An Integrated English Course

Book one Unit 15 An Integrated English Course

Learning Objectives By the end of this unit, you are supposed to • grasp the author’s purpose of writing and make clear the structure of the whole passage through an intensive reading of Text 1 5 Salvation. • get a list of new words and structures and use them freely in conversation and writing.

Teaching Procedures Pre-reading Questions Text I. Slavation ● Passage ● Structure analysis ● Main idea of the passage ● Language points ● sentence studies ● vocabulary studies Text II. The Capture of Kunta Kinte

Pre-reading questions 1. You haven’t listened to a preacher’s preaching, have you? Are you interested in it? 2. Have you ever read any stories from the Bible? What kind of figure do you think Jesus Christ was? 3. What religion, in your mind, is Christianity?

TEXT I Salvation Langston Hughes I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen, but not really saved, it happened like this there was a big revival at my Aunite Reed’s church, 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. 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.

My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your lift! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. I believed her, I had heard a great many old people say the same thing and it seemed to me they ought to know, so I sat there calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus to come to me. 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. Then he said: “Won’t you come? Won’t you come to Jesus? Young lambs, won’t you come?” and he held out his arms to all us young sinners there on the mourners’ bench. And the little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. But most of us just sat there.

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. Finally all the young people had gone to the altar and were saved, but one boy and me. He was a rounder’s son named Westley. Westley and I were surrounded by sisters and deacons praying, it was very hot in the church, and getting late now. finally Westley said to me in a whisper: “God damn! I’m tired of sitting here. Let’s get up and be saved.”

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 might wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting – but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him but nothing happened to me. Nothing ! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened. I heard the songs and the minister saying: “Why don’t you come? My dear child, why don’t you come to Jesus? Jesus is waiting for you. He wants you. Why don’t you come? Sister Reed, whi is the child’s name?”

“Langston, ”my aunt sobbed. “Langston, why don’t you come? Why don’t you come and be saved? On, Lamb of God! Why don’t you come?” Now it was really getting late, 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. God had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I’d better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved.

So I got up. 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. My aunt threw her arms around me. The minister took me by the hand and led me to the platform. When things quieted down, in a hushed silence, punctuated by a few ecstatic “Amens,” all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God, then joyous singing filled the room. That night, for the first time in my lift but one for I was a big boy twelve years old --- I cried, I cried, in bed alone, and couldn’t stop. I buried my head under the quilts, but my aunt heard me. She woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, and because I had seen Jesus, but I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me.

Structure Analysis 1. The story, which is told by the fist 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. 2. There are many vivid descriptions in the text. In the beginning: 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. In the second paragraph: My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on ! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul.

In the third paragraph: 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 sage in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold. … And he held out his arms to all of us young sinners there on the mourners’ bench. And the little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. In the four the paragraph: A great many old people came and knelt around us and prayed, old women with jut-black faces and braided hair, old men with work-gnarled hands. And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning … And the whole building rocked with prayer and song.

In the seventh paragraph: 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 mighty wail of moans and voices. And I keep waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting … In the ninth paragraph: “Langston,” my aunt sobbed. In the eleventh paragraph: Now it was really getting late, 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.

In the thirteenth paragraph: 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. My aunt threw her arms around me. The minister took me by the hand and led me to the platform. In the fourteenth paragraph: When things quieted down, in a hushed silence, punctuated by a few ecstatic “Amens,” all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God. Then joyous singing filled the room. In the fifteenth paragraph: That night, for the last time in my lift but one for I was a big boy twelve years old --- I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldn’t stop. I buried my head under the quilts…

Main Idea of the passage The story is the author’s recall of an experience in his childhood. He had heard from old folks about the myth of Jesus saving one’s soul, and as a child, held a sincere and naïve belief in it. His attendance at the revival resulted in his total disillusionment. Therefore, he wants to tell his readers that there is no almighty Savior, and that only by relying on their own struggle can black people deliver themselves from misery and suffering.

LANGUAGE POINTS • Salvation: saving of the soul from sin The word salvation has a strong religious connation. In the Christian religion, salvations of a person or his spirit is the state of being saved form evil and its effects by the death of Jusus Christ on a cross.

I was saved when is was gong on thirteen. • I was set free from the power of sin and evil shortly before my thirteen the birthday.

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

Hardened: lacking in human feelings and showing no signs of shame or regret for wrong doing • Eg. He was described in court as a hardened criminal.

By leaps and bounds : very quickly • Eg. She has come on by leaps and bounds with her reading. • Her English is improving by leaps and bounds.

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 sheep (in the passage used figuratively to refer to a group of religious believers) • (2) Your home or an organization where you feel you belong • Eg. Her children are all away at college now, but they always returen to the fold in the holidays. • The party needs to finds a way of getting its former supporters back to the fold. • Escort: go with and protect sb. • Eg. The police escorted her to the airport. • Several little boats escortedthe sailing ship into the harbour.

Rhythmical: having a regular repeated pattern of weak and strong stresses • Eg. The rhythmical sound of the train sent him to sleep. • He could hear the rhythmical beating of his heart.

Sermon • A religious talk given as part of a church service • Eg. The minister preached a sermon on the importance of brotherly love. • (2)A long talk in which someone advises other people how they should behave in order to be better people • Eg. I really don’t think it’s a politician’s job to go delivering sermons on public morality.

The ninety and nine safe in the fold: • the ninety-nine lambs already saved and kept in the fold

Leave out : • Pay no attention to sb. • Eg. No one speaks to him; he’s always left out. • (2)Fail to include • Eg. You have left out the most important word in this sentence.

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

Hold out: • Stretch out • Eg. He held out his hand to Mary • (2) Offer • Eg. The proposals hold out a real prospect for settling the dispute. • Few people hold out any hope of finding more survivors.

And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. • Then some of us young sinners got up from the mourner’s bench and went to Jesus immediately. • Symbolically, it is to go to the picture of Christ hanging from the front wall of the church, or to the crucifix standing behind the altar on the platform, or simply to the altar on which are placed the Bible, candles, bread and wine.

Kneel: go down onto one’s knees • Eg. She knelt down and tried to see under the door. • Kneeling in front of the altar, he prayed for an answer.

And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning… : And the people in the church sang a song about the lower lights in hell. Hell is thought to be a place of great heat and danger, with eternal fires burning. In the Christian religion, it is a place where the souls of bad people are to be punished after death. • And, by the way, in this seemingly grammatically incorrect sentence, the writer put the lower lights are burning, a clause after the preposition about to tell the reader what the song is about.

Prayer: a solemn request made to God • Eg. There prayers have been written specially for people suffering from cancer. • She always says her prayers before she goes to sleep.

But one boy and me: The word but is a preposition, meaning “except” • Eg. 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 • Eg. Swirl a little oil around the pan before putting it on the heat. • A flood of water swirled across the deck and around the mast.

Congregation : a group of people gathered together in a church for a religious service • Eg. 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 • Eg. The boat struggled desperately in the mighty waves of the river.

Wail: a loud cry of sorrow • Eg. 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 • Eg. She smiled serenely and said nothing. • She just says what she thinks, serenely indifferent to whether it may offend people.

Sob: cry loudly while taking in sudden, sharp breaths • Eg. I found her sobbing in the bedroom because she had broken her favorite doll. • She sobbed herself to sleep the night you left.

Hold up : delay • Eg. Traffic was held up for several hours by the accident. • An unofficial strike has held up production.

Swing: move backwards and forwards • Eg. A large pendulum swung back and forth inside the grandfather clock. • He walked briskly along the path, swinging his rolled –up umbrella.

God had not struck Westley dead. • God had not punished Westley.

For taking his name in vain: for talking disrespectfully about him, without his knowledge, to another person. • Eg. 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 suing this phrase, we usually use a noun rather than a gerund after into. • Eg. He felt so happy that he broke into a song. • She walked quickly, occasionally breaking into a run.

Rejoice: show great joy • Eg. She rejoiced in meeting the challenge of her new job. • I rejoiced to see that she had made such a quick recovery.

Punctuate: interrupt from time to time • Eg. The President spoke at length in a speech punctuated by constant applause. • He chatted freely, punctuating his remarks as often as possible with the interviewer’s first name.

Ecstatic : showing great joy • Eg. The new president was greeted by an ecstatic crowd. • I wasn’t exactly ecstatic about being woken up at two 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 • Eg. The priest blessed the people in the church, saying “God be with you.” • Fortunately we were blessed with fine weather.

Joyous: full of joy • Eg. Don’t miss this chance to buy twenty joyous songs together on one album. • Sara’s party was a joyous occasion ___ there were hundreds of people there.

TEXT 2: The Capture of Kunta Kinte By Alex Haley As he always did whenever he felt some need to come here after a night’s lookout duty, Kunta stood awhile at the edge of the bolong, today watching a gray heron trailing its long , thin legs as it flew at about a spear’s height above the pale green water, rippling the surface with each downbeat of its wings. Though the heron was looking for smaller game, he knew that it was the best spot along the bolong for kujalo, big, powerful fish that Kunta loved to catch for Binta, who would stew it for him with onions, rice, and bitter tomatoes. With his stomach already rumbling for breakfast, it made him hungry just to think of it.

An Integrated English Course