..."A Lesson Before Dying" is a fantastic novel written by Ernest J. Gaines. Grant Wiggins, Jefferson, and Paul are three characters from the novel that benefited, embodied, and understood the most important lesson before dying. The most important lesson and message before dying was that each of us has been created by God with potential to be great, and to help others reach greatness. Grant Wiggins is a prime example of the most important lesson before dying. He attempted to teach Jefferson to be a man and not a "hog" as the public defender had called him during the trial. Jefferson's godmother "wants [Grant] to visit [Jefferson] and make him know-- prove to these white men-- that he's not a hog, that he's a man. (Gaines 31) Grant accepts the challenge firstly, to prove the white men that were betting against him wrong and show them that Jefferson can and will transform into a man for the sake of black people in the South. However, he also accepts the challenge in order for Jefferson to be someone he (Grant) in the future would look up to because he is the only person who has the power now to stand up to the white people in the South. Also, Grant Wiggins is trying to expose and introduce Jefferson's greatness by calling him a hero. Grant begins to explain to Jefferson the "'A hero is someone who does something for other people. He does something that other men don’t and can't do. He is different from other men. He is above other men. No matter who those other men are, the hero...
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...Not Your Everyday Hero Firefighters save lives, so they must be heros. Hercules has strength and courage, so he must be a hero. Superman saved a whole city, so he has got to be a hero. What about the everyday hero? The hero that doesn’t expect a reward for their good deed. The hero that does something because it’s just the right thing to do. Who determines who a hero is? Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Tall or short, skinny or fat, and even black or white. In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, the hero of the story cannot fly, he does not have the most strength or courage and he hasn’t saved any lives, much less a whole city. The hero in this story is a black man - charged for murder. Throughout A Lesson Before Dying Jefferson, an uneducated black man, is found guilty of murder for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A white man died, so the logical reasoning during the 1940’s must be that a black man is guilty. From the moment Jefferson’s defense attorney stated, “‘Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this’,” Jefferson and the majority of all the white men living in the Bayonne, Louisiana believed Jefferson was a hog who was going to die in the chair (Gaines 8). While Jefferson is sitting on death row, Grant Wiggins is sent by Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, to make Jefferson walk to “the chair” as a man - not a hog. During the first few visits by Grant to Jefferson, the responses and actions Jefferson says and does are not very hopeful...
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...Benjamin Luebke Mr. Bussen English lll 10/10/24 Grant Wiggins’ Moral Journey. In A Lesson Before Dying, many people can be seen as heroes to others. One could argue that Jefferson was a hero, showing courage in his dying moments, being kind to others, and carrying their crosses before he was executed. Grant Wiggins defines a hero: “Do you know what a hero is, Jefferson? A hero is someone who does something for other people.” (Gaines 156) Throughout the book, Grant struggles with his actions towards others, but by the novel's end, he becomes his definition of a hero. Grant Wiggins did not think of himself as a hero, but his community did. He hated his situation and often put himself down: “I could never be a hero. I teach, but I don’t...
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...“A Lesson before Dying” is a heartwarming, exciting novel that was written by Ernest J. Gaines. There are three main characters from this novel named Jefferson, Grant Wiggins, and Paul who knew one of the most important lessons there is before dying. That important lesson was for each of us who were made by Gods image to be great, and to help someone along the way. An Example of this important lesson is Grant Wiggins. He did n want to at first, but he attempted to be a man and not a Hog as the public defender had called him during the trial. Jefferson’s godmother wants Grant to visit Jefferson and make him know that he’s not a hog, that he’s a man. Grant accepts the challenge firstly, to prove the white men that were betting against him wrong and show them that Jefferson can and will transform from a hog in their eyes, to a man for the sake of black people in the south. But, He also accepts he challenge in order for Jefferson to become somebody in the future would look up to because he is the only person who has the power now to stand up towards the white citizens of the southern states. Grant Wiggins also tells Jefferson “A hero is someone who does something for other people. He does something that other men don’t and can’t do. He is different from other men. He is above other men. No matter who those other men are, the hero, no matter who he is, is above them”. During this section of the novel Grant wants Jefferson to show the white folk the difference between what he thinks...
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...In Ernest Gaines’s book A Lesson Before Dying , Grant goes through a change which at the end renders him as a hero. Grant is a young teacher in a small town near Bayonne. When his student is convicted of murder, Grant doesn't want anything to do with him. But after being persuaded by two old women in the community named Tante Lou and Miss Emma, Grant has to go and visit the convicted student and teach him to be a man before he is unjustly killed. Grant has a long road ahead of him. Grant’s long road to becoming a hero starts when he begins to care about others such as Jefferson, and is able to carry out what others ask of him like what Miss Emma and Tante Lou ask him to do for Jefferson, and when this happens his journey has been a success. Out of all of the challenges that Grant faces along his journey, the toughest is teaching Jefferson how to be a man. At first he...
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...A Lesson Before Dying Academic Conversation Directions- Prepare responses to the questions below. When we complete the novel, you will participate in the Academic Conversation by deploying these responses in a discussion about A Lesson Before Dying. 1. How are the following themes developed in the text: (cite textual evidence!) Racial Injustice(Monday, 4 Examples)pg 57, pg 49, 25, 79 1 - ¨There was a white movie theater uptown; a colored movie theater back of town for colored.¨(Gaines 25), This passage kicks off the mood the town has toward colored people and how they are treated throughout the story. 2 - ¨You're smart¨, Guidry said. ¨Maybe you're just a little too smart for your own good.¨(Gaines 49), This passage shows the developing message that colored men can't really be much and even though...
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...The Greater Good A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines tells the story of Jefferson, a prisoner on death row becoming a man. Jefferson was found guilty for the murder of Alcee Gropé, the liquor store owner. During the trial Jefferson's attorney referred to him as a hog, trying to prove he was not able to plan and execute a murder due to his plan stupidity. Jefferson took what his attorney said to heart belived that we was actually a hog. In the seats of the Courtroom Miss Emma and Tante Lou sat and listed every day. The two ladies also took what the attorney said to heart and called upon Grant to help change Jefferson. Jefferson's godmother Miss Emma does not want him to die as a hog, she wants Jefferson to die as a man. Jefferson is taught...
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...Could these characters truly be more than just an ordinary person? Are we, as real people and not figments of literature, capable of making the same changes we see them make? The answer can simply be a yes. If that is all it takes to sate your curiosity you can stop reading now. If you want to learn how heroism is part of our nature, then I suggest you continue on. I'll be attempting to determine what are the true makings of a hero. By the end you might even discover that we can all be heroes as well. So how might we define a hero? Well, if we were to google the definition of the word, we'll find that a hero is a term for a submarine sandwich. As delicious as that might be, it doesn't help much. The next one tells us that a hero is “the principal character of a play or story”. A little warmer, but a little too broad for our terms here. Dictionary.com gives us our answer. They define a hero as “a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.“ Now that we know what a hero is considered etymologically, how does this apply to ourselves or the people we meet every day? Mark Twain provides an option for heroes in his 1901 essay The United States of Lyncherdom. “Why does it lift no hand or voice in protest? Only because it would be unpopular to do it, I think; each man is afraid of his neighbor's disapproval – a thing which, to the general run of the race, is more dreaded than wounds and death.” This...
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...Andi Zenku Small victories = big meanings As Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but a series of small things brought together.” What could be possible without using steps to reach the final goal? Even the big bang took 8 steps to be what it is today. The novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines demonstrates the power of taking small steps and how they can mean so much more in a certain setting. to overcome his fear and cowardice, Jefferson has to make small steps to become the man his godmother sees him as. Jefferson’s actions represents in a multitude of ways how without small steps, reaching a great goal would be near impossible. Ever since the accident that would send Jefferson to the electric...
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...Dying With Dignity Gavin Proeh English 1 Ordinary people can change someone’s life. People who stand up for what is right and help others find dignity in their lives can be considered heroes. One does not need to win the Nobel Prize or be Superman to be considered heroic. In some cases, helping individuals accomplish tasks others find too difficult to tackle can be considered heroic. In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Earnest Gaines demonstrates that Paul Bonin, Grant Wiggins, and Jefferson define heroism by giving dignity to all individuals and giving respect to a disrespected community. Heroes disregard the racist codes of society by treating all people as equals. In the novel, Paul, a white man who works at the jail, recognizes the injustices in society, and insists on treating all people equally with kindness. Grant comes to the jail frequently to visit Jefferson and help him die with dignity. Paul forms a friendship with this young black teacher and their bond and desire to help Jefferson grows stronger and stronger. This friendship goes against segregation, and a partnership is formed that is based on trust and loyalty. Paul understands people and recognizes Grant’s pain when Grant visits a defeated Jefferson. A few days after the execution, Paul greats Grant with Jefferson’s notebook, “ If I could ever be of any help, I would like you to call on me. I mean that with all my heart”(255). Paul shows bravery by reaching across the racial...
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...In literature, society has portrayed women in a negative light compared to their male counterparts. In the typical novel, short story, or poem, the female is always the foil of the man who is usually the protagonist or hero in some way; she is perceived as either being weak and fragile, violent, and viciously brutal, or she just does not fit society’s image of the perfect woman. Examples of the negative portrayal can be seen in literature such as Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, in which Edna is a weak and conforming wife having an affair with another man; William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which Lady Macbeth is an evil, conniving woman who degrades her husband by questioning his strength and masculinity; and Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying, in which Vivian Baptiste cannot seem to simultaneously satisfy her family, her ex-husband, her boyfriend, Tante Lou, or Tante Lou’s friends while staying true to her religion, even though Grant has none at all. Through imagery, tone, and figurative...
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...Ulysses S. Grant (2002) Program Transcript Part One Narrator: October 23, 1863. Chattanooga, Tennessee. After a grueling four-day journey, General Ulysses S. Grant arrived at Union headquarters. He had injured his leg and had to be helped off his horse. Once again, he was dogged by rumors that he'd been drinking. He listened silently as his officers described a bleak situation. The Union Army was surrounded. Men and horses faced starvation. A Confederate victory seemed inevitable. Grant thanked his men, and began to write his orders. Max Byrd, Novelist: You see a lot of Grant in just that act of writing. The concentration and the determination. He never looked up. He never hesitated. He never seemed to search for a word. Geoffrey Perr et, Biographer: By the time he'd finished, he was surrounded by pieces of, of paper that he'd covered with his, his very even hand writing. In effect, he had fought the battle already in his o wn mind. Narrator: Before the war, Grant had been a nobody, a failure as a farmer and a businessman. As Commanding General, he was called an incompetent, a butcher. But he would win every campaign he ever fought. His plain, Midwestern w ays would captivate the American people. David W. Blight, Historian: There was something about that element of the American dream of that rags to riches story. He had experienced humiliation and he had understood failure. And I suspect a lot of Americans could see themselves in him. Donald Miller, Historian: Grant, not Lincoln...
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...deity of the Vanir, is the god they needed and he is beyond goodness or evil. He is what was crucial for survival at that time – the dominance of animalistic instincts. Gardner describes the character of Grendel in an entirely different way than Grigsby. The author does not only tell the story from Grendel’s perspective but also demonstrates his intellectual growth as he studies the world around him. The fact that Gardner gave his character a voice and a strong rational conscious made him closer not only to the audience, but also to the human world he interacts with. Joseph Milosh argues: “Gardner’s Grendel, on the other hand, is anything but a static character. He grows, passing through several initiations, evolving more than many a modern hero. Grendel begins as an unseen observer of men, reporting their actions and difficulties and threats. He comes into contact with them because he is forced to, and he then seeks to proceed from observation to communication and understanding” (49). In this regard, Gardner shows Grendel’s humanity not through his mythological divine nature like Grigsby; he makes him human by giving him consciousness and ability to grow and develop. The audience is forced to observe the world with the eyes of a person trapped in the body of a monster. This individual wants to understand the world around him and all those illogical creatures – human beings. From the very first pages of the novel, Gardner describes Grendel as an inevitable part of the world. Although...
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...Rizal’s Nationalist Project: An Analysis of his Major Works Alvin Campomanes University of the Philippines-Diliman University of Asia and the Pacific This study guide aims to: provide a historical background of Rizal’s major works – (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, his Annotation of Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos and Filipinas Dentro de Cien Años; critically analyze the content of these works; explain the relationship of the ideas contained in these works in order to understand Rizal’s concept of nation, nationhood, and nationalism But before we proceed, here is an overview of Rizal’s life-history 1861-1882 birth, childhood in Calamba, studies in Biñan and Ateneo, execution of the GOMBURZA, imprisonment of Doña Teodora, encounter with police brutality, discrimination in the literary competition of the Liceo Artistico-Literario (where he won first prize for his El Consejo de los Dioses) 1882-1887 trip to Europe, education at the Universidad Central de Madrid, growth of his nationalism, El Amor Patrio (1882), brindis (speech) in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo (1884), publication of the Noli Me Tangere (1887). 1887-1888 According to historian Floro Quibuyen, the Calamba Hacienda Case was a turning point in Rizal’s life – it marked the beginning of his radicalization; a critical examination of his correspondences reveals a subversive Rizal – a separatist 1888-1892 second trip...
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...Book Report 3 I – Information about the Book Name of the book: Kane Chronicles 1 – The Red Pyramid Author of the book: Rick Riordan Summary of the book: Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. II – Personal Summarization When Julius Kane tries to summon Osiris through the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, he also releases Set, the Egyptian god of chaos, who seals him in a coffin, as his children Sadie and Carter Kane watch. He also releases the other children of the Demon Days:Nephthys, Isis, Horus, and Osiris. The British police come to Carter and Sadie's grandparents' home, as Carter is with Sadie because of the twice-a-year visit, and question Carter and...
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