Reaction Paper- Nonfiction
Amber Stallworth
ENG/125
September 19, 2015
Danielle Berchtold
Reaction Paper- Nonfiction
In this non-fiction short story, the author express a great deal of emotion. When writing a non-fiction story, it is important to use different ways to capture the attention of your audience so that they understand and take interest in the story you are telling using only realistic information and details. Langston Hughes uses an emotion in his story, “Salvation”, to capture the attention of his readers. For some reason, the account of a young boy in an extreme situation was quite intriguing. The thorough description of the setting and events caused a feeling of empathy and connection between the reader and writer.
The author strategically described the intensity of the moments that he experienced that
particular night. One of the writing strategies that he used was motif. He was consistent with
describing the reoccurring account of the church members crying, kneeling, and praying. (Barnet,
S., Burto, W., & Cain, W. (2014). Chapter 13. In Literature for composition: An Introduction to Literature
(10th ed., p. 344). New York: Pearson/Longman.) He also mentioned that the people inside of the
church kept singing. The pastor also kept sang the same song more than once. The overall setting
described in this story was very serious and somewhat dramatic. The author also used Imagery in
the story. “The whole room broke into a sea of shouting as they saw me rise, waves of rejoicing
swept the place.” (Barnet, S., Burto, W., & Cain, W. (2014). Chapter 13. In Literature for
composition: An Introduction to Literature (10th ed., p. 344). New York: Pearson/Longman. )
This was an example of imagery.
I believe the author used his imagination while writing this story. As a young boy, I
imagine that this event and the actions that took place, were magnified because he didn’t
completely understand...