Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Christianity
Langston Hughes
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Salvation
Salvation has in scriptural language the general
meaning of liberation from straitened circumstances or
from other evils, and of a translation into a state of
freedom and security. At times it expresses God’s help
against Israel’s enemies, at other times, the Divine
blessing bestowed on the produce of the soil. As sin is
the greatest evil, being the root and source of all evil,
sacred Scripture uses the word “salvation” mainly in the
sense of liberation of the human race or of the individual
man from sin and its consequences. We shall first
consider the salvation of the human race, and then
salvation as it is verified in the individual man.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Christianity
Salvation
Christianity
Langston Hughes
Christianity religion was founded in Palestine by the
followers of Jesus. As one of the world’s major religions, it
predominates in Europe and the Americas, where it has been
a powerful historical force and cultural influence, but it also
claims that adherent in virtually every country of the world.
The central teachings of traditional Christianity the are that
Jesus is the son of the God, the second person of the Trinity of
God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that his life on
earth, his crucifixion, resurrection, and individual ascension
into heaven are proof of God’s love for humanity and God’s
forgiveness of human sins; and that by faith in Jesus one may
attain salvation and eternal life. This teaching is embodied in
the Bible, especially in the New Testament, but Christians
accept also the Old Testament as sacred and authoritative
Scripture.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Christian ethics derive to a large extent from the Jewish
Salvation
tradition as presented in the Old Testament, particularly the
Christianity
Ten Commandments, but with some difference of interpretation
Langston Hughes
based on the practice and teachings of Jesus. Christianity may
be further generally defined in terms of its practice of corporate
worship and rites that usually include the use of sacraments
and that are usually conducted by trained clergy within
organized churches. There are, however, many different forms
of worship, many interpretation of the role of the organized
clergy, and many variations in polity and church organization
within Christianity.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Langston Hughes
Salvation
Christianity
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is writer, editor and lecturer. He
achieved fame as a poet during the burgeoning of the arts known
as the Harlem Renaissance, but those who label him “a Harlem
Langston Hughes
Renaissance poet” have restricted his fame to only one genre
and decade. In addition to his work as a poet, Hughes was a
novelist, columnist, playwright, and essayist, and though he is
most closely associated with Harlem, his world travels influenced
his writing in a profound way. Langston Hughes followed the
example of PAUL Laurence Dunbar, one of his early poetic
influences, to become the second African to earn a living as a
writer. His long and distinguished career African American writers.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Christianity
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Although his youth as marked with transition, Hughes extracted
meaning from the places and people whence he came. The
search for employment led his mother and step-father, Homer
Langston Hughes
Clark, to move several times. Hughes moved often between the
households of his grandmother, his mother, and other surrogate
parents. One of his essays claims that he has slept in “Ten
Thousand Beds”. Growing up in the Midwest (Lawrence, Kansas;
Topeka, Kansas; Lincoln, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio), young
Hughes learned the blues and spirituals. He would subsequently
weave these musical elements into his own poetry and fiction.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
1. salvation: n.
(a) (esp in the Christian religion) the saving or state of
being saved from sin
e. g. Through Christ and his death the CHRISTIANS
FOUND SALVATION.
(b) (formal) saving or preservation from loss, ruin, or failure
e.g. The people have no food: their salvation depends on
quick action.
salve vt.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
2. revival: n.
(a) rebirth or renewal; reviving or being revived
e. g. There has been some revival of interest in the
fashions of the 1960’s.
(b) renewal of religious spirit; in some churches, a set of
special services intended to bring this about
e.g. We had a revival at our church last week.
revive vt. &vi.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
3. preach: vt. &vi.
(a) give a sermon, esp as part of a service in church
e.g. Christ preached to large crowds.
The priest preached (about) the importance of caring
for the old and sick.
(b) advise or urge others to accept (sth that one believes in)
e.g. She is always preaching the value of fresh air.
(c) (derogative) offer (unwanted advice on matters of right
and wrong)
e.g. My sister has been preaching at me again about my
lack of neatness.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
4. hardened: adj. made or became hard or harder, pitiless,
unfeeling, toughened
e.g. The report claims that young people put in prison are
corrupted by hardened criminals.
harden: vt.&vi. (cause to) become hard or firm
e.g. The snow hardened until ice was formed.
My hands hardened when I was working on the farm.
Don’t harden your heart against (=don’t be hard and
unkind toward) him.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
5. speak of:
(a) speak about ;discuss
e.g. They seemed to be speaking of someone whom he
hardly knew. He hadn’t been able to speak until now
of what had happened.
(b) (only used in negatives, questions, etc) worth
mentioning; of much valve or amount
e.g. There’s been no rain to speak of , only a few drops.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
6. escort:vt. (a) (formal) go with (sb) as an escort
e.g. The mayor was escorted by the workers as he toured
the factory.
n. person or people who go with another as a guard, or as
a companion
e.g. The prisoner traveled under police escort.
Mary’s escort arrived to take her out for the evening.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
7. from then on: starting then
e.g. From then on, he worked very hard.
Section Five:
Activities
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
8. leave out:
(a) let (usu sth)remain outside；leave in the open
e.g. If you leave your bicycle out at night, you will soon
have trouble with rust.
(b) omit；fail to include (sth or sb)as in a list
e.g. We can leave out the second sentence in the
paragraph.
(c) pay no attention to (sb)
e.g. Nobody speaks to her; she's always left out.
leave out in the cold: abandon; neglect intentionally
e.g. Whenever they have a dance, an outing, or a social
gathering, they invite my friends, but leave me out in
the cold.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
9. right away: at once; without delay
e.g. He has written down a list of things to do right away.
He received my email, but did not answer right away.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
10. a great many: a large number; a good many
e.g. The information has proved useful to a great many
people.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
11. jet-black: adj. very dark
e.g. His hair was jet-black and well combed around the
ears.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
12. gnarled: adj. rough and twisted, with hard lumps, esp
as a result of age or hard work
e.g. The Scots pine has the gnarled trunks
The old peasant is wrinkled, and gnarled.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
13. tired of: no longer interested in
e.g. I'm tired of his stupid remarks.
Judy was tired of quarreling with her husband.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
14. kneel: vi. go down or remain on the knee(s)
e.g. She knelt (down) to pray.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
15. swirl: vi. move with twisting turns
e.g. The sea was swirling crashing round the breakwaters.
Dust swirled in small circles around me.
n. swirling movement
e.g. She danced with a swirl of her skirt.
swirl about: move about in thick masses, constantly
changing speed and direction
e.g. Thick dust swirl about, getting into our food and water.
The happy couple linked arms and swirled about the
street.
Don't swim in where the water is swirling around;
there are dangerous currents.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
16. congregation: n. group of people gathered together,
esp in a church for religious worship
e.g. That Sunday, there were only ten in the congregation.
congregate vi.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
17. sob: vi. breathe while weeping, in sudden short bursts
e.g. The little boy sobbed to sleep (= wept until he feel
asleep).
She put her head on her friend's shoulder and
began to sob.
He sat down at the table, sobbing.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
18. be ashamed: feel shame, guilt, sorrow, or unwillingness
e.g. She was ashamed of having asked such a simple
question.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
19. hold up:
(a) delay (sth or sb); stop
e.g. The train was held up by heavy fog.
(b) raise (sth); keep (sth) raised
e.g. I held up the map so that it could be seen more clearly.
(c) stop (a vehicle) by force in order to rob it
e.g. The three criminals held up the train and took all the
passengers' money.
(d) charge (sb) too much
e.g. Don't go to that restaurant, they hold you up.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
20. wonder: vt. & vi. (a) express a wish to know
e.g. I wonder if she knows we're here.
I wonder why they didn't arrive.
I wonder what really happened.
(b) be surprised and want to know (why)
e.g. I wonder that he can come here after what happened.
Arriving in New York, she wondered at the tall buildings and
crowded streers.
n. (sth which causes) a feeling of strangeness, surprise, and
admiration
e.g. They were filled with wonder at the sight of the great
new waterfall.
The temple of Diana was one of the seven Wonders of the
World in ancient times.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
21. think about: examine; consider (esp a plan, idea, to see
whether it is desirable, practical, etc); have in one's mind;
recall
e.g. We are thinking about going to Paris for our vacation.
I should like to think about your suggestion before I
give a definite reply.
Please think about the proposal and let me have your
views tomorrow.
She is thinking about emigrating to Canada.
She is thinking about her childhood days.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
22. grin: vt.& vi. make a grin
e.g. they grinned with pleasure when I gave them the
candy.
n. smile, esp a very wide smile
e.g. I knew she was joking because she had a big grin on
her face.
grin at: smile broadly at(sb or sth amusing)
e.g. I cannot help grinning at the funny things the child
says.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
23. strike: vt. &vi.
(a) hit
e.g. She struck him in the face.
He struck out at his attackers.
(b) make or put into action by hitting
e.g. He struck a match and lit a cigarette.
She struck a note on the piano.
The clock struck 12.
(c) have an effect on
e.g. How does the room strike you(=What do you think
of it)?
That strikes me as a good idea.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
(d) come suddenly to the mind
e.g. If a better idea strike you, please let me know.
It strikes me that we should stay here for the night.
(e) stop working because of disagreement
e.g. The union struck for better working conditions.
strike a balance: be fair to everybody
e.g. It is difficult to strike a balance between the two courses
of action.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
24. lie: vi.(lay, lain, lying)(a) be in a flat position on a surface
e.g. The book is lying on the table.
Father is lying down(=resting on a bed) for a while.
(b) be in the state position; be placed
e.g. The truth lies somewhere between the statement of
the two men.
(c) remain or be kept in the stated position or condition
e.g. The machines have lain idle for weeks now.
Don not leave your money lying in the bank, speed it.
lie behind: be the reason for
e.g. I wonder what lies behind his decision to leave.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
25. had better: ought to; should
e.g. I’d better go home now.
You’d better not tell him the bad news.
Section Five:
Activities
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
26. break into:(a) force an entry into; force one’s way into
e.g. The thieves waited until it was dark enough to break into the house .
(b) enter a new line of business
e.g. It is difficult to break into the fields of advertising.
(c) interrupt (sth)
e.g. The children broke into the conversation with the demands for
attention
My aunt’s regular visits broke into my weekend.
(d) begin (sth such as a movement) suddenly
e.g. Rebecca broke into song.
break away:(cause to) come apart (from sth)
e.g. The wing of the plane away in mid-air and the plane crashed.
break out: begin, usu suddenly
e.g. War broke out in 1937.
Fire broke out in the hospital last night.
break through :make advances in discover or any other aim
e.g. Scientists think they have broken through in their attempt to find the
cause of many major diseases.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
27. lead:vt & vi. show the way by going in front
e.g. She led the blind man down the stairs.
The horses were led into the yard.
You lead and I will follow.
n. the front position ,the distance or number of points by
which a person or thing is in advance of another
e.g. Los Angeles was in the lead (=winning the game) at
half time in the basketball match.
Our product still has a good lead over that of our
competitor.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
28. quiet: adj. not making oneself noticed by activity
e.g. The children are unusually quiet today.
v.(cause to) become quieter or calmer
e.g. The meeting quieted down after repeated warnings
from the chairman that the hall would be cleared.
The children quickly quieted down.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
29. punctuate: vt.& vi.(a) interrupt repeatedly
e.g. The football game was punctuated by the cheers of
supporters.
The old lady’s words were punctuated by noise from
outside.
(b) divide (written matter) into sentences, phrases, etc by
means of punctuation marks
e.g. If you don’t punctuate ancient Chinese texts, they will
be difficult to read.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
30. bury: vt. (a) put into a grave
e.g. She will be buried there in the church.
(b) hide away, esp in the ground
e.g. The dog buried a bone’
The facts are buried in a few old books.
Section Five:
Activities
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
31. bear: vt.& vi. (a) suffer without complaining
e.g. She bore the pain with great courage.
I can’t bear (=greatly dislike) the smell of tobacco smoke.
I couldn’t bear to listen my longer, so I left the room.
(b) carry from one place to another
e.g. The hawk seized the mouse and bore it off to its nest.
(c) have; show
e.g. The letter bears his signature.
bear in mind: not forget
e.g. He didn’t do the job well, but bear in mind that he was ill
at the time.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraph 1
Questions:
(1) Why does Hughes say he was saved from sin…but not
really saved?
(It seems paradoxical to admit something but at the same
time deny it. However it is true in the case of Hughes’
experience at a church revival. He uses this paradox to
show the theme of the essay: One feels greatly frustrated
and disappointed when one fails to achieve his or her
goal and has to tell a lie against his or her will.)
(2) What is the function of the third sentence in the
paragraph organization?
(It serves as traditional sentence to link the topic sentence
and the detailed events, without which the paragraph
would not be coherent.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
(3)Why did Aunt Reed bring Hughes to the front row of the church and
place him on the mourners’ bench with other young people? (Aunt
Reed was a pious Christian. She did so in order to make Hughes
conform to Christianity, i.e. to be saved from sin. Notice that
Hughes frequently mentioned “sin”, “sinner” or “the young sinners”
in this essay, which have something to do with what is stated in the
Bible. The Bible says that God created the first man Adam and the
first woman Eve, and then Adam, disregarded God’s warning and
ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and so
transformed themselves, as God believed, from primal innocence to
a knowledge of a evil. As punishment, Adam and Eve were
banished from the garden. Christianity holds that this original sin,
man’s first disobedience to God, is passed down to all human
beings, who are descendants of Adam and Eve. Therefore, all men
born sinners.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 2
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Questions:
(1)What did his aunt tell him about being saved from sin?
(She said that when you were saved you saw a little,
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. Notice the metaphorical concepts used by
his aunts were taken literarily by young Hughes.
Examine the repeated use of exclamation marks.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 2
Questions
Questions:
(2)Why did Hughes think a lot of old people should know
Sentence Highlights
what his aunt had described to him about being
saved?
(Open. Suggested answer: Hughes probably thought: it
was not new or surprising for you old people to
mention the same thing as my aunt had descried to
me. Since my aunt knew that, you old people ought to
know that too. This shows that young Hughes is very
innocent and naïve.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 3
Questions:
(1) What is the relation between “a…sermon”and “all
moans…of hell”?
(“All moans…of hell” is what the sermon is about, that is, it is the
content of the sermon.)
(2) Is there any musical or poetic element in the preacher’s song?
(yes. In “sing a song”, “ninety and nine “and “little lambs…left”,
the italicized letters are in alliteration;”fold”and “cold” are in
rhyme.)
(3) Why did the little girls cry?
(The little girls were supposed to be very timid when they heard
something about the hell and when they were under the
pressure of the repeated imposing requests by the preacher,
so they cried out of fear. It might also mean that they
claimed to have seen Jesus.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 4-5
Questions:
(1) How do you interpret the sentence “And the church sang a song
about the lower lights are burning…”?
(“The church” is metaphorically used to represent the peple in the
church, and “the lower lights are burning” is the content of the song.
The phrase “lower lights” has a religious and a metaphorical
connotation which suggests “light” in human soul is borrowed light
just like the moonshine. According to Christian beliefs, when we are
living in the light of Savior we shine with his light, Hence, God is the
upper light, and we are the lower lights. We live as children of the
light, not a s the children as the darkness. If we are dark, and
sorrowful, how is the world to know that we the children of peace,
and joy, and gladness? Our determination must be to keep our lights
burning.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraph 4-5
Questions:
Questions
Sentence Highlights
(2) Why are the nouns “prayer” and “song” used without articles
or not in the plural?
(The nouns “prayer” and “song” are not in the plural or without
articles, because nouns in double expressions with
preposition are often used in a way as if they abstract
nouns.)
(3) What is the function of “still” at the beginning of Paragraph5
and why is “see” italicized?
(The word “still” is used to show a contrastive relation between
Paragraph 4 and Paragraph 5. The word “see” is italicized to
emphasize the fact that Hughes wanted to see the real
image of Jesus, which is the basis of Hughes’
misunderstanding about Christian religion.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraph 6
Questions:
(1) Why did Westley get up and claim to be saved?
(He was tied of sitting in the hot church for long,
surrounded by sisters and deacons praying for him.)
(2) What effect do you think Westley”s behavior exerted
on Hughes understanding of the concept about “being
saved”?
(Westley has set a negative example for Hughes that
influenced his innocent mind. Hughes did nit know
whether other people who claimed to be saved
actually see Jesus or not, but he knew that Westley
had told a lie in order to save further trouble. This
event prepares reader for the final result of the
special meeting.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraph 7
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Questions:
(1) What did other people do for Hughes to be saved?
(His dearest and nearest relative, Aunt Reed, and the whole
congregation prayed fir him. And there prayers and songs all
around him.)
(2) How did the author express his frustration?
(He did not directly say how frustrated he was at that particular
moment, but he implied this by repeating the expression”
waiting, waiting, and waiting” to show his desperate hope
and by the repetition of “nothing, nothing, nothing” to inform
the reader of how frustrated he was.)
(3) Notice in the adverbial clause “while prayers and sons
swirled all around me in the little church”, “song” should be
in the plural, as can be seen in the next paragraph.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 8-10
Questions
Questions:
Sentence Highlights
(1) Why did the minister seem to be urgent to make
repeated to Hughes?
(Maybe it is his duty to help the young people to be
saved, or maybe it is getting late, or maybe it is right
way to urge the hardened young sinners to be saved.)
(2) Why did Sister Reed sob?
(She was very sad because Hughes was the only child
who was not saved at the revival.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 11-12
Questions:
(1) Why did Langston begin to feel ashamed?
(He began to feel ashamed of himself, because other people in the
church had been waiting for him to be saved for a long time. And
it was really getting late and everything was held up so long.)
(2) What did Langston think about westley?
(He wondered what god thought about westley, a guy who had told
a lie and was then sitting proudly on the platform, swinging his
knickerbockered legs and grinning down at him. He realized that
God had not punished Westley for his telling a lie in the church.)
(3) What did Langston finally decide to do in order to avoid further
trouble?
(For the purpose of saving further trouble for both himself and other
people, he decided to tell a lie and pretended to have seen
Jesus.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 13-14
Questions:
(1) How did people in the church react when they saw
Langston got up?
(The whole room broke into a sea of shouting and waves
of rejoicing wept the place. Women jumped into the
air and his aunt threw her arms around him. The
minister took him by the hand and let him to the
platform.)
(2) How did the special meeting for children blessed in
the name of God, there was a silent moment which
was interrupted by a few ecstatic “Amen’s”, and
Christian hymns filled the room.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 15
Questions
Questions:
Sentence Highlights
(1) How did the author skillfully end up his recollection of
his childhood experience?
(He mentioned “that night” at the end of the essay as a
reference to the time when the story first started. This
helps to organize the story in a cohesive way.)
(2) Why did Hughes cry that night?
(He cried because he had told a lie to the other people in
the church and himself as well.)
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Paragraphs 15
Questions
Questions:
Sentence Highlights
(3) Did Hughes believe in God then? Why?
(He didn’t believe that there was a Jesus anymore,
because he couldn’t find Jesus to earn salvation at
the revival, and because Jesus didn’t go to help him
out of the state of frustration and disappointment.)
(4) Notice in the sentence “That night, for the first time in
my life but one…” “first” should be “last”, as is shown
in some other versions of the story.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Questions
Sentence Highlights
1. Then just before the revival ended, they held a special
meeting for children, ”to bring the young lambs to the
fold.”(Para. 1)
Paraphrase: When the church revival was about to
come to a close, the Christians in the church
gathered together the children who were considered
to be the young sinners for a particular purpose: to be
saved by Lamb of God, i.e. Jesus.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Questions
2. The preacher preached a wonderful rhythmical
Sentence Highlights
sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire
pictures of hell … (Para. 3)
Paraphrase: The church minister delivered a religious
discourse, amazing and song-like to the young Hughes,
which was all about the sufferings that the souls of the
wicked were going through in hell.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
3. And little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and
went to Jesus right away. (Para.3)
Paraphrase: After a series of religious services
conducted by the preacher, it was the litter girls who girls
started to cry (out of fear, perhaps), and then some girls
sprung up from the mourners’ bench, and immediately
headed for the platform where there was a crucifix of Jesus.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
4. And church sang a song about the lower lights are
burning, some poor sinners to be saved. (Para.4)
Paraphrase: The people in the church, in praise of God,
sang a hymn which born the content of the young
sinners having seen the lights of God and their having
earned salvation. (Notice” the lower lights” can be
interpreted as this: according to Christianity, human
light, just like the moonshine, is borrowed light. When
humans are living in the light of the Savior they shine
with His Light. Hence, God is the upper light, and
human beings are the lower lights. Human beings
must live as children of the lights, not as children of
the darkness. If they are dark and sorrowful, how is
the world to know that they are children of peace, and
joy, and gladness? Humans’ determination must be to
keep the lights burning. )
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Questions
5. Still I kept waiting to see Jesus. (para.5)
Sentence Highlights
Paraphrase: In spite of all that had happened in the
church, I remained waiting for Jesus to appear and
waiting to see him with my naked eyes.
6. I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything
up so long. (para.11)
paraphrase: I start to feel guilty of having kept others
waiting for me to be saved for such a long period of
time.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Questions
Sentence Highlights
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
7. I began to wonder that God thought about Westley,
who certainly hadn’t seen Jesus either, but who was
now sitting proudly on the platform, swinging his
knickerbockered legs and grinning down at me.
(Para.11)
paraphrase: I wished to know what God thought of
Westley. From what Westley had told me before, I
knew that he definitely had not been saved by Jesus.
Contrary to my expectation that God might punish
him severely, he was then sitting on the platform,
showing his satisfaction and pleasure by moving his
loosely-trousered legs back and forth. What’s more,
he was smiling broadly at me who was still waiting for
Jesus to come.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Text Appreciation
Language Appreciation
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Text Appreciation
The text is a story that gives an account of the author’s
childhood experience at a church revival and the subsequent
events. It is characterized by three major features, i.e. the ironic
title; repetitions for creating a tense atmosphere and shortsentence paragraphs for variety; the chronological order of plot
presentation, and the appropriate and vivid descriptions that
serve well the theme of the text; conformity can be both
beneficial and burdensome. The author gave in to conformity at
a church revival and in turn, found himself feeling both
frustrated and disappointed.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Text Appreciation
Language Appreciation
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
1. I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But
not really saved. It happened like this. (Para. 1)
This initial part of the text shows a paradoxical theme of
the story. The second sentence is a transitional
sentence in the development of the narrative. Without
the theme, the story will not be worth telling; without
the transitional sentence, the story will not be
cohesive.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
2. Every night for weeks there had been much preaching,
Text Appreciation
singing, praying, and shouting, and some very
Language Appreciation
hardened sinners had been brought to Christ, and the
membership of the church had grown by leaps and
bounds. (Para.1)
The three coordinate sentences connected by the
conjunction and give a very clear presentation of the
information in content organization, each tells three
different but coherent events in the religious scenario.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Text Appreciation
Language Appreciation
3. My aunt told me … from then on! (Para.2)
The three exclamatory sentences indicate that the
author’s aunt was a very pious Christian. It seems
that the author then literarily believed what his aunt
had said. The sentences may imply both Aunt Reed’s
voice and Hughes’ own voice. They are very effective
in character description.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Text Appreciation
Language Appreciation
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
4. Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting … to
the platform. (Para. 13)
Notice the author’s skilled method of building up the climax of
the story.
The author showed the excitement in the church over Hughes’
salvation by giving vivid descriptions of different people’s
behavior: the whole room (the people in the church),
women, my aunt and the minister.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
5. Still I kept waiting for see Jesus … “Langston,” my
Text Appreciation
Language Appreciation
aunt sobbed … So I got up.
These three sentence show the variation of paragraph
structures of the story, each of which helps to
emphasize the theme. The first sentence indicates
that Hughes firmly believed that Jesus existed and
that he could see Him with his naked eyes. This is
where the problem lies: children do not know adults
use a lot of concepts metaphorically. The second
sentence creates the decisive pressure on Hughes to
tell a lie. And the third sentence shows the outcome
of the revival meeting.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Pair works
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Have the students work in pairs and ask each other the
following questions:
Where do you prefer to live, big cities, suburbs or rural
areas? Do you feel more comfortable in some place？How
might your feelings in this regard have affected your way of
reading this essay?
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Group work
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Divide the students into groups to do the following tasks:
Try to find different behaviors of the young and the old in
the essay, and write them down, and then compare your
findings.
Write something about your own experience of an
important occasion when you were about the same age.
Relate any of your experiences to Hughes’s to see if there is
any difference.
Unit 15
Section One:
Cultural Information
Salvation
Section Two:
Word Study
Section Three:
Text Understanding
Section Four:
Text Appreciation
Section Five:
Activities
Divide the students into groups, each of which may consist
Activity 1
of three or four. Discuss the following questions: An
Activity 2
Australian teacher was dismissed from her job for telling her
Activity 3
class of youngsters that Santa Claus does not exist. What is
your opinion about this?