Unit 15

Salvation

Teaching Objectives

• Acquire some basic understanding of Christianity;

• Understand the purpose of the writer;• Learn the skills of giving vivid descriptive

details;• Learn to use the following phrases

by leaps and boundsin vain

• Before Reading

• Global Reading

• Detailed Reading

• After Reading

Before ReadingBackground Information

What is Salvation?

God made a man; He made a woman.  He put them in the Garden of Eden and said, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it."

Before ReadingBackground Information

Man ate that forbidden fruit when Satan tempted, tested and deceived Eve.  Eve came back and told Adam she had eaten of the fruit, that it was a tree that would make men wise, good to look upon, and it opened her eyes concerning good and evil.  Man had sinned! Man was made in the image of God for fellowship with God.  When man departed from God, then God made a plan to save man.

Before ReadingBackground Information

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said, "Father, I will go to earth and become man.  I am willing to become flesh.  I will live a sinless life, a perfect life.  I will go to Calvary.  I will dip My own soul into Hell itself I will become sin for man.  If man will simply receive Me, he can be saved." 

God's simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on him as your crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and his gift of eternal salvation by faith.

Before ReadingWarm-up Questions

• Could you please retell the author’s experience in his childhood?

• What is the message that the author tries to convey by writing this story?

Global Reading

• How is the text, a piece of narration, organized?

• How many parts can this passage be divided into?

Structural Analysis

• What are the impressive descriptive details that you can find in this passage?

Detailed Reading

• Paragraph 1

• Paragraph 2 ~ 14

• Paragraph 15

Paragraph 1

Question:

1. What was the special event that happened one night?

2. Why was Langston placed on the mourners’ bench?

Paragraph 1

Language Work

SalvationI was saved from sin when I was going on

thirteen.

There was a big revival at my Auntie Reed’s church.

Salvation: saving of the soul from sin

Note: the word salvation has a strong religious connotation. In the Christian religion, salvation of a person or his spirit is the state of being saved from evil and its effects by the death of Jesus Christ on a cross.

I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen.

I was set free from the power of sin and evil shortly before my thirteenth birthday.

revival: a series of meetings, characterized by public confession of sins and declaration of renewed interest in religion, intended to encourage this to happen

Every night for weeks there had been much

preaching, singing, praying, and shouting,

and some very hardened sinners had been

brought to Christ, and the membership of

the church had grown by leaps and bounds.

preach: deliver a religious speech• A bishop preached to the assembled mourners.• Our local priest preached a sermon on the need for

forgiveness.

hardened: lacking in human feelings and showing no signs of shame or regret for wrong doing

• He was described in court as a hardened criminal.

• The murderer was hardened to evil deeds.

by leaps and bounds

Very quickly

• She has come on by leaps and bounds with her reading.

• Her English is improving by leaps and bounds.

Then just before the revival ended, they

held a special meeting for children, “to

bring the young lambs to the fold.” My

aunt spoke of it for days ahead. That night I

was escorted to the front row and placed on

the mourners’ bench with all the other

young sinners, who had not yet been

brought to Jesus.

to bring the young lambs to the fold

According to Christianity, Jesus is the Lamb of God, any Christian is a lamb, and the preacher is a shepherd. In the text, the young lambs refer to children. “Fold” literally means an enclosure for sheep. Here it means a group of people who are Christian.

to bring the young lambs to the fold: to bring the children under the protection and guidance of God

fold:1. a fenced enclosure for sheep2. your home or an organization where you feel

you belong• Her children are all away at college now, but they

always return to the fold in the holidays. • The party needs to find a way of getting its former

supporters back to the fold.

escort: go with and protect sb.• The police escorted her to the airport.

• Several little boats escorted the sailing ship into the harbor.

mourner’s bencha front row of seats at a revival meeting, reserved for

those who are to make confessions of penitence

Paragraph 2~14

Questions:

1. What had Langston learned about the revival before he actually attended it?

2. Why didn’t Langston go to the altar with Westley?

3. What finally prompted Langston to tell a lie?

The preacher preached a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell, and then he sang a song about the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold.

And he held out his arms to all us young sinners there on the mourners’ bench.

rhythmical: having a regular repeated pattern of weak and strong stresses

• The rhythmical sound of the train sent him to sleep.

• He could hear the rhythmical beating of his heart.

c.f. rhythm & rhymerhythm: regular succession of weak and strong stresses,

accents, sounds or movements

e.g. the rhythm of the tides

rhyme: sameness of sound of the endings of two or more

words at the ends of lines or verses. e.g. The order of entries is without rhyme or reason.

sermon: a religious talk given as part of a church service

• The minister preached a sermon on the importance of brotherly love.

• He was given a book of sermons as a present.

dire: dreadful; terrible• We were in dire need of food after the earthquake.

• We were the least prepared for such a dire calamity.

the ninety and nine safe in the fold

the ninety-nine lambs already saved and kept in the fold

be left out in the cold:

if you are left out in the cold, you feel you do not belong to a particular group of people and are not admired by them

• He was left out in the cold at school because he didn’t like sports.

leave out1. pay no attention to sb. • No one speaks to him; he’s always left out.

2. fail to include• You have left out the most important word in this senten

ce.

hold out1. stretch out• He held out his hand to Mary.

2. offer• The proposals hold out a real prospect for settling the dis

pute.

A great many old people came and knelt

around us and prayed, old women with jet-

black faces and braided hair, old men with

work-gnarled hands. 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.

Still I kept waiting to see Jesus.

braid: put hair into number of strands woven together

• It cost him a couple of years to learn to braid his daughter’s hair.

• She always braids her hair before she runs.

gnarled: twisted and rough; covered with knobs

• We had a gnarled old oak in our yard.• I shuddered at the touch of his gnarled fingers.

prayer: a solemn request made to God• These prayers have been written specially for

people suffering from cancer.

• She always says her prayers before she goes to sleep.

Still I kept waiting to see Jesus. The word see is italicized to make the reader aware

that Langston meant to see Jesus with his naked eyes.

Finally all the young people had gone to the altar and were saved, but one boy and me.

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.

c.f. altar & alteraltar n.: a type of table used in ceremonies in a

Christian church• He was proud of being the altar boy for the day.

alter v.: make or become different• He has altered a great deal since I saw him a year ago.

but prep.: except• Eventually, all but one of them promised to come

to his farewell party.• She is one of those guests who does nothing but

complain.

swirl: move round and round quickly• Swirl a little oil around the pan before putting it on

the heat. • He lost his footing on the bridge and fell into the

swirling water below.

congregation: a group of people gathered together in a church for a religious service

• The vicar asked the congregation to kneel.• The bishop preached a farewell sermon to a

congregation that filled the church to overflowing.

mighty: very great in force• The boat struggled desperately in the mighty

waves of the river.• The pen is mightier than the sword.

wail: a loud cry of sorrow• The women gathered around the coffin and began

to wail, as was the custom in the region. • She had that passionate wailing voice, so typical

of country music singers.

serenely: calmly and peacefully• She smiled serenely and said nothing.• She just says what she thinks, serenely indifferent

to whether it may offend people.

“Langston,” my aunt sobbed.

I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything up so long. I began to wonder what 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, surrounded by deacons and old women on their knees praying.

sob: cry loudly while taking in sudden, sharp breaths

• I found her sobbing in the bedroom because she had broken her favourite doll.

• She sobbed herself to sleep the night you left.

hold up: delay• Traffic was held up for several hours by the accide

nt.• An unofficial strike has held up production.

swing: move backwards and forwards• A large pendulum swung back and forth inside the

grandfather clock.• He walked briskly along the path, swinging his rol

led-up umbrella.

knickerbockers: full breeches gathered and banded just below the knee (膝下扎紧的灯笼裤）

knickerbockered legs: legs with knickerbockers on

c.f. grin & smile & laughgrin: smile broadly, often baring the teeth • The children grinned with pleasure when I gave them the s

weets.

smile: curve upward the corners of the mouth, indicating pleasure, amusement, or derision

• The two girls stood smiling at the camera.

laugh: make sounds and movements of the face and body, showing amusement, joy, contempt etc.

• The jokes made everyone laugh.

God had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple.

Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting, as they saw me rise. Waves of rejoicing swept the place. Women leaped in the air.

for taking his name in vain:

for talking disrespectfully about about him, without his knowledge, to another person

• I said: “Susan is really a gossip,” and just then she walked in and said: “ who’s taking my name in vain?”

break into: suddenly start doing sth.

(when using this phrase, we usually use a noun rather than a gerund after into)

• He felt so happy that he broke into a song.

• She walked quickly, occasionally breaking into a run.

rejoice: show great joy• She rejoiced in meeting the challenge of her new

job.

• I rejoiced to see that she had such a quick recovery.

leap: jump (jump is the usual word, leap is used in literary and rhetorical style)

• He leaped at the opportunity.

• A good idea leaped into his mind.

When things quieted down, in a hushed silenc

e, punctuated by a few ecstatic “Amens”, al

the new young lambs were blessed in the na

me of God. Then joyous singing filled the r

oom.

quiet down: become quiet or quieter• The audience quieted down when the speaker

entered.• The city quieted down after the political

disturbances.

in a hushed silence: in a dead silence

hush: make or become silent or quiet• She hushed the baby to sleep.• Can’t you hush the dog?

punctuate: interrupt from time to time• The President spoke at length in a speech punctuat

ed by constant applause.• He chatted freely, punctuating his remarks as ofte

n as possible with the interviewer’s first name.

ecstatic: showing great joy• The new president was greeted by an ecstatic crow

d. • I wasn’t exactly ecstatic about being woken up at t

wo o’clock in the morning.

Amen

Amen is said or sung by Jews or Christians at the end of a prayer, or sometimes a religious song to express agreement with what has been said. The word means: “ May it be so.”

bless: ask God to show favour to• The priest blessed the people in the church, saying

“ God be with you.”• Fortunately we were blessed with fine weather.

joyous: full of joy• Don’t miss this chance to buy twenty joyous songs

together on one album.• Sara’s party was a joyous occasion—there were hu

ndreds of people there.

Paragraph 15

Questions:

1. Why was Langston crying that night?

2. What do you think has caused his disillusionment with religion?

After Reading

• Structural Analysis

• Vocabulary Exercises

• Grammar Exercises

• Additional Exercise

• Writing Exercise

Structural Analysis

The story, which is told by the first person narrator, is mainly organized in the chronological order, with a flashback in the second paragraph and plenty of vivid and interesting descriptions in the whole text.

Structural Analysis

The first paragraph serves as the introduction, providing the background. Paragraph 2—14 may be regarded as the body of the story, relating and describing the special meeting held for the “young lambs” who were saved. Paragraph 15 is the concluding part, revealing the writer’s psychological feelings.

Structural Analysis

Point out the descriptive details in the text:e.g.Paragraph 1Every night for weeks there had been much

preaching, singing, praying and shouting, and some very hardened sinners had been brought to Christ,and the membership of church had grown by leaps and bounds.

Check the vocabulary exercises in the student book

Check the grammar exercises in the student book

Additional Exercises

Compound adjectives can be formed with a noun joined to an –ed participle by a hyphen. Please fill in each blank with a proper –ed participle to form a compound adjective.

• Example: work-gnarled hands• 1.     a home-_____ cake • 2. a tree-_____ street• 3. a hand-_____ pullover• 4. a leather-_____ chair• 5. a tailor-_____ dress

Additional Exercise

Fill in each blank with one of the following verbs that fits in the proper form.

sell dry put give die cry pump

come look• 1.     The storm _____ out.• 2.     “_____ out!” she ____ out to warn us.• 3.     He _____ the fire out before going out.• 4.     _____ the clothes _____ out?

• 5.     She _____ the sweets out among the children.

• 6.     The well is filthy. _____ it out!

• 7.     The new monthly magazine _____ out.

8. Sorry, silk scarves _____ out.

Writing Exercise

A. Have the students write a short passage of 150-200 words about their understanding of any religion;

B. Have the students write a short passage with vivid descriptive details, such as one describing how upset they are after a failure in test, competition, or interview, etc.