Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - Edwards, Johnathan

INFORMATION TO KNOW AHEAD:
Johnathan Edwards
- born into a Purtian Evangelical household on Oct. 5, 1703
- attended Yale University
- most rememed for his powerful potrayal of God's infinate hatred of sin
- education consisted of: the classics, theology, and anciet languages
- associated with the First Great Awakening (circa 1743-1750); thousands came to christ daily; biblical revelation favored over human reason
- In the fifteen years of the Great Awakening, Edwards managed to convert thousands to Puritanism
- Congregation eventually rebelled against his conservative views

Extracted Data*
This section of information came from my notes during an in-class discussion on the sermon.  Their format came from a 'Data Sheet' we were given to complete as individual analysis of the work.  Thus, the content is a mixture of my personal thoughts on the sermon and those of my teacher and peers.  For more information, please read the footnote (indicated by an asterisk *) at the bottom of the post.
Speaker: Johnathan Edwards (1743-1750)
Occasion/Purpose: Thousands coming to christ daily through religious sermons
Audience: Audience consisted of Puritans; people left their home courty for religious freedom
Tone (author's attitude towards subject): frightening, humbling, passionate, revealing, intrusive
Ethos (Credibilty): In order for Edwards to be able to drive such fear into the audience, he would need ethos.  There is a definite credibilty in the cause for which he is preaching; however, there is never a point in the sermon in which he attempts to list his own credentials.
Pathos (Emotional): The appeal to fear (overall) is great; it has been said that Edwards preached the sermon very calmly and with somewhat less passion than what the reader may take from what he says.
Logos (Logical): His ideas are logical to him, but the time was characterized by a lack in logical reasoning.  The argument could be made that it was logical to them (the Puritans).  Edwards values emphasis on thoughts and feelings.

Literary Element Examples:
Tons of imagery and figurative language are used throughout the sermon.  It paints a picture in one's mind of what happens to those who do not act according to written word of the Bible.  These a few brief examples I found of the literary elements that make up this essay.
Parallel Structure: "...he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand... he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer..." (par. 9)
"...you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets and in the house of God." (par. 5)
"...nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment..." (par. 8)
Repition: He refers to the "pleasure of God", "hand of God", "spirit of God", etc. repeatedly over the course of the sermon; refers twice to a spider's web and entanglement therein
Loaded Words: Though the sermon appears to be nothing but loaded words (carrying heavy connotation), think of how some of the following words added to the over-all tone of Edward's sermon... omnipotent (p. 4), constitution (p. 3), sovereign (p. 3), vengance (repeat), salvation (repeat), torment (repeat), suffering (repeat)
Metaphors: "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God" (p. 5)
Similes: "Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as led..." (p. 3); "The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present..." (p. 4)
Syntax (sentence structure): "God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now tih some encouragement of obtaining mercy." (p. 10) Edwards uses semicolons a lot, most likely because it avoids run-ons and continues one's thoughts; he also continually uses complex and rambling sentences
Diction (word choice): One specific example particularly stuck-out to me, and it was "infinite gloom", which, as we discussed in class, could almost be considered a loaded phrase
Antithesis (i.e. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" from Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities"): "...all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life..." (p. 5)
Imagery: "...lake of burning brimstone..." (p. 1); "Consider the fearful danger you are in... the great furnace of wrath, a wide of bottomless pit, full of fire of wrath..." (p. 8)
Other interesting stylistic choices:
Polysyndeton (reoccuring use of conjunctions in a statement): "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God..." (p. 5).  The opposite of polysyndeton is asyndeton, which is not using conjunctions.  Such stylistic choices are used for emphasis.

Finally, my teacher had additionally advised that:
"After completing the data sheet, write one paragraph that performs a close reading of the author's stylistic choices and how they affect the purpose of the work."
If you too are studying this sermon, I would recommend jotting down a few sentences of literary analysis on how Edwards acheives his purpose through his writing.

*Based on an excerpt from Edwards' original sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" featured on pages 98-101 in the Prentince Hall Literature: The American Experience Tennessee English Language textbook c.2000.

Additionally, I would just like to mention that a large portion of the information I present here is based on notes I have taken in my AP English Language and Composition class (compiled from notes presented by my course teacher, topics discussed in the classroom, and personal interpretation/reasoning).  Thus, in order for me to have permission to post information like this for your viewing, I must credit my course teacher and peers.  Additional sources used will be cited in the footnotes of each posting.