A Lesson Before Dying: an Examination of a Prodigious Storyteller Essay

A good novel entertains the reader. An excellent novel entertains and enlightens the reader. Set in a Cajun community in the late 1940’s, A Lesson Before Dying is a heart-warming tale of injustice, acceptance and redemption. A Lesson Before Dying by Earnest J. Gaines is an excellent novel. Not only does Gaines inform the reader, he entertains will his effective storytelling. His use of symbolism, voice and stylistic devices keeps the reader enticed to the very last page. One way Gaines is an effective storyteller is his use of symbolism. The first symbol to present itself in A Lesson Before Dying is the hog. During trial for robbery and first degree murder, Jefferson’s attorney attempts to get him off by dehumanizing him and denouncing his intelligence, claiming he is incapable of murder because he doesn’t have a â€Å"modicum of intelligence† (Gaines 7). He even goes so far as to compare Jefferson to a hog: â€Å"Why, I would just as soon put a hog in th e electric chair as this† (Gaines 8). This statement drives the central conflict. The hog, a filthy animal, represents the way the whites treated and regarded the blacks; as dirty, unintelligent and inferior animals, whose sole purpose was to work for them. The second symbol to appear in the novel is food. In A Lesson Before Dying, Tante Lou uses food as a means of affection. When Grant tells her he is going into town to eat, he says â€Å"Nothing could have hurt her more when I said I was not going to eat her food† (Gaines 24). Miss Emma brings Jefferson his favourite foods while in prison, to try and comfort him and show him he is loved. When Jefferson refuses to eat, Miss Emma takes it straight to heart and is greatly distressed. Grant even tells Jefferson to eat for Miss Emma, to show that he loves her. In addition to symbolizing love, food also symbolizes Jefferson’s humanity in the novel. Jefferson, taking being called a hog as a great emotional blow, refuses to eat, claiming â€Å"That’s for youmans† (Gaines 83). It is only when Jefferson reconnects with his humanity that he agrees to eat. The final symbol in A Lesson Before Dying is the notebook. After many attempts to reach Jefferson—from Grant, Miss Emma and Reverend Amborse, Grant gives him a notebook to write his thoughts in. In this notebook, Jefferson reflects upon life and death. He writes to Grant about all the injustices he has faced—saying â€Å"it look like the lord just work for wite folks† (Gaines 227) and the his impending fate. The notebook represents Jefferson’s acceptance of his unjust life and his newfound sense of self-worth. In addition, the notebook also shows the bond which formed between Grant and Jefferson. By writing to Grant, he finally accepted Grant’s guidance and showed that Grant made a difference in his short life. As seen through these examples, Gaines uses many symbols to effectively tell his story. The second reason Gaines is an effective story-teller, is his utilization of voice. Most of a Lesson Before Dying is conveyed through stream of consciousness. Narrated by Grant Wiggins, much of the novel is dedicated to Grant’s internal monologue: â€Å"What am I doing? Am I reaching them at all? They are acting exactly as the old men did earlier. They are fifty year younger, maybe more, but doing the same thing those old men who never attended school a day in their lives. Is it just a vicious circle? Am I doing anything?† (Gaines 62) Another way Gaines utilizes voice is through his use of Cajun dialect. Rather than having the dialogue written in proper English form, Gaines presents it exactly how the characters speak: â€Å"I didn’t raise no hog, and I don’t want no hog to go set in that chair. I want a man to set in that chair, Mr. Henri† (Gaines 20). The final form of voice used is epistolary voice. All of Chapter 29 is told through Jefferson’s diary, directed to Grant, to convey Jefferson’s last days on earth. For these reasons, Gaines’ is an effective storyteller because he uses eclectic and creative voice techniques to give the novel a feeling authenticity. The final technique Grant uses to effectively tell the story of A Lesson Before Dying, is stylistic devices. The first device used is repetition. For example, the first time Grant goes to visit Jefferson he remarks â€Å"You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? his eyes said. They were big brown eyes, the whites too reddish† (Gaines 73) and then, he again says â€Å"His eyes mocked me. They were big brown eyes, the whites too reddish† (Gaines 74). Another device used is charactonym. The character Paul is a perfect example of Gaines’ use of charactonym. Being one of the first white men in the story to accept the black people, it could be said that he is so named after Paul the Apostle, who â€Å"was one of the most influential early Christian missionaries† (Livingstone, and Cross 1840). The final stylistic device used paradox. For example, when Grant describes Jefferson’s trial, he says â€Å"I was not there, yet I was there† (Gaines 1). All in all, Gaines uses many efficient stylistic devices to tell his story in an effective manner. Gaines’ ability to effectively tell a story—through symbolism, voice and other stylistic devices, has created a highly stimulating and moving read. A Lesson Before Dying is a emotional and enlightening tale that is bound to touch all those who read it. Works Cited Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York: Random House, 1994. Livingstone, E. A., and F.L. Cross. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 3rd ed, Rev. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

Premature Feedback

Premature Feedback We writers are a needy lot. We cant wait for feedback on our work. And in these days of instant communication via email and social media, we seek it earlier and earlier in the process. Some even ask for feedback on their ideas, before writing the first chapter, as if the other person could have a clue. Yet somewhere out there we can find someone wholl tell us its the grandest idea and destined for record-breaking success. Its like planting a seed and asking others how they think the tomato is going to taste. Someone will tell you they bet itll be phenomenal. The problem with seeking premature feedback is timing. First, the idea isnt fully fleshed out, therefore limiting the quality of the feedback. Without more information (i.e., quality of writing, the consummation of the plot), how in the world can the reader even tell? Second, those folks out there lose nothing in patting you on the head and making you feel good regardless of the concept. They recognize youre fragile, seeking validation for something as fleeting as an idea, so they tell you THAT SOUNDS GREAT and move on. Third, its in this introductory period, when you are the least sure of getting into bed with this idea, that you are the most vulnerable. You arent even sure of what you have. You havent lived with the idea long enough, molded and remolded it sufficiently to even have a form. Hold off asking for opinion. The earlier you ask for feedback, the more likely you are to get deterred from what might be your best writing. The best judge of a good idea is you, but only after youve mulled it over for a long while, or tested it Then theres always this possibility. You request feedback on your idea, and three people give it the thumbs down. Frustrated, you throw away a story that through trial and error, a couple rewrites, and dozen edits later could be Harry Potter, Gone Girl, or Murder on the Orient Express. Nobody on social media can make these types of decisions for you. And you are too vulnerable at this early stage to be asking them to help you do so. You are too easily persuaded to take the wrong path, whether you write a work that will never see the light of day or forget about a concept that could be career-setting. The masses cannot make such personal decisions. Take responsibility for vetting an idea long enough, and deep enough, to understand if it suits you. You have to live with it. They dont.

A Tongue-Twisting Language Arts Lesson Plan

A Tongue-Twisting Language Arts Lesson Plan Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers! She Sells Seashells by the Seashore! Toy Boat! Toy Boat! Toy Boat! Try saying these words several times quickly and youll see why tongue twisters can be a totally terrific part of your Language Arts curriculum. Not only are they silly, but these funny phrases focus on phonics, parts of speech, oral language, alliteration, reading, writing, and more. First, pique the childrens interest by introducing them to some of the more well-known tongue twisters. Challenge the children to say each phrase five times fast. Toy Boat is a great one because it sounds easy, but its actually quite difficult to repeat it fast. Try it yourself and see! Next, read a tongue-twisting book such as Twimericks, Dr. Seuss Oh Say Can You Say?, or Worlds Toughest Tongue Twisters. The kids will love watching you struggle through the tongue-tickling phrases from these books. You will probably have to stop every so often to give the kids a chance to practice the twisters. Its simply too irresistible to them if they have to wait. After the book, introduce the concept of alliteration. If you teach students in second grade or older, they will probably be able to handle this big word. In fact, it is a third grade academic standard in my district that all students know alliteration and begin to apply it in their writing. Alliteration simply means the repetition of the beginning sound in two or more words together. Younger students can build on the letter decoding skills included in tongue twisters by reading phonics poems in books such as the Phonics Through Poetry series. These poems are a little different than traditional tongue twisters, but they are a fun way to practice certain beginning sounds, rhymes, digraphs, and more. You may also want to discuss what makes these sentences and phrases so difficult to pronounce quickly. To build in writing practice, the students will have a blast building their own tongue twisters. To start, you can have the kids make four columns on their papers: one for adjectives, one for nouns, one for verbs, and one for other parts of speech. To determine the letter for their twisters, I usually just have them pick one of their initials. This gives them a little bit of free choice, but also ensures that you dont get 20 twisters of the same letter. After the children brainstorm approximately 10-15 words for each column that begin with their chosen letters, they can start putting together their twisters. I stipulate that they have to write complete sentences, not simple phrases. My students got so carried away that many of them asked if they could make more than one. I even had one child who made 12! To culminate the tongue twisting lesson, I have the kids write one twister on the bottom of a page and illustrate it above. These make a great project to post on a bulletin board because the children will love reading each others sentences and trying to say them five times fast. Give this tongue-twisting lesson a try and its sure to become one of your favorite lessons to teach each year. Yes, its a little silly and full of giggles, but at the end of the day, the kids really will have gained valuable language arts skills.

Ghost Light from Dead Galaxies Sheds Light on Ancient Galaxy Interactions

Ghost Light from Dead Galaxies Sheds Light on Ancient Galaxy Interactions Did you know that astronomers can learn about galaxies that died long ago? Thats part of the story of the cosmos that the  deep cosmos-gazing  Hubble Space Telescope  was built to tell. Along with other telescopes on the ground and on orbit, it fills in the story of the universe as it peers out at distant objects. Some of its most fascinating objects are galaxies, including some that formed in the infancy of the universe and are now long gone from the cosmic scene. What stories do they tell?   What Hubble Found Studying long-dead galaxies sounds like it would be impossible. In a way, it is. Theyre no longer around, but it turns out, some of their stars are. To learn more about early galaxies that no longer exist, Hubble observed dim  light from orphaned stars that lie some 4 billion light-years away from us. They were born billions of years ago and somehow were ejected at high speed from their original galaxies, which themselves are long gone. It turns out some kind of galactic mayhem sent these stars reeling across space. They belonged to a galaxies in a massive galaxy called Pandoras Cluster. The light from those far-flung stars provided clues to a crime scene of truly galactic proportions: as many as six galaxies were somehow torn to pieces within the cluster. How could this happen? Gravity Explains a Lot Each galaxy has a gravitational pull. Its the combined gravity of all the stars, clouds of gas and dust, black holes, and dark matter that exist in the galaxy.  In a cluster, you get the combined gravitational pull of all the galaxies, and that affects all of the members of the cluster. That gravity is pretty strong. In addition, galaxies tend to move around within their clusters, which affects the motions and interacts of their cluster-mates. Add those two effects together and you set the scene  for the destruction of some not-so-lucky small galaxies that happen to get caught in the action.  They get stuck in a squeeze play between their larger neighbors as they travel, Eventually, the strong gravity of the bigger galaxies pulls the smaller ones apart.   Astronomers found clues to this destructive shredding of galaxies by studying the light from stars scattered by the action.That light would be detectable long after the galaxies were destroyed. However, this predicted intracluster glow of stars is very faint and is quite a challenge to observe.These are extremely faint stars and they are brightest in infrared wavelengths of light. This is where Hubble comes in. It has very sensitive detectors to capture that faint glow from the stars. Its observations helped scientists study the combined light of about 200 billion stars that were cast out from interacting galaxies. Its measurements showed that the scattered stars are rich in heavier elements like oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. This means they are not the first-ever stars formed. The first stars consisted mainly of hydrogen and helium, and forged heavier elements in their cores. When those earliest ones died, all the elements were cast into space and into nebulae of gas and dust. Later generations of stars formed from those clouds and show higher concentrations of heavy elements. It is the enriched stars that Hubble studied in an effort to track what happened to their galactic homes.   Future Studies Zero in on More Orphan Stars Theres still a lot to figure out about the earliest, most distant galaxies and their interactions. Everywhere Hubble looks, it finds more and more distant galaxies. The farther out it  peers, the further back in time it looks. Each time it makes a deep field observation, this telescope shows astronomers fascinating things about the earliest times in the cosmos. Thats all part of the study of cosmology, the origin and evolution of the universe.

'Rebel Without a Cause' Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

'Rebel Without a Cause' Film Review - Essay Example In order to discern the position, it is important to look at the outstanding question that Jim Stark ask his father while considering the embodiment of manhood; â€Å"What can you do when you have to be a man?† (Ray II). When asking the question, Jim expects a clear and conclusive solution, but the father’s inability to give a precise answer points in a way to the question of masculinity among the characters in the movie. People wonder why there is not one definite answer explaining who a real man is. Is it that Mr. Stark is not sure of what it takes to be a man? Maybe there is more than one way of answering the question. One plausible thing in this scenario is that the society in which the movie is set provides only one standard model of manhood; that of a tough, hyper-masculine male. There seems to be numerous instances in the movie during which this assertion of a hyper-masculine male is ideologically shifted and distorted. For instance, when Jim gets back home, he finds his dad rushing to bring food to Jim’s mother afore she awakens. Jim becomes disgusted at just how diminished his father’s masculinity has become and begged him to stop getting submissive. It is clear that Jim’s disgust stems from his worries regarding the apparent inversion of gender roles. It is plausible in Jim’s character that something urgent needs to be done in order to re-define the true meaning of masculinity, and hence manhood. This explains why he cannot accept his father’s submissiveness to the mother. Out of frustration, he grabs his father and pushes him across the room. This action seems to encompass Jim’s desire to re-awaken the â€Å"man† in his father. According to Jim, the father has become an emasculated patriarch in this matriarchal society. When one turns to Frank’s life in the movie, it is notable that he has control over his activities, leaving him with little room to assert his masculinity. Indeed, his masculinity has

Reading Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reading Assessment - Assignment Example In their past experience, they should also be able to relate to the main character's initial delight at being able to eat all the saccharine-laced food that was being presented and recognize the need to eat other kind of food for their nutritional value. The selection was written in simple language with basic idiomatic expressions that children of their age normally use. There is an introduction to the use of adverbs and usage of present-tense verbs as the selection describes what the character does in candy land. New vocabulary words are highlighted filled with context clues. The context clues will prove useful for describing sensory images that will create an effective mental picture of the dilemma the character experiences as the story progresses. The selection is written in simple language and there would be minimal confusion if the reader's first language was English. Since some of the words are in boldface, the facilitator can develop an exercise where the readers figure which of those words fit in each item of the exercise. It can focus on vocabulary mastery or grammar skills. There were some sentence patterns that might need further explanation for the readers as they are filled with modifiers, clauses and other word groups. They can be taught to identify the key words and the main components of the sentence patterns to comprehend the complex sentence structure. Most of the words tha... Students will be encouraged to read the selection by paragraphs so that they will be able to form hypotheses and predict outcomes for the next set of paragraphs. Word families will also be incorporated so that they get to recognize word patterns in the story in order to get a new word's meaning lacking context clues. Students will be encouraged to enrich the vocabulary they already know through creation of original sentences which may not be related to the read selection. Summary Gunning (1996) believes that the reading theories are interconnected and that the learner will make use of these reading theories to comprehend the selection. Huffman (1998) on the other hand, thinks that students will resort to the KWL method, an acronym that describes reading comprehension occurs accordingly: what the students know, what the students want to know and what was learned. The reading activities can be structured according to the KWL method but incorporating the skills described in the reading theories. The unit plan can be built around this text as it can be enriched through language development. However, since this is upper-level elementary, the students will crave for a variety of selection to read. There could be one prevailing theme, as in balanced nutrition in this selection, but made up of various reading texts of gradually increasing complexity. Bibliography A Sweet Adventure. (2007). Retrieved January 12, 2010, from ABC Teach website: http://www.abcteach.com/free/r/rc_sweetadventure_elemupper.pdf Gunning, T. G. (1996). Creating Reading Instruction for All Children, (6), 192-236. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Huffman, L. E. (1998). Spotlighting Specifics by Combining Focus Questions with K-W-L.

Overview of Sex Offender Registration - Effective or Not Research Paper

Overview of Sex Offender Registration - Effective or Not - Research Paper Example Police investigation revealed that the convicted person was a sex offender and was a nearby neighbor of Megan (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess & Ressler, 2006). Nevertheless, the parents of Megan had no information about the fact that their neighbor is a sex offender and how dangerous he can be to their family. This heated a great debate and eventually Megan’s law came onto the scene, which required States to put this information of sex offenders available to public so that people can ensure their safety (Tilley, 2009). Despite the fact that these registration polices vary amongst different states, however, the primary goal remains the same, avoidance of sexual violence or crime and prevention of sexual re-offending by these former offenders (Wright, 2009). This paper would try to compare to Sex Offender Registration policies in California and Massachusetts. California had implemented these policies in 1947 and Massachusetts was the last state to implement these policies in the last years of 1990s (Douglas et al., 2006). Moreover, in the light of the policies at these two states, many others elements concerning the effectiveness of this system would also come under discussion. Sex Offender Registration laws require offender to register with the local state authority and supply crucial information like name, address, employment details, and others. In most cases, the offender has to register right after his or her release from the prison or in the initial of days of community supervision (Holmes & Holmes, 2008). Since 1996, most of the states have put this information online for public viewing including California and Massachusetts (Brown, 2005). As mentioned earlier, all the states have laws regarding sex offender registration that vary greatly. Differences start arising from the information required for registration. Both these states ask for name, aliases, photo, fingerprints, description of offences, location of offences,