Writing Contest

Today I submitted my contest entry for Roanoke Valley's BIG READ writing contest. The object of the contest was to write an alternative ending to A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. Here is a small blurb of my story:  As Jefferson walks to the electric chair with his head held high, Grant realizes that he must do the same. The teacher learns a lesson in this alternative ending to Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying.

I don't usually enter writing contests, but I wanted to read the novel for the Big Read. I wrote the ending that I thought fit the story better than the original one. I thought Gaines's ending was a bit of a cop out, and I was disappointed because nothing really seemed to change in the protagonist, Grant Wiggins.

There will be three top prizes in the two categories (students and adults). Plus, the winning entries will be published in a literary magazine. If I don't win, then I'll put up my story on my blog. I should know by March 5, 2010.

In other news, I finally got my car out of the driveway after over two weeks. I really hope we don't get any more significant snow...or any more snow really.

Now, I really need to get working on my Atlantis story. The deadline is February 28, 2010. I must finish it by Wednesday or Thursday, so my critique buddies and read through it and give me time to fix it and submit it. I really hope I get it done in time. *crosses fingers*

THE BIG READ: Ernest J. Gaines's A LESSON BEFORE DYING (Review)

THE BIG READ:

Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying is Virginia's Roanoke Valley's community read book. The Roanoke Higher Education Center, where I work as a library assistant, is one of the corporate sponsors of the Big Read. There will be various events throughout the community based off this book as well as a writing contest, which I plan to enter. For more information on The Big Read, please go here: http://bigreadroanokevalley.org/.

Title: A Lesson Before Dying

Author: Ernest J. Gaines

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group (1993)

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Lesson-Before-Dying-Oprahs-Paperback/dp/B002WTQKAQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266262668&sr=1-4 

REVIEW:

Jefferson was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When two blacks murder a white storekeeper and are killed as well, Jefferson is wrongly accused of being the murderer. In his defense, his attorney calls him a dumb animal, no more than a hog. When Jefferson is sentenced to death by electric chair, his godmother, Miss Emma, needs Jefferson to go to that chair like a man instead of a hog. In enters Grant Wiggins, an African-American school teacher in Louisiana. Tante Lou, his aunt, forces Grant to make Jefferson a man. As Grant spends more time with the condemned man, he discovers what makes a man and finds that Jefferson could be the savior that the entire community is looking for. 

Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying is a poignant book of the struggles of African Americans in the late 1940s Louisiana community. The novel's atmosphere reminded me of Lee Harper's To Kill a Mockingbird and Stephen King's The Green Mile. Mr. Gaines leads the reader into the past and tugs on their heartstrings as they try to reconcile with such injustice in an unjust time. The true impact of the story was on Grant Wiggins's journey as he receives the true lesson. The novel has Biblical overtones, including portraying Jefferson as the condemned savior and Grant Wiggins is more the follower instead of the teacher he is supposed to be. A Lesson Before Dying is a classic, must-read for anyone, so we don't forget the past and the injustices around us all.