A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J, Gaines is an interesting reading. I watched the movie and then read this novel, which is marked as ALL FAIRFAX READS. My expectation of the novel  and what it turned out to me after I read stands  far apart. It is an easy reading and nothing sophisticated. Not much of suspence and not thrill,. There is nothing extraordinatry about this book. So I am pretty curious why this book was selected to be a "ALL FAIRFAX READ". I have read many books that are far superior than this one. The other reason that I feel in this way, might be because of the way  I treated  the subject. However, eventually I realized the strength of the book lies in its message.

The story in a nutshell is about a black young man who was sentenced to  death for his part in a shoot out broad daylight burglary. Even though he was at wrong place, at the wrong time, but not guilty of the all charges, still the juries passed down capital punishment on him. This black young man's godmother couldnt stand when the defedant called Jefferson a 'hog'. It was  most humiliating and insulting remarks that cut to the consciousness of the Godmother.  Thus she entrusted the black teacher to change Jefferson  into a man and "on his final day, he would walk up to the chair as a man".  The strength of the story lies in its ability to project human spirit , endurance and redemption. At the teacher's insistance and instruction, Jefferson finally came to a sense. And he has changed the way the  white people would ever look at a blackman.

The black teacher and Jefferson teamed up to challenge the notion that black people are pathetic and they are no less than an animal. Finally, Jefferson was a changed man. he has restored his black dignity. and he was executed as a man, "He was strongest  man  in that crowded room"? Maybe  the story means a lot to black people, who have experienced racial discrimination in the hand of white men.

 In the end 'two men forge a bond as they both come to understand the simple heroism of resisting  defying, the expected".

What I have learnt is that even when people know that  they are going to die  on a specified day, they still could do something on the remaining days of their lives.  That is very inspiritional and encouraging. This novel is acclaimed because it projects the juxtapostion of two extrem human characters, that is cruelty and kindess. The novel also exposes the sham of American justice system and its capital punishment, when an innocent person is put to death on charge of murder.

Rhetorical Devices

Glossary of Rhetorical Devices with examples.




Alliteration: repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence.

*Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural

Quotations

"One who forms a judgement on any point but cannot explain it, 'clearly' might as well have never thought at all on the subjects"

                                                                        ----------Greek leader Pericle.

"Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man."

                                                                                 --- Francise Bacon

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."
                                                                        -----Francise Bacon

Forever,

FOREVER


The hardest stone on earth,

That glitter with sparkling luster

The best friend of all women,

A symbol of eternity and everlasting love.

10-10-10

Getting away from the mundane of life and walking into the library is a refreshing and rejuvenating exercise. Incidently my eye fell upon a book titled "10-10-10", with 14 day loan and nor renewal labeled with red on it.  My curiosity pricked me. what book is it the that you can not renew after 14 days. It must be something good that everyone read, so library, doest allow everyone to keep longer than 2 weeks  to make it available and accessible when readers demand is soaring.

Gigantic Accumulations

As I awoke from my slumber, and strained my ears to the outside activities, the lives outside has stopped to screnching halt. The dawn has a sense of serenity to it, until I saw the piling up of snows and it is still falling. It is not like the usual day, when you could be hearing cars passing by and the loud yell of some bystanders or the morning walker. It is Saturday, and it is snowing day. it is a day that I had to reckon with numerous problems.

Adding legs to Snake

I was reading an interesting primary school tales of idioms in Chinese language.With the help of friends, I gained some comprehension of the story. These folklores or classic tales is narrated with the focus of introducing a new idioms in Chinese. What interested me most is the freshness of the wit and wisdom in the tales. These stories are short and to the point, with sharp focus on the origin of the idioms. As our culture and tradition are passed down  through the folktale and stories. I find it very intriguing how the common and idiomatic expressions have its root.  In the following, I would like to narrate the stories that I read in Chinese.