Literature Analysis #4

A Lesson Before Dying

by Ernest J. Gaines

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.) 

CHARACTERIZATION 

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 

1. This story is about young African American man named, Jefferson, who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He thought he was getting a free ride to some other place he needed to go, but it ended being that he would witness and convicted for a murder, even if he didn't do anything. His godmother loved him so much that he coerced the main character, Grant Higgins, to visit her beloved godson. Grant Higgins is a school teacher at the church school in the plantation. He was one of the few who actually went to a university and received a formal education.  She wanted him to make sure that Jefferson will leave the physical world with dignity. She didn't want Jefferson to die in vain. The story was mainly about Grant evolving and adapting to the situation that he was given by his family friend. He constantly thought that he wasn't valuable. He constantly thought that whatever he told Jefferson will be of no value. He thought he wasn't good enough to make this young man feel like he is a man. Every time he would visit Jefferson in the jail cell, Jefferson would make no progress and no effort to speak with Grant. Jefferson feels like he is a "hog" just like what the white jury said about him. Jefferson feels like a "hog" doesn't deserve to be treated fair and to have dignity. He feels that he doesn't deserve to be treated like a human. But as Grant Higgins kept visiting Jefferson in the jail cell, Jefferson started to warm up to Grant Higgins. At the end of the story, Jefferson and Grant became very good friends. One of the last chapters (Ch29), we read of Jefferson diary entries. We read his thoughts, his feelings, his view of life, and his view of the life after life. The only way that the readers can actually have access to this aspect of Jefferson's life is because Grant gave Jefferson a tablet of paper and a pencil to write out his feelings. At the end of the story, before his execution, Jefferson asks Paul, a deputy in charge, to give his diary to Grant after the execution happened. When Paul gave the diary to Grant, Grant breaks down and cries which ends the story.
 the title, A Lesson Before Dying,  says it all, the narrative buildups the lesson that Grant learns from Jefferson instead of the lesson that Grant was supposed to give to Jefferson.

2. I feel the theme of the novel is that it is never too late to make things right, and that listening to others makes a huge difference in your outlook in different things and in life in general.

3. I feel the author's tone is solemn because of the way the author wrote the story which created a very deep reflecting feeling.

• "When I came to into the office, Paul looked me straight in the face. He knew it was unnecessary to search me and the food, but he knew he had to do it." P.168
• "For the first time, the prisoners did not call to me or stick their hands through the bars as I passed. Some spoke quietly, others only nodded, but all were watching." P. 169
• "im sory i cry mr wigin im sory i cry when you say you aint comin back tomorow im strong an reven ambros gon be yer with me an mr harry comin to an reson i cry cause you been so good to me mr wigin an nobody aint never been that good to me an make me think im sombody" P.232

4.  10 Literary Elements/Techniques

• interior monologue- Utilizing monologue, Gaines allows the readers to get what's inside of Grant's, the main character's, mind.
• "It must have been twelve-fifteen by now. I didn't want to look at my watch anymore. Had it already happened? Or was he still waiting, sitting on the bunk, hands clasped together, waiting? Was he standing at the cell door, listening for that first sound of footsteps coming toward him? Or was it finally, finally over?" P.251
• mood- The mood stays the same. The same depressing mood.
• "He looked at me in great pain. He may not have understood, but something was touched, something deep down in him - because he was still crying." P.193
• motif- The motif of this story is about having dignity.
• "'Jefferson,' I said. We had started walking. 'Do you know what a hero is, Jeffesron? 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.'" P. 191
• narrative- The narrative allowed the readers to be like they were there when everything was happening. Every detail was described.
• "Several of the larger girls knelt on scarves or handkerchiefs. I took up my Westcott and went out through the front door. I had no idea what I would do while I waited to hear from Bayonne, but I found myself out in the road and walking up the quarter. It was a couple of minutes after twelve, and I was trying not to think. But how could I not think about something that had dominated my thoughts for nearly six months? It seemed that I had spent more time with him in that jail cell than I had with the children in the church school." P. 250
• omniscient point of view- Gaines used an omniscient point of view for his narrator so that we can get a well-rounded story.
• "The rest of the hour just dragged along. Jefferson was not looking at me anymore; he had lain back down on the bunk, facing the wall. I gazed out the window, at the yellow leaves on the sycamore tree." P.84
• flashback- Gaines utilized flashbacks to give us the causing conflict of the story.
• " He (Jefferson) wanted to run, but he couldn't run. He couldn't even think. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know how he had gotten there. He couldn't remember ever getting into the car. He couldn't remember a thing he had done all day." P.5
• foreshadowing- Gaines utilized foreshadow to let us know what will happen within the story.
• "A Lesson Before Dying"
• "'Yes, I'm the teacher,' I said. ' And I teach what the white folks around here tell me to teach - reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. They never told m e how to keep a black boy out of a liquor store." P.13
• inference- The audience is able to create inferences of what may happen next.
• "I recognized Revered Ambrose's car, parked before the door. Now I felt a little guilty for getting back so late.' P. 98
• Here we can infer that once Grant goes inside to the house, he will have to face the disappointment and doubt from the other characters.
• implication- The audience is able to create an implication of what happened at that very point of the story.
• "The deputy came back and stood just outside the cell. Miss Emma still sat on the bunk. But now Jefferson had turned his back to her and was facing the gray concrete wall. Miss Emma passed her hand over his hair again, then she pushed herself up from the bunk." P.74
• The implication is that this jail visit was not successful.
• argument- The audience sees an argument occur between two key people who both are trying to help Jefferson gain his dignity back. But with this conflict happening, it's like the conflict is hindering them from making any progress.
• "'We got to have it your way or else, that's it?' Reverend Ambrose cut in. 'No,' I said. ' You can have it your way. You can take it from him. But you won't reach him if you do. The only thing that keeps him from thinking he is not a hog is that radio. Take that radio away, and let's see what you can do for the soul of a hog.'" P.183

Characterization

1. Examples of direct characterization are:

• "Miss Emma was in her early or mid-seventies; my aunt was in her seventies, and I figured they were pretty much the same age. Miss Emma's hair was gray and combed up and pinned on top." P.12
• "Farrell Jarreau was a small, light-brown man in his late fifties. He wore an old felt hat, a khaki suit, and worn work shoes. He was the yardman and all-round handyman." P.40
• With this, we get a direct image of what the other characters of the story are like.

    Examples of indirect characterization are:

• "Most of my students remembered the mood I was in and had their heads in their books." P. 38
• "His expression remained the same - cynical, defiant, painful." P.84
• With these two examples, we get to create our own image of what the character, that is being described through context, is like.

I feel the author uses both approaches to create images in our minds that would remain there and allow us to reflect to that throughout the book.

2. The author's syntax and diction doesn't change when he focuses on character because every dialogue and sentence is written the same with the same type of words in the same type of writing style.

• "I had sat down at the table and was pretending to read." P. 11
• "'Don't tell me you're jealous of that child.'" P. 165

3.  The protagonist is dynamic because at first, he doesn't want to speak with the prisoner who is already sentenced to die because he feels his words won't change a thing, but in the end, the prisoner's words changed a lot for him.

4. After reading the book, I came away feeling like I've met a person. An example would be "Why wasn't I there? Why wasn't I standing beside him? Why wasn't my arm around him? Why? Why wasn't I back there with the children? Why wasn't I down on my knees? Why?" P. 250

• With this excerpt, we meet a man who loves and cares for his friend. We meet someone who evolved from being a closed-hearted man to an open-hearted man.