In his latest novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Gaines continues to assess these ideas. ... Ernest Gaines's novel, A Lesson Before Dying, begins as a teacher named Grant Wiggins is recalling a recent trial of a slow-witted man named Jefferson, who is being convicted of murder. ... During Jefferson's trial, in a desperate attempt to sway the jury, Jefferson's lawyer argued that his client is nothing but a poor fool, hardly more than a hog, and therefore incapable of plotting such and intelligent plan as the prosecutor had previously explained to the court. ... Yet, his godmother, Mis...

• Word Count: 2093
• Approx Pages: 8

The theme of unending revenge killing is introduced by relaying events that took place before the play. ... Before the end of the play, Hamlet does get his revenge, but not without his own unfortunate death. ... The endless secretive plots and deaths have caused him to become a murderer. ... Laertes is angered by the fact that Hamlet murdered his father and Ophelia died. ... It would seem that both the characters from Hamlet and Macbeth should have learned their lesson early on in the plays, but neither do. ...

• Word Count: 1279
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

He also gave Pip lessons to becoming a gentleman himself. ... Dickens believed his stories should teach a moral lesson. Describe the lessons which GE teaches. ... Though before Abel dies, Pip puts Abel's heart and mind at ease when he tells him that his daughter is alive, beautiful, and Pip is in love with her. Abel is able to die peacefully. ...

• Word Count: 1542
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

More clues are added to the plot gradually as the play develops to give the characters and the audience a chance to solve the mystery of Eva's death by themselves, and the suspense is heightened by the skilful use of climaxes within the play. ... He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking to them." ... She's here in Brumley too." meaning that there is no point in hiding her from it, she is living in the 'real world' as well, and needs to learn the lesson just as much as the rest of the fa...

• Word Count: 2403
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

The year before he was caught cheating by Mr. ... That was just the disguise to get him to be alone after school so Jeff and Mark could tie him down and send him up to the mountains so they could give him a lesson. ... Although it was completely unexplainable and not their fault he died, they still felt responsible for kidnaping him and if they would had never done that he would of never died. ... Mark found this out and decided to tie Sue up and teach her a lesson and started by starting a fire in her house, if it wasn't for Mrs. ... She was also the one who learned a big lesson in lif...

• Word Count: 1999
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

(8) Plot Bayushi Shoju and his Lieutenant explore through the underground catacombs beneath the Scorpion castle in order to retrieve the scroll which holds the prophecy of FuLeng, which foretold the downfall of Rokugan. ... Before the Scorpion party mobilized to Otosan Uchi, they honored Dairu (Shoju's son) with his Gempuku, and explained how they will use magic so others wont detect the attack. ... Emerald guardsmen who were realxing at scorpion controlled tea houses were now dying at the hands of Katchiko's ninja-ko geisha. ... Daimyo-pg1 paragraph2 leader of a grea...

• Word Count: 1444
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The title of the book had very little significance to do with the plot structure of the novel. ... Conflict and Plot One of the major conflicts was when Paul's brother Harvey came back from Vietnam to live with him and his wife. ... I don't think that this characters name lends any meaning to him or the plot. ... The setting of the lake is used symbolically, because water is a sign of life and when he went back into the lake he was infused with a life essence he did not have before. ... This symbol stood for Harvey's love for his father and his internal fight for the resolut...

• Word Count: 1542
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Before this event, Lily lived her life in a way that she was generally confident with. ... There he found that she had died in her sleep. Although several lessons can be drawn from this story, one of the most evident, especially at the end of the book, is that one must never take someone else for granted. ... Had it not been for rumors and their triumph over her, she may not have died the way she did. ... The plot held my attention, and throughout the story I was fascinated by the complexity of Lily's life. ...

• Word Count: 1570
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Before his new work was published, he wrote for The Saturday Evening Post to supplement his income. ... He intertwines stories of romance, alcohol and physical abuse, failure, and murder into one major plot line. ... Old money is when someone is born into wealth and their entire family before them has been affluent. ... Almost every successful piece of literature has themes and lessons that the author hopes the readers will obtain. ... If everyone applies these lessons to their lives, we can improve our society and ourselves. ...

• Word Count: 1839
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The emotional scene was when Setsuko died but all in all, the movie can be enjoyed. ... A child has yet to sharpen his higher faculties like the geniuses before him, he must start out small and achieve greater understanding. ... But this, alike every animation they have released, a lesson learned for every viewer. The direction of the plot is marvelous, a foreshadowing of the impending doom yet a ray of hope in its step. ... The symbolism of the fireflies is an elaborate metaphor of the characters dying at such a young age. ...

• Word Count: 1496
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

When looking at the life of one of history's greatest men, the lessons we might learn are countless, despite Irving Stone's fictional twists. Before we can begin to examine The Agony and the Ecstasy, we must understand Michelangelo and other artists as Stone saw them. ... BASIC PLOT: Just as his father, the young Florentine boy examining his reflection in the mirror of his cramped bedroom, while most of Florence slept, was unfortunate enough to have been born at the wrong time. ... As if Michael's troubles were not large enough with the constant blackmail and bickering of cust...

• Word Count: 1898
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In scene-stanza 4, the narrating director stands once more confounded before the playful urn. ... Now the shift is made to the external setting, and the plot smooth unravels. ... Moreover, it has a lesson to teach: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,_ that's all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" With this final statement, the director and the actress are reconciled, a dramatic duologue is achieved, and the denouement is reached. ... Keats did die, yet his name, instead of being erased from life, was carved in gold on the pages of English romantic poetry. ...

• Word Count: 1325
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The question of whether Macbeth is a tragedy is a highly debatable issue, because many things can constitue a tragedy "for example, Aristotle's teaching that a tragedy must consist of six parts: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and sons. ... He is suffering at the end of the play; however, he fails to do so with dignity: "Why should I play the Roman fool and die/ On mine own sword? ... Perhaps Macbeth was correct when he said, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/And then is heard no more-; he lived out the very ...

• Word Count: 1270
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

This seems to teach Odysseus a lesson because it in fact does keep him from returning to his homeland for a very long time. ... Smith3 Since we have learned that the queen of the Phaikians is the true leader, Odysseus knows he must get her support first before he reveals himself. ... Waiting for this perfect time to reveal himself shows us that Odysseus has indeed learned from his mistakes with Polyphemos, and also shows us he has the patience needed to sit through and watch the suitors ravage his home, while he plots their death. ... This shows us that Antinoos had a big mouth and ther...

• Word Count: 1743
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Ordinary People explores the realistic struggles families' face every day while glossing each page with a distinctive style and inspiring life lessons. ... Many housewives dream of sitting before a typewriter and having the success Guest did, but it did not come easy. ... Each member looks for a lesson they can learn from in the loss of Buck, but it is not until they realize that sometimes death leaves a person with no reasoning as to why it happened, that they can truly mourn for the loss ("Ordinary People" 273). ... Conrad feels as if he should have been the person to die in t...

• Word Count: 2059
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

SUMMARY OF THE PLOT This book is a fictionalized account of actual events that took place during the San Francisco earthquake on April 18, 1906. ... Before that episode in her life, she used to be scared of it. However, after that experience, she understood that nobody dies the day before and therefore, there's no reason to be scared of death. ... Every time I looked around, I only saw fires, collapsed buildings, people waiting for their loved ones to be found and rescuers working as hard as possible in order to find the missing people before it could be too late and I just felt an eno...

• Word Count: 1404
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

But the body of Polynices, who died miserably- why, a city-wide proclamation, rumor has it, forbids anyone to bury him, even mourn him. ... Die I must" (509-512). ... She goes on to say that, "And if I am to die before my time I consider that a gain" (514-515). ... When she first tells her sister, Ismene, about her plot to bury her brother Ismene says, "we're not born to contend with men" (75). ... She showed herself capable of insolence then, going beyond the laws put before her. ...

• Word Count: 2088
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Although these books are historical, the lesson we learn from them are very much needed today to all Christian believers. FAITH Genesis is also known as the seed plot for the bible. ... Although faith is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament it does not mean that there was a lack of faith by those who served the Lord before Christ was born. ... It is by faith we believe that Jesus is God, and that he died on the cross for all mankind; and that he is the only way mankind can get to heaven. ... In chapter 7:16 God promises David, "your house and your kingdom will endure forever before ...

• Word Count: 1559
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Hemingway never had a knack for music and suffered through choir practices and cello lessons, however the musical knowledge he acquired from his mother helped him share in his first wife Hadley's interest in the piano (1). ... Hemingway died July 2, 1961, at his home, as the result of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. ... The overall plot concern of understanding is summarized by the minor but important character of the count:" That is the secret. ...

• Word Count: 2109
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Esquivel wrote screenplays before she wrote novels. ... These magazines were never considered literature by the literary establishment because of its episodic plots, overt sentimentality, and highly stylized characterizations. ...

• Word Count: 2483
• Approx Pages: 10