After Thoughts to "A Lesson Before Dying"

I have finally finished A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. The story didn’t drag on, but it had sufficient details. For me, the most difficult part of the book was chapter 29 - Jefferson’s Diary. The the lack of proper spelling, grammar, and sentence structure made extremely difficult to read and comprehend. My predictions were correct, Wiggins helped Jefferson become a man and Jefferson helped Wiggins understand his life better. Jefferson changed from calling himself an “old hog”(83) to being the “strongest man”(253) in the execution room. A few universal themes in the book include “live the life you have” and “live today like it is your last.” These themes are portrayed throughout the novel. Jefferson is on death row and he must make the most of the little amount of time he has left. Wiggins does not like where he is at in life, but he must strive to make the most of his life each day. These themes can apply to everyone because we must make the most of where we are to live to our full potential. Because of the universal themes, A Lesson Before Dying is a story we can all learn from.

Thoughts to "A Lesson Before Dying"

So far, I have read seventeen chapters in A Lesson Before Dying. When I started reading I did not enjoy the book, but it has progressively gotten better. The largest roadblock I have had while reading this book was understanding what the old fashioned words such as the “quarter”(definition 21) mean. The story begins with a young black man named Jefferson being sentenced to death for killing a white man. Jefferson feels like he is just an animal waiting to be slaughtered. Because Jefferson’s godmother cannot bear to see him die like an animal, she asks the main character, Grant Wiggins, to make Jefferson a man before he dies. She says, “I want the teacher to make him know he’s not a hog, he’s a man.” (20-21) Grant reluctantly agrees and, meanwhile, struggles with the decision of how he should live the rest of his life. Grant is a grade school teacher, but he isn’t satisfied with his job and the community he lives in. He says, “I need to go somewhere where I can feel I’m living.” (29) Always live the life you have is a main theme throughout the book. Jefferson is stuck in jail and condemned to die, but his godmother wants him to die like a man. I predict that Wiggins will help Jefferson become a man before he dies, and Jefferson will help Wiggins understand how to live his life.

Pre-thoughts to "A Lesson Before Dying"

This summer I will be reading Ernest Gaines most recent book, A Lesson Before Dying. Ernest Gaines has published eight fictional books, and A Lesson Before Dying won the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award. I chose this book because the title stuck out as I looked over the possibilities, and the review from LibraryThing.com just made me even more interested. The book is a 227 page novel written in 1993. I am very excited to begin reading. I hope it is an interesting book that draws the reader in and brings the story to life instead of one of many books that just seem to drone on with no point or little excitement. Most of all, I hope A Lesson Before Dying will be a book that I can learn from or a book that will jump-start my interest in a new genre.

LibraryThing.com

Yesterday, I started the last book in the “Heir” series.  Just to refresh my memory of the occurrences up to that point, I went to the author’s website.  I was able to catch up on all that had happened, and while I was there I discovered LibraryThing.com.  It is a neat website where you can catalog your book collection.  I used it to create a list of the books I have read.  It shows all the books details such as the publisher, copyright date, and author.  You can even add your own information such as tags, reviews, and date you finished the book.

Summer Plans

Thursday was the last day of school, and I am really excited to be out for summer.  I have many exciting events planned that I can’t wait to begin.  In June I will be going on a family vacation.  We will stay the first week in Las Vegas, NV, probably going to shows and touring the city.  For the next week we are heading to Sedona, AZ.  The day after we get back from Sedona, I will hop on a bus to take a 1032 mile trip to Northern Tier in Minnesota and Canada.  Northern Tier is a Boy Scout High Adventure Camp where we canoe fifty-five miles on the boundary waters between the United States and Canada.  It will be my second National High Adventure camp of the three in existence, the first being Sea Base this past Spring Break.  Sometime after Northern Tier, I will visit my grandparents at their house in Illinois for a week.  Finally, I will finish off my summer by attending Marching Camp, where the band will practice the basics of marching, and we will begin working on “West Side Story,” which will be our show for the upcoming year.