Langston Hughes Salvation Literary Analysis

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An Analysis of Nonfiction English 125 An Analysis of Nonfiction Literature is defined as nonfiction when the story is based on factual information. Although the piece of literature is true to the author, there are many literary concepts that are used to paint a clear and concise picture for the reader. The author as well as the reader must use their imagination to get the most out of the literature that they read. In Salvation by Langston Hughes and Who Will Light Incense When Mother’s Gone by Andrew Lam, irony, and imagery are used vividly to express their thoughts and relay a message to the reader about what has happened to them in their childhood. Both of these pieces of literature speak to the essence of growing up and not understanding…show more content…
Hughes went to church as a young child with the desire to be saved as he had heard from so many other people about how great this is. When Hughes leaves the church that evening, not only is he “not really saved,” but he is carrying the weight around that he has lied and deceived everyone in church. As adults there is an understanding that everything will not always go the way that it is planned to but children have an expectation that when you say something will happen, it happens exactly as you said it would. Although Who Will Light Incense When Mother’s Gone by Andrew Lam is not about a child’s struggle to become saved, it is about a child’s struggle to attain their identity. Lam uses irony through-out the story to expose the reasons that many Vietnamese children living in America will struggle with identity. Lam begins the story with a hint of irony when his Mother asked his aunt “Who will light incense to the dead when we’re gone,” and the aunt replies, “None of my children will do it, and we can forget the grandchildren. I guess when we’re gone, the ritual ends” (Lam, 2011, p. 1077). Although Lam’s Mother has brought her children to America for a better life she is disappointed that they have not kept their Vietnamese identity as she has. “Such is the price of living in America” is the only answer that the narrator has for this. It is ironic that the very reason she brought her family to America is the very reason they are not connected to their

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