essay topics for a lesson before dying

A Lesson Before Dying

61 pages • 2 hours read

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-15

Chapters 16-18

Chapters 19-21

Chapters 22-24

Chapters 25-28

Chapters 29-31

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Explain the impact of racism on the characters in this story. What impact does racism have on Jefferson and his situation?

What role does religion play for the elders of the quarter? What role does religion play for Grant? For Jefferson?

Explain the significance of Paul Bonin’s character.

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A Lesson Before Dying

By ernest j. gaines, a lesson before dying essay questions.

Does the behavior of Reverend Ambrose reflect well or poorly on Christianity as a whole? Explain your reasoning.

Like the other characters in the novel, Reverend Ambrose sometimes makes mistakes and behaves immaturely. However, he ultimately possesses a kind of strength that Grant lacks, and is a demonstration of how religion can help people survive adverse circumstances. Ambrose's vindictive condemnations of Grant's agnosticism make him seem immature at times, an impression that is compounded by his jealousy of Grant's early success with Jefferson. However, he is able to do the right thing when Grant is not, bringing news of Jefferson's execution date to Miss Emma, and witnessing the execution while Grant teaches school. As Grant says at the end of the novel, religion can give strength to people in need even if one disagrees with its tenets.

Discuss the style of Jefferson's diary. Why does Gaines make Jefferson's writing style so different from Grant's?

Jefferson's writing style, rife with misspellings and grammatical errors, reveals his lack of education and also his emotional stress. Unlike Grant, who understands most of what he sees, Jefferson often does not grasp the meaning of what is going on around him. This emphasizes Jefferson's innocence and the injustice of his cruel treatment.

How are mulattos portrayed in the novel? Why does Grant take the time to explain the prejudices mulattos have against full African-Americans?

Mulatto men, such as Matthew Antoine and the bricklayers with whom Grant brawls, are portrayed as bitter and prejudiced against full-blooded blacks. However, Vivian is also mulatto and she is kind, beautiful, and well-liked by people of every race. Their portrayal in the novel suggests that anyone can be racist, even those who are victims of racism itself, and there are good and bad people of ethnicity.

Is Grant a good teacher? How do his teaching strategies reflect his character development?

At the beginning of the novel, Grant is a very apathetic teacher who believes that he cannot make any difference in his students' miserable lives. He often leaves his classroom in the care of older students or Irene Cole, the student teacher. Vivian, who is also a teacher, encourages Grant to become more active in his students' lives, and he holds a Christmas pageant for them and becomes outraged at their lack of textbooks. At the end of the novel, he is much more dedicated to his job, overcoming the emotional moment of Jefferson's death to try to help the next generation avoid the same fate.

Discuss the role of food in A Lesson Before Dying .

Many detailed descriptions of Cajun cuisine appear in the novel. Gaines describes the meals Miss Emma makes for Jefferson in great detail, and Grant frequently dines with Vivian at the Rainbow Club. Food, then, is a symbol of love and friendship, and it reflects the essential role that these play in the lives of the characters. Food also serves as an indicator of Jefferson's maturity, when he changes his mind and requests Miss Emma's cooking instead of a gallon of ice cream for his last meal. The descriptions of food also showcase the local culture, something Grant worries will be lost due to prejudice and black people abandoning their regional mannerisms.

How does Grant's self-image change over the course of the novel?

At the beginning of the novel, Grant holds himself aloof from the people in the quarter because he is more educated than they are, and longs to move to the North with Vivian. However, Jefferson teaches him that dignity is intrinsic and not tied to education. After teaching Jefferson, Grant knows that his job as a schoolteacher is vital and important, and his self-esteem is based on that rather than his college degree.

What is the significance of Jefferson's attorney's statement that Jefferson is a "hog" and too stupid to plan a murder?

Although Jefferson's lawyer believes that this argument will acquit him, it does not save him from execution, and it destroys his dignity. In prison, Jefferson constantly repeats that he is a hog and behaves like one. In order to impart strength and dignity to Jefferson, Grant must convince him first that he is a human, which he does by teaching him empathy.

What is the significance of the digression about the Joyce short story, "Ivy Day in the Committee Room"?

Although Grant does not initially understand the relevance of the story to African-Americans, he later interprets it to be about how much people value their heroes. The inclusion of the Joyce story adds a literary dimension to Grant's discussion of the sports heroes Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis. The story helps Grant come to the conclusion that a true hero must show empathy and consideration for others, and this is the lesson he imparts to Jefferson.

How does Gaines complicate Henri Pichot's character? How does he develop over the course of the novel?

Initially, the wealthy plantation owner Henri Pichot seems like more of a caricature than Gaines's other characters. However, it becomes clear that despite his coldness and heavy drinking, he usually does the right thing when Miss Emma asks him for help with Jefferson. At the end of the novel, it is apparent that even his brief interaction with Jefferson has left him a changed man; he is kind to Jefferson at the end of the novel and gives him his pocket knife as a gift.

Why does Grant believe the women in the quarter are so possessive? Does Gaines seem to endorse this view, or does the novel undercut it?

Grant believes that the women from the quarter are possessive because Southern black men have only two options: to lose their dignity at the hands of white men, or to flee the region and live in the North. According to Grant, women are waiting for a black man who can retain his dignity while also being a good husband and father in the South. He seems to believe that men bear the brunt of racism's effects, while women escape the worst suffering and still expect men to provide for them. However, Gaines undercuts this worldview with numerous examples of strong, self-sufficient women, such as Tante Lou, who works hard so Grant can attend college, and Vivian, who has her own job and lives independently of her husband and family.

A Lesson Before Dying Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for A Lesson Before Dying is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Grant’s girlfriend is a light skin Catholic mother of two who is not get divorced. How do these differences create tension in the relationship?

The color of Vivian's skin creates tensions because of their biracial relationship, which is not accepted during this time period. The fact that Vivian is still married means that her relationship with Grant could cause her to lose custody of her...

Lessons before dying Chapter 29,30,31 *NEEDED*

Does the chair, and the truck (it’s black) serve as some form of symbolism?

When it arrives in a large black truck, the chair in which Jefferson must die represents many different reactions from people in the town. The truck itself is black: the...

Gaines uses the first person point of view to tell the story of Grant Wiggins. That is, Wiggins tells the story himself as the events affect him. By using his voice, Gaines can easily portray the intense emotions that Wiggins feels in relationship...

Study Guide for A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying study guide contains a biography of Ernest J. Gaines, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About A Lesson Before Dying
• A Lesson Before Dying Summary
• Character List

Essays for A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines.

• Belief and Teachings
• The Art of Storytelling: Gaines's Authorial Talents in 'A Lesson Before Dying'
• The Psychological Events of Jefferson

Lesson Plan for A Lesson Before Dying

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to A Lesson Before Dying
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• A Lesson Before Dying Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for A Lesson Before Dying

• Introduction
• Plot summary
• Point of view

A Lesson Before Dying

Ernest gaines, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Ernest Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

A Lesson Before Dying: Introduction

A lesson before dying: plot summary, a lesson before dying: detailed summary & analysis, a lesson before dying: themes, a lesson before dying: quotes, a lesson before dying: characters, a lesson before dying: symbols, a lesson before dying: theme wheel, brief biography of ernest gaines.

Historical Context of A Lesson Before Dying

Other books related to a lesson before dying.

• Full Title: A Lesson Before Dying
• Where Written: 1989-1993
• When Published: 1993
• Literary Period: Realist fiction
• Genre: Novel of education
• Setting: 1940s Louisiana
• Climax: Jefferson’s execution
• Antagonist: Henri Pichot, Sheriff Sam Guidry
• Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for A Lesson Before Dying

For once, a great made-for-TV movie: In 1999, A Lesson Before Dying was adapted as a film for HBO. Don Cheadle played Grant, and Mekhi Phifer played Jefferson. The film was a success, winning the Emmy for Best Made for Television Movie.

They Don’t Have Creative Writers in France? In 1996, Ernest Gaines spent a semester in France at the University of Rennes. There, he taught the first creative writing class ever to be offered in the French University system.

A Lesson Before Dying Essay Topics

Sharon has an Masters of Science in Mathematics and a Masters in Education

Table of Contents

Why essays, essays for a lesson before dying.

If you take a minute to think back to middle and high school literature classes, you'll probably remember writing an essay in response to a novel. If you're like me, you may have wondered why teachers consistently defaulted to this assignment and concluded the answer was student torture or they had nothing better up their sleeves.

Now that we're in the classroom, we know that essay writing is a solid way to assess student understanding. When we ask students to write an essay, specifically one in response to a prompt on a topic, students are called on to use not only their surface understanding of the plot, like what happens and when, but dig more deeply to show their high-level understanding, such as character motivation. Turns out essays are a pretty genius move.

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The novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines has a lot going on. When choosing essay topics for your students, think about what you want to assess and how you'd like your students to show their understanding. Most essays are started with a thesis that is supported throughout the body of the essay with details. You may want to have students base their answers on an argument or an idea, such as whether or not a character should have taken action or what the most important theme is.

To help you out, we'll give you several options for each of these essay styles and let you decide how to use them. Remind students to use evidence from the text to support their answers. Take a look.

• What role do women in the novel A Lesson Before Dying have? How does Gaines use the women in his novel to tell about women, their role and their importance to others?
• Education plays a large role in this novel. How does education weave its way throughout the novel? What is Gaines trying to tell us with his reference to education?
• Jefferson and Grant each impact the other's life in significant ways. How does Jefferson change and impact Grant's life, and how does Grant change and impact Jefferson's life? Is one better or more valuable than the other?
• Who is the hero in this novel? Why?
• Do the characters in this novel have control over their lives? How?
• What do Reverend Ambrose's actions tell you about his character? What is Gaines telling us about the church as an institution with this character?
• Is Grant a good teacher? What does he teach Jefferson?
• What does food symbolize in the novel?
• Should Jefferson's lawyer called him a 'hog?'
• Describe Jefferson's diary. What is the symbolism behind his grammar and spelling?
• How does Grant perceive Creoles? Where did he get this viewpoint? Is he right? What impact does it have on his interactions with other characters?
• Do you think the characters in the novel were too passive and could/should have done more to change their lives? Why or why not?
• The characters in the novel are often found waiting. What role does waiting play in the novel? Why do you think Gaines used this as a theme?
• Why do you think Gaines started the novel with Jefferson's trial?
• What does the title A Lesson Before Dying mean in this novel? What lesson? Who learned it?

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Books — A Lesson Before Dying

Essays on A Lesson before Dying

“a lesson before dying” essay, types of a lesson before dying essays.

• Character Analysis Essay: This type of essay analyzes the different characters in the novel, including their personalities, motivations, and relationships. Some of the characters that can be analyzed include Jefferson, Grant Wiggins, Miss Emma, and Tante Lou.
• Theme Analysis Essay: This type of essay focuses on the major themes of the novel, such as racism, justice, identity, and redemption. The essay can analyze how these themes are presented in the novel, how they are connected, and what message the author is trying to convey.

Character Analysis Essay

• Choose a character to analyze: Select a character from the novel that you find particularly interesting or that you think plays a significant role in the story.
• Gather evidence: Collect quotes and examples from the novel that support your analysis of the character's traits, actions, and motivations. Be sure to include page numbers to help readers find the evidence you are referencing.
• Analyze the character's personality: Use the evidence you have gathered to analyze the character's personality. Consider their motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and how they change or grow throughout the novel.
• Connect the character to the novel's themes: Discuss how the character's actions and personality contribute to the overall themes and messages of the novel.
• Use literary devices: Incorporate literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, and foreshadowing to support your analysis.

Theme Analysis Essay

• Read the novel carefully and take notes on the major themes and symbols.
• Identify the central themes of the novel and consider how they are developed throughout the story.
• Choose a specific theme that you want to analyze and explore in your essay.
• Develop a clear and concise thesis statement that reflects the theme you have chosen to analyze.
• Provide evidence from the novel to support your analysis and interpretation of the theme.
• Analyze how the author develops the theme through the characters, plot, setting, and other literary devices.
• Use quotes from the novel to illustrate your points and provide evidence for your analysis.
• Consider the historical and cultural context in which the novel was written and how it relates to the themes presented.
• Write a clear and concise conclusion that summarizes your analysis and reinforces your thesis statement.

Tips on How to Choose the A Lesson Before Dying Essay Topics:

• Choose a topic that interests you: When choosing a topic, it is important to choose something that you are interested in and passionate about. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and help you produce a better essay.
• Read the novel carefully: Before choosing a topic, it is important to read the novel carefully and take notes. This will help you identify the major themes, characters, and symbols that can be analyzed in your essay.
• Brainstorm ideas: Once you have read the novel and identified some potential topics, brainstorm some ideas. Think about what you want to say about the topic, what evidence you can use to support your argument, and what message you want to convey.
• Choose a narrow focus: It is important to choose a narrow focus for your essay, rather than trying to cover too much ground. This will help you produce a more focused and cohesive essay.

Prompt Examples for "A Lesson Before Dying" Essays

Racial injustice in the jim crow south.

Discuss the theme of racial injustice in the novel "A Lesson Before Dying." Explore the historical context of the Jim Crow South and how it impacts the characters and their experiences.

The Transformation of Grant Wiggins

Examine the character of Grant Wiggins and his journey throughout the novel. How does he evolve as a person, and what lessons does he learn about life, identity, and responsibility?

Education and Empowerment

Explore the role of education in the novel. How does education empower individuals, particularly Jefferson, and how does it serve as a tool for change and self-discovery?

Justice and Redemption

Discuss the themes of justice and redemption in "A Lesson Before Dying." How does the trial and eventual fate of Jefferson reflect broader questions of justice and the possibility of redemption?

Community and Solidarity

Analyze the importance of community and solidarity among the African American characters in the novel. How do their bonds and support systems help them cope with adversity and oppression?

Symbols and Motifs

Examine the use of symbols and motifs in the novel, such as the radio, the notebook, or the hog. What do these symbols represent, and how do they contribute to the overall themes of the story?

The Impact of the Execution Date

Discuss the significance of the impending execution date for Jefferson. How does it shape the characters' actions, relationships, and sense of urgency throughout the novel?

Women's Roles and Strength

Explore the roles of women in "A Lesson Before Dying," including Miss Emma and Vivian. How do these female characters exhibit strength, resilience, and influence in the face of adversity?

The Power of Love and Compassion

Discuss the themes of love and compassion in the novel. How do characters like Grant and Jefferson experience and express these emotions, and how do they impact their lives?

Moral Dilemmas and Choices

Examine the moral dilemmas faced by various characters, particularly Grant and his decision to help Jefferson. What ethical choices do they confront, and how do these choices shape the narrative?

Analysis of a Lesson before Dying, by Ernest Gaines

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A Lesson before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines: Depiction of Injustice Against The Black Population

The theme of justice in a lesson before dying by ernest gaines, the issue of causality and direct instutionalized discrimination of coloured people in "a lesson before dying" by ernest j. gaines, jefferson's character in romulus linney's a lesson before dying, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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Symbolism in a Lesson before Dying by Ernest Gaines

Ernest j. gaines’ representation of the inevitability of change as illustrated in his book, a lesson before dying, a look at the ineffectiveness of high education as portrayed by ernest j. gaines in a lesson before dying and mary shelley’s, frankenstein, a lesson before dying by ernest j. gains: the impact of injustice on one's view of themselves.

Ernest J. Gaines

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• A Lesson Before Dying

Ernest J. Gaines

• Literature Notes
• Essay Questions
• Book Summary
• About A Lesson Before Dying
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Chapters 1-4
• Chapters 5-6
• Chapters 7-8
• Chapters 9-12
• Chapters 13-15
• Chapters 17-18
• Chapters 20-21
• Chapters 22-23
• Chapters 24-26
• Character Analysis
• Grant Wiggins and Jefferson
• Miss Emma and Tante Lou
• Vivian Baptiste and Matthew Antoine
• Rev. Mose Ambrose
• Mr. Farrell Jarreau
• Character Map
• Ernest J. Gaines Biography
• Critical Essays
• Point of View, Plot, and Setting of A Lesson Before Dying
• The Pre-Civil Rights South
• Full Glossary for A Lesson Before Dying
• Cite this Literature Note

Study Help Essay Questions

1. Explore one of the following topics presented in the novel:

Redemption/Transformation

Blacks and the Criminal Justice System

The Myth of White Supremacy

The Concept of Heroism

Bonding Between Black Men

The Role of the Black Church

The Legacy of Slavery

The Role of Education in the South

The Role of Teachers

The Black Family and the Black Community

Racial Pride/Racial Consciousness

The Search for Black Male Identity

The Concept of Manhood

The Plantation System

2. Discuss the significance of one of the following symbols:

food as a celebration of life

the plantation school

the white picket fence surrounding the plantation school

the statue of the Confederate soldier and the Confederate flag outside the St. Raphael courthouse

the Pledge of Allegiance

the dayroom

Jefferson's diary

Henri Pichot's plantation

3. Gaines has said that listening to the blues and jazz "has had as much of an impact on my writing as the works of other writers." Cite specific passages in the novel that demonstrate this influence and discuss their impact on the story.

4. Read James Joyce's "Ivy Day in the Committee Room." Why do you think Gaines included a discussion of this short story in his novel? What lessons does Grant learn from the story? From his professor?

5. What role do Creoles play in the novel? What is Grant's perspective of them? Why?

6. Some critics contend that Grant perpetuates the system of racism and exploitation. Write an essay to support or refute this argument.

7. Throughout the novel, characters learn various "lessons." Discuss the lessons learned by one of the following characters: Grant Jefferson Rev. Ambrose Grant's students Paul Sheriff Guidry

8. Explore the role of language in the novel. Consider the use of Standard English versus black vernacular and regional dialect; body language; and the language of silence.

9. Gaines has said "All my works deal with the black male attempting to exceed his limits." Explore this theme in one of Gaines' earlier novels or short stories.

10. Gaines' work has been criticized for his use of "passive" characters who don't fight back against the injustices of their environment. Based on your reading of A Lesson Before Dying , write an essay to support or refute this theory.

Previous Full Glossary for A Lesson Before Dying

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“A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest Gaines Essay

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Read Your Way Through New Orleans

New Orleans is a thriving hub for festivals, music and Creole cuisine. Here, the novelist Maurice Carlos Ruffin shares books that capture its many cultural influences.

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By Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Read Your Way Around the World is a series exploring the globe through books.

New Orleans is a tourist destination frequented as much for its local dishes (gumbo, jambalaya, among others) as for the spectacle that is Mardi Gras — where you may run into drunk college students on spring break, but could also bump into the Grammy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste. By some counts, it’s one of the most festive cities in America, with a party or two happening almost every week.

Behind all the festivities, though, is a rich and dark history. The city is an eclectic mix of Caribbean, French, Spanish and Native American cultures, and, depending on which neighborhood you encounter, you may feel a sense of disorientation. Historically, enslaved people from other states were sometimes sent to New Orleans as punishment, but the city also served as a home base for many Haitians seeking a new life after their country gained independence in 1804.

The literature of New Orleans is an important supplement to your experience of the city. These books are both a compass to guide you through its many different influences and a celebration of the free spirit that has made the city a haven for itinerant artists, writers and travelers in search of a new perspective.

What should I read before I pack my bags?

“Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood ,” by Fatima Shaik, provides a fascinating look at the city from the slavery era through the Jazz Age. Using primary documents that her father rescued from a trash hauler’s pickup truck, Shaik builds a nonfiction narrative that’s both illuminating and compulsively readable.

“New Orleans Griot: The Tom Dent Reader ,” a collection of Dent’s writings edited by Kalamu ya Salaam, covers the life of an important literary figure. These pieces provide an insider’s view of the city’s legendary Mardi Gras Indians , as well as Mississippi’s Free Southern Theater during the Black Arts movement. In many ways, modern New Orleans writers are descendants of Dent and his cohort.

Also consider a Pulitzer Prize-winning cult classic: John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces.” It is somewhat of a riff on Don Quixote and captures the cockeyed whimsy that helps natives live in a city that is below sea level and perpetually threatened with destruction by the forces of nature.

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The Colorado Sun

Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state.

Gina DeMillo Wagner’s NYT essay revealed an underserved audience

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Gina DeMillo Wagner is the author of “Forces of Nature .” Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Memoir Magazine, Modern Loss, and other publications. She has a master’s degree in journalism and is cofounder of Watershed creative writing and art workshops. She lives and works near Boulder, Colorado. You can visit her online at ginadwagner.com .

SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?

Wagner: When I published my New York Times essay “Mourning the Loss of a Sibling Rival,” it struck a nerve and tapped into a large audience that is underserved: siblings and families who are hungry for authentic, honest, nuanced depictions of living (and dying) with disabilities in their myriad forms, both visible and invisible. Very little has been written from the perspective of siblings to people with developmental disabilities or chronic medical conditions. And yet, about one in five families has at least one child with special needs, according to the National Institutes of Health.

At its core, “Forces of Nature” is a memoir about the challenge of loving people with intense needs without eclipsing your own. It’s a book about the stuff no one talks about, but all of us know deep down: that adversity isn’t delivered to us as a blessing or a curse; it can be both. Joy and pain are two sides of the same coin. You can’t experience one without fully accepting the other. I wrote this memoir as an offering to readers who need that validation – and as a gift to the younger version of myself who craved honest, nuanced stories about family, disability, and grief. 

SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?

Wagner: Most people who have experienced a sudden, unexpected loss describe a before-and-after moment, like a bright white line you cross or a rip in the fabric of your personal universe. The moment for me was made more acute by the fact I was on an airplane. When the plane took off and I powered down my phone, everything was fine. When I landed and turned the phone back on, everything had changed. 

UNDERWRITTEN BY

Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at  coloradosun.com/sunlit .

A switch had flipped, literally and figuratively. This, combined with the nomadic feeling of being in an unfamiliar airport, a citizen of nowhere, seemed like an appropriate place to begin a story about navigating loss and finding your place in the world. 

SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?  

Wagner: I’ve been a professional writer for 20 years, so I was used to investigating and dissecting a topic or phenomenon. I’ve always loved digging to find the questions beneath the questions. But this was the first time I’d really interrogated myself, my personal history, and my relationships on such a deep level. 

I workshopped and took classes with a few authors I admire like Alexander Chee and Melissa Febos. I read voraciously. But ultimately, I had to trust myself, be my own influence, and find a unique structure that could hold this story.

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?

Wagner: With memoir, I think the biggest challenge is determining the boundaries of your narrative and setting up guard rails to define where your story ends and a family member’s story begins. You make decisions as the author, the narrator, and the main character. You must have self-awareness to intuit where to push deeper and where to pull back. 

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It was also a challenge – mentally and emotionally – sifting through decades of research, interviews, public records, old diaries, and photographs. Lastly, I think there’s the challenge of universality in memoir. How do I tell my unique story in such a way that it resonates with a wide audience? In the end, the story belongs to whomever is reading it. It’s my story, and it’s everyone’s story. 

SunLit: What’s the most important thing – a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book? 

Wagner: There are many themes that I hope will resonate. But mostly, I want readers to feel permission to name their experiences around complex families and complicated grief. Generally speaking, our culture is not great at grieving or supporting grieving people. We don’t know what to say, or we say the wrong thing, or we use toxic positivity to try to force people out of their grief too quickly. 

We push against pain and discomfort, when in reality, if you lean into the messiness and admit that grief is lifelong and nonlinear, I think you’ll find more peace and self-compassion. For me, it was also helpful to accept that if your relationship with the person is complicated while they’re alive, it will continue to feel complicated after they die. The unanswered questions and unfinished business of those relationships are part of our inheritance. 

SunLit: Walk us through your writing process: Where and how do you write?  

Wagner: I wrote the first draft of “Forces of Nature” over the course of a year while I was also working full-time in a corporate office. So, I was grabbing any little chunk of time I could find, writing on a legal pad during my lunch breaks. Taking walks and speaking into the Notes app on my phone. Writing for an hour before work. Writing on the sidelines of my kid’s soccer practice. 

Eventually I used vacation days and checked into a rustic cabin without TV or wi-fi so that I could write uninterrupted. These days, I work from home and my schedule is more flexible. I like to write early in the day when my mind is fresh, but I don’t set goals around frequency or word counts. Once or twice a year, I still like to get away and write uninterrupted, either at a residency or in a cabin.  

When I’m writing something personal or intense, I practice self-care. I usually take some time to decompress and move my body after writing tough scenes, either by swimming laps at the rec center, hiking trails around Boulder, or paddleboarding. Sometimes I play loud music and dance with my kids. Or I’ll drink some tea and take a quick nap… anything that calms my nervous system and moves the story out of my body and onto the page. 

SunLit: What is the significance of the title, “Forces of Nature”? 

Wagner: “Forces of Nature” speaks to many forces in the book. My brother Alan was a force of nature, both in personality and in physical stature. His condition had a genetic, unstoppable momentum. There’s the friction between family of origin and family of choice. The magnetism of caregiving. The weight and pull that different geographies or landscapes have as backdrops to our lives. And, finally, nature itself was a force for healing in my life. 

“Forces of Nature: A Memoir of Family, Loss and Finding Home”

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SunLit: Tell us about your next project.

Wagner: I’m working on a series of nature essays that I hope to publish as a collection. Each one explores a surprising way nature reflects aspects of the human condition or helps us meet deeper parts of ourselves. One of the essays (about sea turtles and motherhood and longing) won the CRAFT Creative Nonfiction award. Readers can check it out here.  

A few more quick questions

SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?  

Wagner: Writing, when anything is possible, and nothing has to be cut or contained. 

SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of? 

Wagner: In fifth grade, I won a countywide contest for an essay I wrote about model rockets. The piece was published in a book that was distributed to schools all over Georgia.  

SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing? 

Wagner: This answer probably changes from day to day, but at this moment I’ll say Charles Dickens, Toni Morrison, and Ocean Vuong. 

SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing? 

Wagner: I hate choosing favorites, but one quote that I was drawn to recently is from Miranda July’s latest novel. It’s not about writing, but it resonates with my writing process: “There did not have to be an answer to the question why; everything important started out mysterious, and this mystery was like a great sea you had to be brave enough to cross.”

SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you? 

Wagner: The fact that I have bookshelves in every room of my house should tell people I don’t want to ever be separated from my books. As far as genres go, my taste leans toward literary fiction, memoir, and cultural criticism. 

SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write? 

Wagner: I like the bustle of a coffee shop, the chirp of birds, city sounds, or a steady rainfall… anything that reminds me that time has not stood still for me, that the world continues to turn as I write. 

SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment? 

Wagner: My teenage daughter tells me my musical taste is kind of intense, and she’s not wrong. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of The National, boygenius, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Natalie Merchant’s new album.  

SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer? 

Wagner: I’m not sure it was ever a choice. 

SunLit: Greatest writing fear? 

Wagner: I have a folder full of outlines and ideas for new pieces of writing. My biggest fear is dying before I’ve written them all. 

SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction? Wagner: Hearing from readers about how my writing impacted them.

Type of Story: Q&A

An interview to provide a relevant perspective, edited for clarity and not fully fact-checked.

This byline is used for articles and guides written collaboratively by The Colorado Sun reporters, editors and producers. More by The Colorado Sun