Anker Susan. Real Essays with Readings with 2009 MLA Update

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READINGS

Chapter 43 • Narration 747

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 whis-

per: “God damn! I’m tired o’ sitting here. Let’s get up and be saved.”

So he got up and was saved.

7 Then I was left all alone on the mourners’ bench. My aunt came

and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs 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. I wanted to see him,

but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen

to me, but nothing happened.

8 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, what is this child’s

name?”

9 “Langston,” my aunt sobbed.

10 “Langston, why don’t you come? Why don’t you come and be

saved? Oh, Lamb of God! Why don’t you come?”

11 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.

12 So I got up.

13 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.

14 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 ﬁ lled the room.

15 That night, for the last time in my life 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

PAUSE: What do

you think Hughes

might do next?

PAUSE: Why did

Hughes get up to

be saved?

knickerbockered: wearing a pair of knee-length pants popular for boys in the

early twentieth century

PAUSE: Summarize

Hughes’s feelings.

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748 Part Eight • Readings for Writers

couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in

the church, and I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there

was a Jesus any more, since he didn’t come to help me.

SUMMARIZE AND RESPOND

In your reading journal or elsewhere, summarize the main point of “Salva-

tion.” Then, go back and check off support for this main idea. Next, write a

brief summary (three to ﬁ ve sentences) of the essay. Finally, jot down your

initial response to the essay. What do you think Hughes wanted to communi-

cate to readers by relating this story from his youth? What did you learn about

Hughes as a young person?

CHECK YOUR COMPREHENSION

1. Which of the following would be the best alternative title for this essay?

a. “Auntie Reed’s Church”

b. “The Power of Prayer”

c. “Waiting for Jesus”

d. “Westley and Me”

2. The main idea of this essay is that

a. most religious people are hypocrites.

b. a good preacher can stir a congregation to be saved.

c. Hughes had a very religious upbringing that affected him throughout

his lifetime.

d. Hughes lost his faith because he didn’t see Jesus when he pretended

to be saved.

3. According to Hughes, his aunt

a. deeply wanted him to be saved.

b. raised him for most of his childhood.

c. was herself saved when she was twelve years old.

d. knew why Hughes was really crying after the revival meeting.

4. If you are unfamiliar with the following words, use a dictionary to check

their meanings: escorted (para. 1); dire (3); gnarled (4); congregation,

serenely (7); deacons (11); deceived (15).

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Chapter 43 • Narration 749

READ CRITICALLY

1. How can you tell that Hughes truly wanted to be “brought to Christ”

(para. 1)?

2. Why did Hughes ﬁ nally join the other children who had been “saved”?

3. What does the fact that Hughes cried after the revival service tell you

about him?

4. What is the purpose of the exclamation points after the ﬁ rst three sen-

tences of paragraph 2?

5. Note where Hughes uses direct quotation in the essay. What is the effect

of these quotations?

WRITE AN ESSAY

Write an essay about a time in your youth when you desperately wanted to

experience or achieve something but failed to do so. In addition to narrating

the events that occurred, share the thoughts and feelings you had at the time.

Uzodinma Iweala

A Close Encounter

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1982 to Nigerian parents serving in the

diplomatic corps, Uzodinma Iweala spent most of his childhood in

the United States and attended Harvard College, where he received a

number of honors, including the Hoopes Prize for outstanding under-

graduate thesis. Shortly after graduating, Iweala published the novel

Beast of No Nation (2005), for which Granta magazine named him

one of America’s twenty best young novelists. In an interview with

Barnes & Noble about his writing process, Iweala said, “Well, ﬁ rst I write

everything by hand. . . . I then type up all I’ve written, print it out, and

completely rewrite between the lines. When I’m ﬁ nally ready to revise

to a ﬁ nal draft, it becomes an affair involving colored pens, high-

lighters, stickies, and sometimes even scissors. I also like to read what

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750 Part Eight • Readings for Writers

I’ve written aloud to people” (www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/

writerdetails.asp?cid=1458920). Iweala is currently a student at Colum-

bia University.

“A Close Encounter” ﬁ rst appeared as a “Lives” column in the New

York Times Magazine in November 2005.

GUIDING QUESTION

Why does Iweala feel out of place in Nigeria?

1 I return to Nigeria after graduating from college. I have been to Abuja,

the capital, a couple of times, but that was before my mother was

appointed minister of ﬁ nance.

2 Two weeks into my stay, on a rare occasion when my mother has

time to chat, I tell her that I’m bored. Her response: “Here are the car

keys. Go and buy some fruit.” Overjoyed, I jump into the car, salute the

heavily armed security at the gate and speed off in search of — fruit.

3 The young boy sees me, or rather he sees the car ﬁ rst — a silver

BMW — and quickly springs up from his spot under a small tree, eager

to sell his bunches of bananas and bottles of roasted peanuts. His dingy

shirt hangs low over too-short shorts. His sucked-in cheeks and puck-

ered lips suggest that although he appears to be about twelve, he already

knows the sourness of life. By the time I stop the car, he is at the pas-

senger door, grunting: “Banana 300 naira (roughly $2). Groundnut 200

naira. Sah!” I look skeptically at his black-striped bananas and bargain

him down to 200 total for the fruit and nuts. When he agrees, I reach

for my wallet and hand him a crisp 500 naira note. He doesn’t have

change, so I tell him not to worry. He is grateful and smiles a row of

perfect teeth.

4 When, two weeks later, I see this same boy, I am more aware of

my position in Nigerian society. Security people at the house have told

me: “You are the son of a minister! Kai! You should enjoy this coun-

try!” But it’s hard to ﬁ nd enjoyment in a place where it’s not that rare

to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling

fruit in the intense heat. My parents have raised me and my three sib-

lings to be aware of the privilege we have been afforded and the respon-

sibility it brings. “To whom much is given . . .” my grandfather always

says.

And I have been given much, from education at the best schools

in the United States to this car and its twelve speakers, which have

changed the way I listen to music. But I worry about what is expected

of me.

PAUSE: Underline

details in this para-

graph that suggest

the economic dif-

ferences between

Iweala and the boy

selling bananas

and nuts.

PAUSE: Why might

Iweala be con-

cerned about what

is expected of him?

“To whom much is given . . .”: a passage from Luke 12:8 in the Christian Bible.

The quotation continues with “of him much shall be required.”

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Chapter 43 • Narration 751

5 I pull over and wind down my window. He wears the same shirt and

shorts and has a bunch of bananas and a bottle of peanuts ready. I wave

them away. “What’s up?” I ask him. He answers in broken English: “I

dey oh. But I no get money to buy book for school.” I reach into my

wallet and pull out two fresh 500 naira notes. “Will this help?” I ask.

He looks around nervously before sticking his hand into the car to take

the bills. One thousand naira is a lot of money to someone whose family

probably makes about 50,000 naira ($380) or less each year. “Thank

you, sah,” he says. “Thank you very much, oh!”

6 Later, I say to my mother: “That’s the way it works? He doesn’t

have any money, so I dash him some. Trickle-down economics, right?”

My mother winces when anyone speaks of the slow progress of the eco-

nomic reforms. “No, I’m trying to better his situation ﬁ rst,” she says.

The next morning, the Secret Service ofﬁ cers caution me, “Sometimes

in this place, when you give a little, people think you’re a fountain of

opportunity.”

7 It’s true that people will take advantage of you in Nigeria, but this

happens everywhere in the world. I wonder if my little friend actually

used the money for schoolbooks. What if he’s a fraud? And then I won-

der about my own motives. Did I give to alleviate my own guilt? Am I

using him? Later, I realize that I don’t know his name or the least bit

about him nor did I think to ask.

8 Over the next six months, I am busy working in a refugee camp in

northern Nigeria, biking across France and Spain and writing. Some-

time after I return, I go for a drive, and I see the boy standing on the

road next to a man who sells exotic birds. He jumps up and down to get

my attention and has a big smile ready when I roll down the window.

9 “Oga sah!” he says. “Long time.”

10 “Are you in school now?” I ask.

11 He nods.

12 “That’s good,” I say. A silence falls as we look at each other, and then

I realize what he wants. “Here,” I hold out a 500 naira note. “Take this.”

13 He shakes his head vigorously and steps back as if offended. “What’s

wrong?” I ask. “It’s a gift.”

14 He shakes his head again and brings his hand from behind his back.

His face glistens with sweat. He drops a bunch of bananas and a bottle

of peanuts in the front seat before he says, “I’ve been waiting to give

these to you.”

trickle-down economics: an economic theory that was favored in the 1980s by

the administration of President Ronald Reagan. The theory claimed that tax cuts for

the wealthy would encourage them to spend more money, which then would “trickle

down” to small businesses and average wage earners.

fountain of opportunity: someone or something that can supply endless new

opportunities (in this context, more money)

PAUSE: How would

you summarize the

feelings that Iweala

expresses in this

paragraph?

PAUSE: Why might

the boy refuse

Iweala’s money?

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752 Part Eight • Readings for Writers

SUMMARIZE AND RESPOND

In your reading journal or elsewhere, summarize the main point of “A Close

Encounter.” Then, go back and check off support for this main idea. Next,

write a brief summary (three to ﬁ ve sentences) of the essay. Finally, jot down

your initial response to the reading. What impression of Iweala do you come

away with? Of the boy selling bananas and nuts? What does their “close

encounter” make you think about?

CHECK YOUR COMPREHENSION

1. Which of the following would be the best alternative title for this essay?

a. “The Value of Money”

b. “A Nigerian Politician’s Son”

c. “Connecting across the Nigerian Economic Divide”

d. “Nigeria: A Land in Transition”

2. What is the main idea of this essay?

a. The author wants to give readers a sense of the complicated nature of

his relation to others in Nigeria.

b. The author wants readers to share his feeling that economic inequal-

ity in Nigeria is the fault of politicians.

c. The author hopes to show readers that he and his family deserve

their privileged status because they are better educated than most

Nigerians.

d. The author wishes to convince readers that those who are privileged

should share with others less fortunate.

3. Iweala’s personal conﬂ ict stems partly from the fact that

a. his mother’s position rarely allows her time to chat with him.

b. he was cheated by the boy selling bananas and nuts.

c. people in Nigeria take advantage of others more often than Ameri-

cans do.

d. his family’s high income gives him a privileged position in his country.

4. If you are unfamiliar with the following words, use a dictionary to check

their meanings: dingy (para. 3); skeptically (3); afforded (4); winces (6);

alleviate (7).

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READINGS

Chapter 43 • Narration 753

READ CRITICALLY

1. What is Iweala’s attitude toward the boy he writes about? Point to speciﬁ c

passages in the article that support your interpretation.

2. What impression of the writer do you take away from this reading? What

words would you use to describe him? Point to speciﬁ c parts of the essay

that create this impression for you.

3. Mark the transitions that Iweala uses in the essay to show the passage of

time. How effective do you ﬁ nd his use of transitions?

4. Note Iweala’s use of direct quotations. What do these contribute to his

story?

5. In paragraph 4, Iweala writes that he worries about “what is expected of

me.” What does he mean? How do you think he should act, given the

responsibility that he feels his privilege brings?

WRITE AN ESSAY

Write an essay about a time when you experienced a “close encounter” with

another person across lines of class, race, culture, or other basic differences.

How did you respond to those differences? Were you able to resolve them?

Like Iweala, you should allow readers to see into your own thoughts regarding

the encounter.

Narration: Linked Readings

THE PRESSURE TO CONFORM

Each of the following readings focuses on various aspects of the pressures

people feel to conform:

Langston Hughes, “Salvation” (this chapter, p. 745)

Kathleen Vail, “Words That Wound” (Chapter 44, p. 759)

Malcolm X, “My First Conk” (Chapter 46, p. 776)

Read the selections, and draw from at least one in addition to “Salvation” to

write an essay titled “The Pressure to Conform in Our Society.” You can refer

to your own experience, but make sure to use material from the essays as well.

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754 Part Eight • Readings for Writers

FEELING FOREIGN

Each of the following readings focuses on various aspects of feeling foreign or,

in Mukherjee’s essay, how people from other countries adapt to a new one.

Uzodinma Iweala, “A Close Encounter” (this chapter, p. 749)

Alex Espinoza, “An American in Mexico” (Chapter 45, p. 766)

Bharati Mukherjee, “Two Ways to Belong in America” (Chapter 49,

p. 822)

Read the selections, and draw from at least one in addition to “A Close

Encounter” to write an essay titled “Feeling Foreign.” You can use the term

foreign in the sense of being either from another country or in a new situation

(such as starting at a new job or a new school).

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755

Illustration

Each essay in this chapter uses illustration to get its main point across. As

you read these essays, consider how they achieve the four basics of good

illustration that are listed below and discussed in Chapter 11 of this book.

FOUR BASICS OF GOOD ILLUSTRATION

It has a point to illustrate.

2. It gives speciﬁ c examples to show, explain, or prove the point.

3. It gives details to support these examples.

4. It uses enough examples to get the writer’s point across.

Ellen Goodman

Nightmare of Feature Creep

A native of Newton, Massachusetts, Ellen Goodman (b. 1941) earned

her bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College in 1963. She began her

career in journalism as a researcher at Newsweek magazine at a time

when few women became news writers and later was a reporter for the

Detroit Free Press. She began writing a column for the Boston Globe

in 1967 that went into syndication in 1976 and now appears on the

op-ed page in over four hundred newspapers nationwide. Goodman

has published six collections of her columns and two other works of

nonﬁ ction — Turning Points (1979), about changing women’s roles, and

I Know Just What You Mean: The Power of Friendship in Women’s Lives

(2000). Among many awards, Goodman received the Pulitzer Prize for

Commentary in 1980.

■ IDEA JOURNAL

Write about a time

that you were bullied

or hurt by what some-

one said about you.

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756 Part Eight • Readings for Writers

Goodman is often praised for her directness, clarity, and sincerity.

The following column from 2006 also reveals Goodman’s witty side.

GUIDING QUESTION

What does the toothbrush that Goodman describes symbolize to her?

1 The origin of this species of rant was a toothbrush. A new toothbrush.

A new toothbrush that came with an instructional DVD. The user of

this advanced piece of dental equipment had been brushing his teeth lo

these many years without any educational aids at all. But now he was

the proud owner of an “IntelliClean System” equipped with packets of

paste to be downloaded into the toothbrush’s hard drive.

2 The good news is that his toothbrush — excuse me, his cleaning

system — does not connect his ﬁ llings to the Internet or allow instant

messaging with other people’s bicuspids. But a toothbrush with a DVD

and a “quad pacer” was the last straw, the ﬁ nal reminder of the ongoing

“complexiﬁ cation” of everyday life — a word that can now be found in

Wikipedia.

3 How did every simple piece of earthly equipment become strato-

spherically

high-tech? How did progress become associated with the

number of features whose main feature is frustration?

4 Have you seen my new cell phone that can take pictures, handle

e-mail, tell time, wake me up, get me the news, beat me in video games,

and generally make me feel incompetent? It reminds me of a New Yorker

cartoon of a man going into a store asking, “Do you have any phones

that make phone calls?”

5 Once upon a time there were coffee makers that made, well, coffee.

They now let you program, bump, and grind more kinds of espresso,

americano, latte, and cappuccino at more times of day than a barista at

Starbucks. You cannot drink that coffee while you are driving because

you need that hand and a direct help line to Bangalore

just to use your

car radio, which is now located on a dashboard that resembles the cock-

pit of a 747.

6 Shall we tell the children about the old days when you could walk

into any stranger’s house and actually turn on the TV? The on/off but-

ton in my home has been replaced by three remote controls that must

be operated in perfect synchrony just to watch Blue’s Clues.

7 I could get a universal remote for the cable, VCR, and DVD player

that would make me unable to use them with one device instead of

stratospherically: related to the part of the atmosphere that extends from 7 to 31

miles above the earth’s surface; thus, very high

Bangalore: a city in India

PAUSE: Based on

this opening, pre-

dict what you think

Goodman’s attitude

toward the high-

tech toothbrush

will be. Why?

PAUSE: Summarize

Goodman’s main

point in paragraphs

5 and 6.

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