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Why Is Jefferson's Grandmother So Important To Me

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1. “The flags hung limp from a ten-foot bamboo pole in the corner of the white picket fence that surrounded the church. Beyond the flag I could see smoke rising from the chimneys in the quarter, and beyond the houses and chimneys I could hear the tractors harvesting sugarcane in the fields.” 33 The quote undeniably displays visual imagery of the church school Grant teaches at and beyond the community. The imagery helps the reader visualise exactly how the black community appears to be, which impacts the text greatly considering the setting plays a huge role. 2. “I'm a old hog,” he said. “Youmans don't stay in no stall like this. I'm a old hog they fattening up to kill.” 83 Here, Jefferson claims that he truly is a hog which indicates a conflict …show more content…

“--his godmother became as immobile as a great stone or as one of our oak or cypress stumps.” 3 Grant depicts Jefferson's godmother as “a great stone” and a tree stump using a metaphor. Impacting the text greatly since the narrator suggests that Miss Emma personifies the innate strength necessary to survive in this racist environment. 12. “Nobody is going to die at Christmas,” I said.” 140 An obvious allusion shown is how the date in which Jefferson was to be executed is tied to an important date on the Christian calendar, Christmas. 13. “He never could have done that. I saw the transformation. I’m a witness to that.” “Then maybe it was God,” I said.” 254 The character of Paul Bonin alludes to the conversion of the Apostle Paul from the new testament. Paul’s witness to Jefferson’s conversion dramatically changes his moral code and life. 14. “Am I supposed to tell someone how to die who has never lived?” 31 Grant uses an apostrophe to convey the impact of the situation of changing Jefferson from a hog to a man. 15. “We’re teachers, and we have a commitment…. Commitment to what—to live and die in this hellhole, when we can leave and live like other people?” 29 This quote displays another apostrophe which impacts the tone of the conversation between Grant and

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He maintains his composed disposition and he writes to Jefferson as if he were a respected elder. This not only strengthens Banneker’s argument through pathos, it also successfully uses ethos as a rhetorical device. Banneker also has several biblical references throughout his letter, such as the ending of the aforementioned quote “the peculiar blessings of Heaven” and the biblical man named Job who said to his friends “put your souls in their soul’s stead”. He accomplishes several rhetorical strategies by appealing to rhetorical pathos and alluding to the foundation of revolutionary era America, religion. By attacking Jefferson’s religious ethics in a passive manner, Banneker effectively calls out Jefferson for supporting slavery, Jefferson’s crime against humanity.

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“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” He should believe so, as Thomas Jefferson’s actions clearly characterize his individual self, while also inducing the question, Does Thomas Jefferson deserve the honor he possesses, through these eminent actions?

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For example, in a discussion between Grant and Jefferson they state, “’That’s for youmans,’ he said. ‘You’re a human being, Jefferson,’ I said. I’m a old hog…” (83 Gaines). Therefore, one of the main ways that the defense attorney’s statement is echoed throughout the book, is through Jefferson’s discussions with visitors in prison.

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301 Words | 2 Pages

1. How does Johnson’s portrayal of Jefferson challenge or support what you already knew about him? Johnson’s portrayal of Jefferson supports what we already knew of him. Jefferson had won the election over Adams and he was a passionate idealist. Johnson wrote that alleged he had a black mistress and he disapproved of slavery.

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298 Words | 2 Pages

The tenderness and compassion that the members of this Native American community had shown Teofolio and his family following his death is indicative of a close bond that these people share. For instance, when Leon and his brother-in-law Ken found Teofolio dead under the cottonwood tree, they ritualistically tied a gray feather into the old man’s hair, sprinkled corn meal and pollen into the win and then painted his face with a traditional white steak across his forehead, a blue streak across his cheekbones, a yellow streak under his nose and a green one across his chin. Once this was completed, they wrapped the corpse in a blanket and drove it back to Teofolio’s home where they redressed it in a brown flannel shirt and a new pair of jeans. Once Ken had left to seek out gravediggers for the burial, neighbors and clanspeople brought sustenance to the home so that the gravediggers would have something to eat after they had performed their task. The neighbors were also there to show the family some support by embracing them in silence as a way to honor the deceased.

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677 Words | 3 Pages

Author, Benjamin Banneker, in his letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1791, attempts to make his point of the oppressive and outrageous nature of slavery. Banneker’s purpose is to persuade Jefferson to continue his efforts to fight for the emancipation of African Americans and to fight the prejudices that have grown around this race. He adopts a very sophisticated and sympathetic tone in order to convey Jefferson’s feelings toward the subject. Banneker opens his letter with a plea to Jefferson to help relieve the sufferings of those African Americans living under slavery. He appeals to ethos when he reminds Jefferson of by stating, “even hope and fortitude wore an aspect of inability to the conflict that he couldn’t be led to a serious and grateful sense of his miraculous and providential preservation” in trying to acquire freedom, at the same time also relating to his own struggle for the emancipation of slaves.

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Hayden Gunter Hindt American Literature 10 March 2023 Close Read #3 In chapter 29 of A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest Gaines uses Diction and Language in order to develop Jefferson's Character and tone. The chapter follows Jefferson's entries in his journal which was given to him by Grant in chapter 24. The journal is used as a medium by Ernest Gaines to allow us to understand Jefferson's tone and feel. “i dont want sleep at nite no mo jus catnap in the day whiles they got lite

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His attorney had just called him a hog, told the judge that Jefferson was not competent enough to be able to plan this theft and murder, and that Jefferson was only someone 's property.

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Immediately after hearing Jefferson’s execution date, he instantly thought, “ How do people come up with a date and a time to take life from another man? Who made them God” ( Gaines 157)? In disbelief, Grant feels infuriated on how these people are capable of doing this. Therefore, he questions the justice system by pondering to himself, “ Twelve white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting one black person. Justice” ( Gaines 157)?

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670 Words | 3 Pages

The main conflict of the story is Grant convincing Jefferson that he is truly a man and that there is hope in the world. After Jefferson’s sentence is set, Jefferson doesn’t have hope for the world and thinks that he going to die anyways, so why care. Grant is teaching him that he can help others and that there is hope in the world and in the future. So, Grant is using character motivation to help Jefferson throughout the entire novel. The other literary term, diction, is repetition of a word to show its importance.

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797 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of A Lesson Before Dying, Tante Lou and Miss Emma talk to Grant about teaching Jefferson in the cell and they have a conversation in which they say, “... And I can’t raise the dead. All I can do is try to keep others from ending up like this- but he’s gone from us…” (14). At first Grant is very doubtful about going to change Jefferson’s mind because he thinks that it is unnecessary since he is going to the electric chair; either way Grant goes to teach Jefferson, which in turn shows how courageous he is for taking the time to teach

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1214 Words | 5 Pages

Jefferson was quickly sentenced guilty after being the only man left at a crime scene. After hearing the lawyer say that Jefferson was a hog, Miss Emma, who was Jeffersons godmother, needed to make sure that he knew he was dying a man, not a hog. Jefferson had taken these words to heart and it had not only hurt Jefferson but the African American society. It attacked their intelligence. The book teaches from a different perspective, unlike textbooks.

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2126 Words | 9 Pages

This is shown throughout the novel by showing that in the beginning of the novel, Grant wants nothing to do with Jefferson and his situation. As the book continues, he realizes that Jefferson is a human too and that he needs to realize how good he has it compared to some people. In the beginning of A Lesson Before Dying, Grant Wiggins struggles with accepting his responsibilities. This is shown in multiple examples. The two examples used in this paper were when Grant avoids all of his responsibilities and does not want anything to do with Jefferson.

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853 Words | 4 Pages

Grant did his best to teach Jefferson that he had worth and it paid off. “If I ain’t nothing but a hog, how come they just don’t knock me in the head like a hog? Strab me like a hog? More erasing, then: Man walk on two foots; hogs on four hoofs” (220). This quote demonstrates how Grant made a difference in Jefferson’s life and taught him to be a man of self worth.

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1097 Words | 5 Pages

Grant’s girlfriend, Vivian, provides the support he needs to keep him from eluding his problems. Women in this novel play an influential part as a bridge to success in men’s lives, as Tante Lou and Vivian secure Grant 's role in the community, and as Miss Emma encourages Jefferson to die as a man. Even as Jefferson doubts the existing love for him, Miss Emma remains an influence in making him a man by going to many extents. From start to finish, she had always been the strong will who wanted the wellbeing of her godson. Knowing that the fate of her son was execution, she refused to let him die as a hog.

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