Rhetorical Analysis On Salvation

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Reading Response
In Langston Hughes’s narrative essay “Salvation”, Langston talks about how his experience at church caused him to crack under pressure and pretend to be saved from Jesus, which leads him to not believing Jesus is real anymore. I personally felt like he relates to real-world problems when it comes to Salvation. How you're expecting to feel this tidal wave of emotions to flourish and have these signs of repent to show up but doesn't happen. Another thing is, I like how he explains how tense the room felt when it was just him alone on the mourning bench and how the pressure to be “Saved” makes him lie to everyone. Within the essay, Hughes touches on many different types of ideas and feelings that most people can relate too.
Religion, being one of the most obvious themes, Langston uses many metaphorical lines that refer to the Bible. He also uses very descriptive wording that helps us paint a picture of how the environment feels and looks like. Langston also adds peer pressure in his essay, how all the kids on the bench were seeing the “Signs” and being “Saved” making him the last child there waiting for a sign to appear. Which lead him to pretend about being saved, causing everyone in the church including his Auntie Reed to raise up in joy. I think this makes his narrative even more engaging and makes …show more content…

And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning, some poor sinners to be saved. And the whole building rocked with prayer and song.” (Paragraph 4, line 1). “Then I was left all alone on the mourners' bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and song swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting - but he didn't come.”(Paragraph 6, line

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