Writing Assignments 1. Choose a chapter from the novel A Lesson Before Dying that wasn’t dramatized in the play. Adapt the chapter into a scene using dialogue and monologues that you write and existing text in the novel. Remember that dramatic writing “shows” a story rather than “tells” it. 2. Write a journal entry that Jefferson might have written on his last night in prison. Use a style of writing that is representative of Jefferson’s education and his state of mind on the night before his execution. 3. Put yourself in the place of Jefferson’s lawyer. Prepare a closing argument to present to the jury that maintains Jefferson’s innocence without demeaning him. Appeal to a specific quality that you would think the jury might possess. 4. Write a lecture that Grant might give to his students on the importance of staying in school. Consider the times and the environment in Bayonne, Louisiana. What opportunity does school really provide for the black children? 5. Grant is in a difficult position: through his education he has the means to escape the racism and ignorance of Bayonne, but if he leaves he takes with him the hope of his community. Put yourself in Grant’s place and write a letter explaining your decision to Miss Emma. 6. Reverend Ambrose’s situation is just as overwhelming as Grant’s. How difficult must it be for him to convince his congregation in the existence of God when their daily existence is often colored by hate, cruelty, and injustice? Prepare a sermon to be delivered to his parish where he consoles them after the execution of Jefferson. 7. Six years after the events in A Lesson Before Dying, the Supreme Court’s decision in the famous case Brown v. the Board of Education (1954) led to the desegregation of publicly funded schools. Discuss some of the fallout from this decision. Did it change the racial makeup of schools? Write brief paper accessing the major changes in public education that have occurred in predominantly black communities in the last fifty years. 8. Grant offers Jefferson a journal to help him through his difficult last weeks. By writing in the journal, Jefferson begins to express what’s important to him. It’s just one way he can build the self-esteem necessary to take on the mantle of manhood. Many writers keep journals, as do sociologists and other people who study humanity. Have the students keep a journal for themselves. Use published journals, such as Anne Frank’s diary, as a model or a point of departure for a discussion of journal writing.
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