IsabelEdmondson

Ms.Gardner
English10H/Period6

9November2015
AnnotatedBibliography
Wardi,AnissaJanine."ReviewofALessonbeforeDying."MELUS21.2(Summer1996):
192194.Rpt.inContemporaryLiteraryCriticism.Ed.JanetWitalec.Vol.181.Detroit:Gale,
2004.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.16Oct.2015.

AnissaJanineWardi'sliterarycriticismon
ALessonBeforeDying
providesadeeper
understandingofthenovelaswellasanewperspectiveonit.Throughidentifyingsymbolsand
overliningthemessheweavesinpiecesoftextualevidencetodefendherarguments.She
emphasizesthekeythemeofheroismthatispresentthroughouttheentirenovelaswellasother
novelswrittenbytheauthor.Thecontroversialtopicofracismwasalsomentionedasahuge
themeduringthetimeperiodofthenovel.

Wardiprovidesasimplesummaryofthenovelwithoutdivingintoodeeporwithoutexcessive
detail.Shescrapesthesurfaceanddigsoutkeyideas,feelings,andthemes.Itguidesreadersto
fullyunderstandwhattheauthoristryingtoportrayalongsideherownacademicopinions.She
neverseemstotrulygiveanyharshcontradictoryopinions,onlyopinionsthathelpexplainthe
meaningofthenovelinhereyes.

Piacentino,Ed."'Thecommonhumanitythatisinusall':TowardRacialReconciliationin
Gaines'sALessonbeforeDying.SouthernQuarterly42.3(Spring2004):7385.Rpt.in
ContemporaryLiteraryCriticism.Ed.JeffreyW.Hunter.Vol.300.Detroit:Gale,2011.
LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.8Nov.2015.

EdPiacentinoscriticalessayabout
ALessonBeforeDying
providesdeeperinsightintothe
themesrelatingtoracialprofilingwithinthenovelaswellasinGainesotherworks.Ratherthan
criticizingGainesnovel,Piacentinousestextualevidencetodisplaytheideathateveryoneis
humannomatterwhatraceorcolor.HeexplainshowGainesusescharactersthatshowempathy
andfriendshiptodisplaytheideathateveryoneishuman.

Piacentinoprovidesalittlesummaryofthenovel,butmainlytextualevidencetoshowthereader
howGaineintegratesthemesrelatedtoracismintothenovelthroughcharactersinteraction.Itis
usefulsinceitgivesmorebackgroundinformationabouttheauthorsotherworksaswellas
informationaboutthetimeperiod.Theessayisprecise,andstraightforwardaswellwhichhelps
provideclaritythroughouttheessay.

Gaines,ErnestJ.,andAnneGrayBrown."TheScribeofRiverLakePlantation:A
ConversationwithErnestJ.Gaines."SouthernQuarterly44.1(Fall2006):931.Rpt.inShort
StoryCriticism.Ed.JelenaO.Krstovic.Vol.137.Detroit:Gale,2010.LiteratureResource
Center.Web.8Nov.2015.

AnneGrayBrowninterviewsErnestJ.Gaines,theauthorof
ALessonBeforeDying
which
allowsthereadertoreceiveadeeperunderstandingofthepersonbehindthenovel.Brown
summarizesherpersonalexperienceoftheinterviewandheropiniononGainessoverall
personaintheintroductionofthearticle.Gainesasksquestionsandreceivesanswers,stories,
andinsightintohislifeaswellashisworks.

Inthisarticle,thereaderisabletodiscovermoreaboutErnestJ.Gainesasawriterandperson,
whichcanallowthemtofullyunderstandwherehiswritingcomesfrom.Gainessreal
experiencesandstoriesallowreaderstolearnwhyhewrotethewayhedid,andwhatinspiredhis
awardwinningnovels.OverallthearticlewillshowthereaderhowGainesspersonalityshines
throughwithinhisfictionalworks.

Gaines,ErnestJ.,DarrellBourque,andMarciaGaudet."TheInfluenceofMultiArtFormson
theFictionofErnestJ.Gaines:AnInterviewwithErnestGaines."InterdisciplinaryHumanities
20.1(2002):7692.Rpt.inContemporaryLiteraryCriticism.Ed.JeffreyW.Hunter.Vol.300.
Detroit:Gale,2011.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.8Nov.2015.

DarrellBourqueandMarciaGaudetbothinterviewtheauthorof
ALessonBeforeDying
,Ernest
J.Gaines,tolearnmoreabouthiswritingandwhatinspiredit.Alongwiththeinterview,they
bothprovidetwodifferentopinionsonGainesandhiswritingthroughaskingGainesdifferent
questions.

Thisarticleisusefulsinceithastwopersonalopinionswithinitaswellastheauthorsown
answerswhichallowsthereadertodeveloptheirownpersonalopinionaboutGainesandhis
personalityasanauthor.Gainingbackgroundabouttheauthorcansupporthiswritingstyleand
helppeopleunderstandwherehisgeniuscamefrom.

"RacisminLiterature."TwentiethCenturyLiteraryCriticism.Ed.JanetWitalec.Vol.138.
Detroit:Gale,2003.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.8Nov.2015.

Thisbriefarticlepresentsinformationaboutracismwithinvariousdifferenttypesofliterature
suchasnovelswhichincludes
ALessonBeforeDying
byErnestJ.Gaines.Ittalksabouthowitis
usedinmanydifferenttypesofworks,andincludesalistofwellknownnovelsthatarebased
aroundorincludethetopicofracism.

Thearticlelistedabovegrantsaccesstoanoverviewofnovelsthatallrelatetothecommon
controversialtopicofracism.Italsocausesthereadertobecomemoreknowledgeableand
familiarwithhowthetopicisusedwithinliterature.

"ContemporarySouthernLiterature."ContemporaryLiteraryCriticismSelect.Detroit:Gale,
2008.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.8Nov.2015.

Thiscondensedshortarticleaboutcontemporarysouthernliteraturegivesmoreinformation
aboutwritingandnovelsthatarewrittensimilarlytoGainess
ALessonBeforeDying
.The

articleprovidesadescriptionofthisparticularstyleofwritingaswellasalittlebackground
information.Italsogivesalimitedlistofnovels,books,andotherarticlesthatareimportant
examplesofsouthernliterature.

ThisarticlehelpsreadersunderstandmoreaboutthetypeofwritingthatGainesusesinhis
novelsalongwith
ALessonBeforeDying
.ThereaderscanalsocompareGaineswritingtoother
authorsthatareprovidedwhichcanleadtomoreinsightofsouthernliterature.


WorksCited
Wardi,AnissaJanine."ReviewofALessonbeforeDying."MELUS21.2(Summer1996):
192194.Rpt.inContemporaryLiteraryCriticism.Ed.JanetWitalec.Vol.181.Detroit:
Gale,2004.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.1Nov.2015.

Piacentino,Ed."'Thecommonhumanitythatisinusall':TowardRacialReconciliationin
Gaines'sALessonbeforeDying.SouthernQuarterly42.3(Spring2004):7385.Rpt.in
ContemporaryLiteraryCriticism.Ed.JeffreyW.Hunter.Vol.300.Detroit:Gale,2011.
LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.28Oct.2015.