https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k en-us 2017-05-08 18:16:19 UTC 2023-06-05 06:09:01 UTC hello@padlet.com kpetti0264 https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/170591370 2017-05-08 18:17:53 UTC https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/170591370 kpetti0264 https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/170591472 1. "My eyes were closed before this moment, Jefferson. My eyes have been closed all my life" (Gaines 225). The literary device used is a metaphor. Grant, the character speaking, did not really have his eyes closed his whole life, but yet uses this to show that he was unaware of something. 
2. "This is a mean world" (Gaines 214). The literary device used is personification. The author is giving the world human characteristics. 
3. "I clamped my jaws so tight the veins in my neck felt as if they would burst" (Gaines 14). The literary device used in this example is a simile. The veins in the character's neck are not really going the burst, but the author compares the feeling to that. 
4. "My aunt was like a boulder in the road, unmovable..." (Gaines 113). The literary device used is a simile.  The author compares how still the character's aunt was to a boulder, which is very heavy. 
5. "...this face as flat as the palm of my hand" (Gaines 7). The literary device showed here is a simile. The author compares the shape of a man's skull to the palm of one's hand using "as".

]]> 2017-05-08 18:18:11 UTC https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/170591472 kpetti0264 https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/170846715 One symbol represented in A Lesson Before Dying is an electrocution chair. The chair represents death.  On page 13 it says, "I want a man to go to that chair, on his own two feet" (Gaines 13). Throughout the novel, the chair is mentioned in a way of suspense, almost like death. To conclude, the electrocution chair represents death in A Lesson Before Dying.
The second symbol in A Lesson Before Dying is a hog. The hog represents hate. On page 8 the prosecutor says, "Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this" (Gaines 8).  The prosecutor refers to Jefferson as a hog, mostly because he is black. To summarize, a hog represents hate in A Lesson Before Dying.


The pictures below of a hog and an electrocution chair symbolize hate and death. As mentioned before, Jefferson is referred to as a hog, mainly because he is black. Secondly, the chair symbolizes death because Jefferson has been sentenced to death by electrocution. These symbols are mentioned in the book numerous times. As a result, the hog is a symbol of hate, and the chair is a symbol of death in A Lesson Before Dying.
PICTURE OF HOG: https://www.google.com/search?q=hog&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJ-MD0u-PTAhVDKyYKHYt_BKkQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=638#imgrc=OQ19Nf7yU-joIM:
PHOTO OF CHAIR:  https://www.google.com/search?q=ELECTROCUTION+CHAIR+1940S&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq5sSLvOPTAhVDRyYKHXvNDLkQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=638#imgrc=C_WajtrC8CK6mM:

]]> 2017-05-09 18:08:24 UTC https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/170846715 kpetti0264 https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/171085797 1. 1940s Louisiana
2. Racial Segregation
3. Jefferson is falsely convicted of murder
4. Jefferson is sentenced to death by electrocution
5. Prosecutor compares him to a hog
6. Jefferson's Godmother, Miss Emma, asks a local school teacher (Mr. Grant Wiggins) to help Jefferson be a man when he walks to the chair
7. At first, Jefferson and is very stubborn
8.  The local Reverend believes that Mr. Wiggins is not the right person to be talking to Jefferson
9. Towards the end of the novel, Jefferson opens up to Mr. Wiggins through his writings in a journal and the two men form a relationship
10. Sadly, Jefferson is executed and requested his Godmother's cooking for his last meal

The statements listed above helped shape the novel and are important.  Jefferson's Godmother, better known as Miss Emma or nannan to Jefferson, was very impacted when the prosecutor compared Jefferson to a hog, mostly because he was an uneducated black man. Because of this, Miss Emma asks Mr. Grant Wiggins to visit Jefferson in his cell and to help him have pride in his life. At first, Jefferson is very stubborn and rarely talks. As a result, Reverend Ambrose tells Mr. Wiggins that he is the wrong person to be talking to Jefferson, and that he should be talking to him about God, not pride. Mr. Wiggins pushes through this and eventually forms a relationship with Jefferson, and Jefferson opens up to him through writing in a journal. Sadly though, Jefferson is executed at the end of the novel and asks for his nannan's cooking for his last meal. In conclusion, the following events shaped and impacted the novel.

Photo of courthouse: https://www.google.com/search?q=bayonne+louisiana+courthouse+1940%27s&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ7PSA-uXTAhUCNiYKHeRSB9YQ_AUIBigB&biw=1366&bih=638#imgrc=1uLJXkiwE09FQM:

This picture is the courthouse in Bayonne, Louisiana in the 1940s, the setting of A Lesson Before Dying. The courthouse is where Jefferson's cell was, and where he breathed his last breath. In the novel it says, "two other men, who had come out the back of the courthouse, stood on the ground with their arms extended as the chair was eased down to them" (Gaines 239). The chair is referring to the electrocution chair, and it arrived at the courthouse where Jefferson was. To summarize, the courthouse is an important part to the novel, as it served as the setting for the impacting moments in the book.

]]> 2017-05-10 18:06:00 UTC https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/171085797 kpetti0264 https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/171095544 http://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/hog-hunting-vampire-slaying-cutting-your-home-electricity-use

http://www.capitalcentury.com/1907.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=bayonne+louisiana+courthouse+1940%27s&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_7oTd_eXTAhUBKyYKHVA2DKoQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=638#imgrc=1uLJXkiwE09FQM:

Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson before Dying. London: Serpent's Tail, 2015. Print.

]]> 2017-05-10 18:41:40 UTC https://padlet.com/kpetti0264/5ww41n1zfc3k/wish/171095544