In Salvation on Sand Mountain, the emotional frustrations, cultural hypotheses, and literary images provide insight into the ethics of the author, Dennis Covington. During his dangerous undertakings while submerged in the religious practices of Appalachia, Covington incites anxiety within the reader when discussing worship services involving snakes, and inquisitorial thought when revealing the number of casualties involved, in turn showcasing his own passions and morality. Covington’s rectitude, goodwill, and intelligence all play important roles in revealing his ethos. Subsequently, they also exemplify his argument: No obstacle can conquer one’s religious devotion.
Covington’s intellect boasts a curious ambition to solve the secrets of the Appalachia through factual data and personal inquiries. “Their first church in town burned to the ground” Covington explains, “They suspected arson, but charges were never brought…they moved to other locations…neighbors complained of the noise. Wherever the handlers relocated, tires got slashed and windows broken” (25). By presenting facts about the trouble the snake-handlers dealt with, Covington reveals how steadfast they are in their religious faith. The serpent-handlers’ strong devotion has turned into a tainted reputation for some, such as Glenn Summerford. Curious to hear Glenn’s version of why he was put in jail for ninety-nine years, Covington interviews him. When asked about his wife, Darlene, Summerford simply states that when she was “living right, she drank [poison]” (50). Faced with a lifetime sentence in a jail cell, Summerford shows no remorse, and instead criticizes his wife, whom he attempted to murder, for not living by the word of God. Glenn Summerford’s testimonial is a ...
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... person, yet theirs remain unconquered. As we analyze Covington’s rhetoric, we can see the manifestation of an ethos that follows a strong ethic code, a powerful intellectual prowess, and a devoted righteousness towards the confusing, yet strong-willed worshipers of serpent handling. As Covington explains it, “There are moments when you stand on the brink of a new experience and understand that you have no choice about it. Either you walk into the experience or you turn away from it, but you know that no matter what you choose…there will be consequences” (2). For the followers of serpent handling, these experiences are always pursued. These consequences, such as broken windows, burning churches, murder allegations, or desperate pursuits of the Holy Ghost, all have laid the foundation for Covington’s argument, that no obstacle can conquer one’s religious devotion.
Jonathan Edwards creates a more effective argument for the intended audience in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” than “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” written by Patrick Henry, by utilizing various techniques. Patrick Henry makes a strong argument however in the end, Edwards’ sermon grows to be more effective. Edwards creates the argument by strengthening the writing through tone, structure, fallacies and knowledge of the congregation that became his audience. Henry’s piece uses methods of oratory persuasion but the actual topic of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has an advantage from the start by appealing to fear, a fallacy of logic. Even with the strong basis “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry, Edwards’ “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” proves the more effective piece in the end.
In the 1700’s the Puritans left England for the fear of being persecuted. They moved to America for religious freedom. The Puritans lived from God’s laws. They did not depend as much on material things, and they had a simpler and conservative life. More than a hundred years later, the Puritan’s belief toward their church started to fade away. Some Puritans were not able to recognize their religion any longer, they felt that their congregations had grown too self-satisfied. They left their congregations, and their devotion to God gradually faded away. To rekindle the fervor that the early Puritans had, Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan ministers led a religious revival through New England. Edwards preached intense sermons that awakened his congregation to an awareness of their sins. With Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he persuades the Puritans to convert back to Puritanism, by utilizing rhetorical strategies such as, imagery, loaded diction, and a threatening and fearful tone.
Dennis Covington writes about a unique method of worship—snake handling, in his memoir, Salvation on Sand Mountain. He begins as a journalist, looking in on this foreign way of life; however, as time progresses he increasing starts to feel a part of this lifestyle. As a result loses his journalistic approach, resulting in his memoir, detailing his own spiritual journey. Upon the conclusion of his stay in this world, Covington realizes the significance of this journey, and argues in his memoir that we cannot entirely know ourselves until we step outside of our comfort zone and separate ourselves from our norm.
He was a man whose very words struck fear into the hearts of his listeners. Acknowledged as one of the most powerful religious speakers of the era, he spearheaded the Great Awakening. “This was a time when the intense fervor of the first Puritans had subsided somewhat” (Heyrmen 1) due to a resurgence of religious zeal (Stein 1) in colonists through faith rather than predestination. Jonathan Edwards however sought to arouse the religious intensity of the colonists (Edwards 1) through his preaching. But how and why was Edwards so successful? What influenced him? How did he use diction and symbolism to persuade his listener, and what was the reaction to his teachings? In order to understand these questions one must look at his life and works to understand how he was successful. In his most influential sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edwards’ persuasive language awakened the religious fervor that lay dormant in colonial Americans and made him the most famous puritan minister of the Great Awakening in North America.
Throughout Death Comes for the Archbishop, New Mexico is described as a very harsh environment, especially for those who are not used to living in it. Unlike the Native Americans and the Mexicans who had lived there for a thousand generations, Father Latour does not know his way around and ends of getting lost in the New Mexico desert, which was “so featureless—or rather, that it was crowded with features, all exactly alike” (Cather, 17). The New Mexico desert is not only “featureless,” but also very brutal. According to Father Latour it is “… like a country of dry ashes; no juniper, no rabbit brush, nothing but thickets of withered, dead-looking cactus, and patches of wild pumpkin—the only vegetation that had any vitality” (Cather, 88). A major theme of Death Comes for the Archbishop is perseverance. For instance, Father Latour did not let the harshness and brutality of New Mexico stop him from planting the seed of Catholicism. He kept preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins until this seed had grown in the strange and “featureless”
Imagine that it is the year 1841 in Saratoga, New York and blossoms of the dogwood tree are swirling around your face as the wind gently tousles your hair. All seems well in the world, and, to Solomon Northup, great opportunities are coming his way. Two men, by the names of Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, had offered a dream job to Solomon. They had asked him to join them in a circus, playing the fiddle, an instrument Solomon had mastered. However, these men were not as honest as they seemed. Brown and Hamilton later drugged and kidnapped Solomon at a hotel one night during the tour. These men successfully forced Solomon into twelve years of slavery.
In James Baldwin’s 1952 novel “Go Tell It On The Mountain” the characters in the novel each embark on a spiritual journey. Baldwin has dedicated a chapter to each member of the Grimes family, detailing their trails and tribulations, hopes and aspirations, as each one’s quest to get closer to God becomes a battle. I have chosen the character John because I admire the fierce struggle he endured to find his spirituality. I will examine how he’s embarked on his quest and prove that he has done it with integrity and dignity.
Gifford, Terry. “Terrain, Character and Text: Is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier a Post- Pastoral Novel?” Mississippi Quarterly. 25 (2001):87-96).
Irving, Washington. “The Devil and Tom Walker”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 175-185. Print.
Edwards includes allusion as a stylistic device to convey his purpose within this sermon. According to the text, “...any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them.” Edwards’ allusion of the mediator relates to the Holy Bible, to reference God and the belief of the Purtians. Also, it states “ abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours”( Edwards,7). The serpent is the Purtians sins against God and relates to their belief which makes them understand.
The evils of the Civil War and the rise of empiricism caused many to doubt in an omniscient, all-powerful God. Under empiricism, any statements about metaphysical entities (e.g. God, Unicorns, Love, and Beauty) would be meaningless terms because they cannot be proven by the scientific method. But with a loss of faith in God, what becomes of morality? This essay will examine how Emily Dickinson, Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry James and Mark Twain wrote literature in this age coupled with war, inhumanity and despair in God. This essay will show that: (1) Dickinson destroys any reliance on the Bible and a possibility of knowing God, but argues that one should instead praise Nature, which is tangible; (2) Jewett eliminates the omniscient narrator (or God-like figure) in The Country of the Poited Firs , and instead makes readers see life as valuable only through human experiences and reveals the comfort of Nature; (3) Henry James eliminates God in Daisy Miller by removing the omniscient narrator and instead causing readers to play god, by being the judge of Daisy and Winterbourne; (4) Mark Twain uses Huckleberry Finn to question any reliance on God, by poking fun of prayer and church revivals, and instead encouraging one to seek morality in one's conscience.
The broader context of Baldwin’s book is during the Great Migration of African-Americans from the southern portions of America to the northern. The Great Migration was the African-Americans attempt to find better job opportunities and advantages in the north. Go Tell it on the Mountain takes place in a African-American portion of New York and centers its narrative on a storefront church. A great deal of significance can be taken from the fact that Baldwin chose to focus his novel around the storefront church called, “The Temple of the Fire Baptized.” The book’s primary location of the church gives evidence of the importance of religion within the African-American culture. With the church having such a hefty place in the African-American culture it also had strong control over the moral code. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham wrote about the African-American religion in her article “Rethinking Vernacular Culture: Black Religion and Race Records in the 1920s and 1930s,” “The religious culture of the poor… embraced a strict moral code that denounced th...
Appalachian values are traditional customs picked up by many generations, influencing attitudes and behaviors throughout the Appalachian area. These values have shaped the Appalachian region for many years, impacting the interactions among individuals. In Sharyn McCrumb’s She Walks These Hills and Loyal Jones’ “Appalachian Values,” particular inherited native values are discussed or portrayed within both works of Appalachian literature. Jones speaks of self-reliance, hospitality, and personalism, and how they can all be found in the Appalachian areas. These traits are personified in Martha Ayers’ desire to prove herself a fit deputy, Nora Bonesteel’s forever open door, and Harm Soley’s desire to please everyone.
Slavery, the “Peculiar Institution” of the South, caused suffering among an innumerable number of human beings. Some people could argue that the life of a domestic animal would be better than being a slave; at least animals are incapable of feeling emotions. Suffering countless atrocities, including sexual assault, beatings, and murders, these slaves endured much more than we would think is humanly possible today. Yet, white southern “Christians” committed these atrocities, believing their behaviors were neither wrong nor immoral. Looking back at these atrocities, those who call themselves Christians are appalled. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, Harriet A. Jacobs describes the hypocrisy of Southern, Christian slave owners in order to show that slavery and Christianity are not congruent.
Although the work is 40 years old, “Custer Died for Your Sins” is still relevant and valuable in explaining the history and problems that Indians face in the United States. Deloria’s book reveals the White view of Indians as false compared to the reality of how Indians are in real life. The forceful intrusion of the U.S. Government and Christian missionaries have had the most oppressing and damaging affect on Indians. There is hope in Delorias words though. He believes that as more tribes become more politically active and capable, they will be able to become more economically independent for future generations. He feels much hope in the 1960’s generation of college age Indians returning to take ownership of their tribes problems and build a better future for their children.