A Lesson Before Dying

He tagged along with two men who were on their way to a liquor store. The storeowner began arguing with them, and a shootout occurred. The storeowner and the two men died, and Jefferson was left at the scene of the crime alone with the gun. He was arrested and tried for murder. Jefferson’s lawyer argues in court that Jefferson is nothing but a hog, and therefore incapable of committing such a crime. The jury still brings back a guilty verdict. Upon hearing the lawyer’s speech, Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, wishes for Jefferson to die like a man, not a hog. She asks Grant for help, as he is an educated man. He despises the wrongdoings done to his fellow black men, but he does not want to get involved in Jefferson’s case. However, after immense amounts of force from his aunt Lou, he agrees to try to help Jefferson. Jefferson resists Grant’s attempts to reach him. Grant spends many uncomfortable visits in the cell with Jefferson. When Grant attempts to teach Jefferson about dignity, Jefferson insists that dignity is for humans, not hogs. He imitates a hog and tries to anger Grant with ignorance, but Grant keeps his cool. Each visit ends in failure, but Grant continues to try to reach Jefferson. On his fourth visit, Grant gets Jefferson’s attention with a conversation about his final meal. Jefferson admits that he wants a gallon of ice cream because he almost never had any. This conversation begins to break down the barrier between Grant and Jefferson. Grant buys Jefferson a small radio and brings him a notebook to write down whatever thoughts come to his mind. Jefferson promises that he will, and by Grant’s next visit, Jefferson has filled a page with thoughts on the difference between hogs and men. Amidst Grant’s visits with Jefferson, he regularly visits with his girlfriend Vivian for advice and comfort. Grant continually suggests that they run away from their hometown and their past in the South. The Reverend Ambrose is unable to reach Jefferson, and instead asks Grant to save Jefferson’s character and soul. Jefferson asks Grant if he believes in heaven and Grant replies that he does not, but his atheism does not make him a good man. In fact, Jefferson will save even Grant’s soul if he carries the cross like Jesus did. Grant explains that the blacks in the quarter have always been enslaved to white men, and that when Jefferson was called a hog, the entire black community was degraded even more. Now, Jefferson has the opportunity to stand up for his race. In March, the governor sets the execution date for two weeks after Easter. People young and old from the quarter come to Jefferson’s cell to speak to him. Jefferson realizes that he has become much more than an ordinary man, let alone a hog, and that his death will represent much more than he thought. Grant cannot find it in himself to attend the execution. At the time of the execution, he orders his students to kneel at their desks and pray for Jefferson. After the execution is over, Grant finds himself numb, heavyhearted, and crying. The protagonist and narrator of the novel is an African American school teacher in his twenties. Grant is intelligent and witty, but also a bit hypocritical and depressed. Spending his life in an extremely racist community has made him bitter. He has no faith in himself, society, or his religion-or lack thereof. He does not believe anything will ever change in the south, and that escape is the only option. He fears getting involved in possible lost causes. This attitude makes him demean responsibility, and he is testy against his aunt for forcing him to help Jefferson. Over the span of the novel, however, he learns to accept responsibility for himself, for his actions towards other people, and for his role as an educator and leader for change in his community. An honest, quiet, young black man of below-average intelligence, Jefferson is a normal citizen of Bayou. When his lawyer calls him a â€Å"hog,† Jefferson takes the name to heart and begins to consider himself a lowly barn animal far less than any human being. He becomes withdrawn and sulky, accepting his death sentence and therefore becoming a symbol of his oppressed people. Grant tries many times to fix Jefferson’s mental state. He believes that Jefferson can become the positive change the black community needs. One of the many themes in A Lesson Before Dying is redemption of one’s death. With its consistent references to Jesus Christ and his crucifixion, this novel implies that a man’s death can be a meaningful and even uplifting to a struggling community. Jefferson has had a quiet life, working as a plantation worker for years and never misbehaving. When convicted for a crime he did not commit, Jefferson is acting like the animal the whites think him. However, his death sentence liberates him, and he finds the strength of the Lord. By the end of the novel, Jefferson understands that by dying like a man, he is more of a man than any of the white men who wrongfully convicted him of murder. He knows that by refusing to surrender his morality in his final moments, he will uplift his community. For these reasons, he walks to his execution with his head up, and witnesses say he is the strongest man in the room. A Lesson Before Dying is a very inspiring novel for many young people on how their lives and the way they carry themselves affects their community. Gaines used commonly spoken southern dialogue in his novel to portray the characters in a very life-like and historical sense. Although the general aspect of the theme was well played throughout the whole story, Gaines’ pacing was entirely too slow for my taste. It seemed like the first fifteen chapters where very repetitive. Grant basically is arguing every chapter with Tante Lou about seeing Jefferson. The book could’ve been reduced in chapter size significantly. Once Grant started going to see Jefferson, however, the plot and action in the story started rolling.

Hunger Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hunger - Term Paper Example Animals that have lesions in ventromedial hypothalamus become obese. Further studies revealed that even though these hypothalamic centers are crucial in managing hunger and satiety, they are not absolutely responsible for the hunger behavior. Environmental factors considerably affect hunger or food intake. Pregastric Factors are also crucial here. Visual appearance of food and taste or odor of food influence hunger and food intake. Learned aversions and preferences also affect food intake. Psychological factors like  sadness, fear, anxiety, depression, happiness and social interactions can also influence food intake. Gastrointestinal and Postabsorptive factors also control hunger and eating behavior. The amount of gastrointestinal fill is a key factor that describes the behavior of digestive tract. A full intestine or a full stomach brings satiety. This is through the vagus nerve that sends the information back to the hypothalamus. Apart from that, the enteric hormone cholecystokin in is set to stimulate satiety. When nutrients like amino acids and glucose are properly absorbed, their levels rise in blood. This also makes the hormone levels increase in concentration in blood. Concentrations of hormones like insulin, glucagons and cholecystokinin increase. These changes influence the feeling of hunger and satiety. Obesity is considered genetic to a certain extent. Not every obesity case is caused by genetics. Overeating and lack of exercise can cause obesity. There are several other factors that cause obesity. However, the chief culprit of obesity is genetics. Relation between genetics and obesity has been proved by a research performed on twins who were brought up in different places. The research analyzed the influence of environmental factors and genetic factors that influence obesity. Studies brought the results that genetic factors account for more than forty percent of obesity reasons in children and adults. Even though genetic factors are not

Intention and Motive in Criminal Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Intention and Motive in Criminal Law - Essay Example The prosecutor can argue that his wife had the motive even though he may not have evidence to prove the case. Intent may be defined as acts that go before the actual crime and these acts then merge with the crime. Mohan (1975) defines intent as 'decision to bring about despite the fact that the accused wanted the consequence of his actions or not'. Intent can occur at the same time as the act or it can occur suddenly before the crime. A good example of intent is possession of a pistol by an accused in the case that he/she is facing violence with robbery charges. Possession of this weapon shows that this person had the intent of committing robbery with violence. Motive cannot be seen in the commission of the crime while intent can. When a criminal act has been committed, then it can be presumed that the person had the intention of committing the act. Take an example of someone who was seen carrying a firearm and pointing it to another, it can be said that this person had the intention of committing the crime because the most natural result of this action would be a crime. However, defendants can deny this by claiming that the accused thought that the weapon was a toy and did not intend on committing a crime. (Smith, 1998) Motive alone is not sufficient to convict while intent may be sufficient to cause conviction. Motive comes in handy when a given case does not have concrete evidence. This means that a judge may not have any other issue to fall back on except motive and may consequently pronounce an accused guilty or innocent depending on the which side can prove presence of motive. R v. Cunningham [1957 ER 863] it was held that the defendant was not guilty because the defendant was not aware of the effect of his actions and therefore did not have motive. However, intent is an element that must be proved in most crimes before judgement is passed. This means that the prosecutor must show that the person accused had the knowledge that he/she was committing a crime. These kinds of crimes are called general intent crimes. Some examples of such crimes include false imprisonment, rape, battery and kidnapping. In R v. Windle [1952 2 QB 826] A person was accused of murder after he gave his wife a hundred tablet of aspirin. However, the accused suffered from a mental disease and was not aware of the consequence of his actions. But this same person later told police that he knew they were going to hang him or it. The accused was found guilty because he understood what he was doing and therefore had intent. There are also other cases that require the defence team to prove that intent was specific. This means that there must be evidence independent from the commission of the act that shows that the person had the intention of committing crime. Some examples of crimes that require defence to prove specific intent are embezzlement, burglary, assault, forgery, conspiracy, false pretence, solicitation and first degree murder that were pre meditated. DPP vs. Majewski [1977 AC 433] Majewski was accused of causing bodily harm to members of a pub. This same person was drank and defence could not prove specific intent. It was held that he was not guilty. To every rule, there must be an exception. There are some crimes that fall under strict liability laws. These crimes do not require intent for conviction. These laws stipulate that the act is criminal whether or not the person who committed the crime had the intention