Analysis of Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” and Langston Hughes’ “On the Road” Alice Walker stated, “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Power is a mental attribute. Many people put boundaries around themselves. These self-imposed boundaries result in anguish, despair, pity, and ultimately a sense of powerlessness. Sometimes these boundaries are not only self-imposed, but society-imposed. The protagonists in Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” and Langston Hughes’ “One the Road both suffer through a state of powerlessness imposed on them by a racial prejudice society. This state of powerlessness provides both a physical and mental effect upon the protagonists. Victor, the protagonist in “The Long Ranger,” is a Native-American man that lives in Seattle, Washington. He lives with his girlfriend (who is a white woman) and drinks frequently. He is unemployed and eventually moves back to his reservation. Sargeant, the protagonist in “On the Road,” is a Black-American man. He is unemployed and looks for salvation at a church. The church refuses his pleas. He acts in rage, and subsequently, he is arrested and jailed. Racism in America has a long-standing tradition from the “March of Tears” to “Bloody Sunday.” Racism is “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics...
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...Injustice, Disillusionment, & Pressure On the surface, “Salvation” by Langston Hughes and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. seem to have very little in common. They were written by different people about different topics and use different techniques. However, they share a lesser related theme: Pressure. Pressure from others is a powerful thing. This secondary theme supports each main theme; “Salvation” demonstrates what pressure from adults can do to disillusion an individual adolescent while “Letter From Birmingham Jail” demonstrates what societal pressure does to permit injustice. In this paper I intend to not only illustrate the impact pressure can have, but also examine the literary devices used by each author to illuminate their main theme, discuss how I personally related to the themes of each story, define Non-Fiction, and explore the use of imagination in Non-Fiction works. Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful motivational speaker. His passion shined through in not only how he spoke, but the words themselves. This is because he used imaginative metaphors and rhetorical questions to pull his audience in. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” rhetorical questions are used sporadically throughout to engage the reader and continuously present the main theme: injustice. Sometimes King uses it to show that he and his followers have considered the other side of the issue, “One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others"” (King...
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...Reactions to “Salvation” This short story by Langston Hughes left me confused. I still wonder if he was saved or not; whether “salvation” should be the title of the story or not. “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved.” (Salvation, 351). This is how the story begins, with a contradiction. I suppose this some what grabbed me in interest for a while, but I do have to admit that I never truly understood if Hughes was “saved” or not. It almost seemed to me that there were missing components, that this short story was maybe an excerpt from a larger story. I did not take the time to confirm this or not because I think if I knew for sure, it may take away from my true interpretation of this piece. I found this short story interesting. However, it was very difficult for me to connect with the author. The story was obviously written as recollection of a significant event in Hughes life when he was younger, perhaps because this particular event has affected him throughout his entire life. It is difficult for me to say for sure mostly because I have very little knowledge and understanding of church, religion, or being “saved” even means. So going off of my reaction purely from the way Hughes wrote it, I would have to say that I think he might have spent a long part of his life confused about what happened that day in the church. Hughes was very young this day where he was supposed to “see” Jesus. Being so young I figure he would have taken things...
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...civilisation and religion Hypocricy of race, religion and civilisation are interconnexcted here. In Colour Bar the poet expresses her anger against color discrimination. She criticizes Christianity When the followers (salvation sellers) of that (which says love your neighbour, respect your brethern) are themselves devoted to carry out this vile practise /foolish act. Poet's attack on Christianity is based on rational approach. Inspite of...
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...|[pic] |Syllabus | | |College of Humanities | | |ENG/125 Version 3 | | |Literature in Society | Copyright © 2010, 2008, 2006 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course introduces themes in literature and provides guided study and practice in reflecting on themes which describe the human experience across cultural and societal boundaries. The course includes readings from literature in different genres and cultures. Students study the literature in thematic units and are asked to make connections to their own lives and cultures. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies...
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...NORTH AMERICAN FICTION BRIEF INTRODUCTION: Before starting our study of American Fiction we must understand what American Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know...
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...Narrative A narrative is a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narrator is a storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling you about last night’s party. Point of View The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes. First-person narration: A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as “I.” The narrator may be an active participant in the story or just an observer. When the point of view represented is specifically the author’s, and not a fictional narrator’s, the story is autobiographical and may be nonfictional (see Common Literary Forms and Genres below). Third-person narration: The narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” • Omniscient narration: The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters. For example, the narrator of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina seems to know everything about all the characters and events in the story. • Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings, and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. For example, the narrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has full knowledge of only Alice. • Free indirect discourse: The narrator conveys a character’s inner thoughts...
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...[pic] FIRST ARMY EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REPRESENTATIVE COURSE STUDENT GUIDE TO CULTURAL AWARENESS INDEX LESSON TITLE PAGE 1 Philosophical Aspects of Culture SG- 3 C1 Native American Experience SG- 4 C2 White American Experience SG- 23 C3 Arab American Experience SG- 43 C4 Hispanic American Experience SG- 53 C5 Black American Experience SG- 76 C6 Asian American Experience SG-109 C7 Jewish American Experience SG-126 C8 Women in the Military SG-150 C9 Extremist Organizations/Gangs SG-167 STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING FAMILIARIZED WITH ALL CLASS MATERIAL PRIOR TO CLASS. INFORMATION PAPER ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCE Developed by Edwin J. Nichols, Ph.D. |Ethnic Groups/ |Axiology |Epistemology |Logic |Process | |World Views | | | | | |European |Member-Object |Cognitive |Dichotomous |Technology | |Euro-American |The highest value lies in the object |One knows through counting |Either/Or...
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...6 Build Your Vocabulary ■ ■ ■ ■ The SAT High-Frequency Word List The SAT Hot Prospects Word List The 3,500 Basic Word List Basic Word Parts be facing on the test. First, look over the words on our SAT High-Frequency Word List, which you’ll find on the following pages. Each of these words has appeared (as answer choices or as question words) from eight to forty times on SATs published in the past two decades. Next, look over the words on our Hot Prospects List, which appears immediately after the High-Frequency List. Though these words don’t appear as often as the high-frequency words do, when they do appear, the odds are that they’re key words in questions. As such, they deserve your special attention. Now you’re ready to master the words on the High-Frequency and Hot Prospects Word Lists. First, check off those words you think you know. Then, look up all the words and their definitions in our 3,500 Basic Word List. Pay particular attention to the words you thought you knew. See whether any of them are defined in an unexpected way. If they are, make a special note of them. As you know from the preceding chapters, SAT often stumps students with questions based on unfamiliar meanings of familiar-looking words. Use the flash cards in the back of this book and create others for the words you want to master. Work up memory tricks to help yourself remember them. Try using them on your parents and friends. Not only will going over these high-frequency words reassure you that you...
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...Barack Obama Dreams from My Father “For we are strangers before them, and sojourners, as were all our fathers. 1 CHRONICLES 29:15 PREFACE TO THE 2004 EDITION A LMOST A DECADE HAS passed since this book was first published. As I mention in the original introduction, the opportunity to write the book came while I was in law school, the result of my election as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. In the wake of some modest publicity, I received an advance from a publisher and went to work with the belief that the story of my family, and my efforts to understand that story, might speak in some way to the fissures of race that have characterized the American experience, as well as the fluid state of identitythe leaps through time, the collision of cultures-that mark our modern life. Like most first-time authors, I was filled with hope and despair upon the book’s publication-hope that the book might succeed beyond my youthful dreams, despair that I had failed to say anything worth saying. The reality fell somewhere in between. The reviews were mildly favorable. People actually showed up at the readings my publisher arranged. The sales were underwhelming. And, after a few months, I went on with the business of my life, certain that my career as an author would be short-lived, but glad to have survived the process with my dignity more or less intact. I had little time for reflection over the next ten years. I ran a voter registration project in...
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