Cliffsnotes on Gaines' Lesson Before Dying

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

In CliffsNotes on A Lesson Before Dying, you get to know the story of a young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to teach. He visits a black youth on death row for a crime he didn't commit, and together they come to understand the heroism of resisting.

This concise supplement to Ernest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying helps you understand the overall structure of the work, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author. With expert commentaries and critical analyses, this study guide helps you explore the process of an oppressed people’s attempt to gain recognition of their human dignity, acknowledgment of their human rights, and freedom to pursue their dreams. Other features that help you study include

• A brief synopsis of the novel
• Chapter summaries and analyses
• A glossary that helps you get the most out of your reading
• In-depth character analyses
• Critical essays on plot and setting, and on the pre-Civil Rights South
• An interactive quiz to test your knowledge
• Essay topics and review questions

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Durthy A. Washington is a writer whose area of special interest is American ethnic literature, with an emphasis on the works of black American authors. She holds a master's degree in education from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in English from San Jose State University. She currently teaches at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.