Bobby offered insightful comments in today's session. He located textual examples of segregation in the prison system and, by drawing inferences, addressed Jefferson's attitude towards his visitors and his pending execution . I mentioned how we will be writing an essay comparing Jefferson to Tom Robinson in "To Kill A Mockingbird", and we examined both characters' sense of hopelessness and how they cope . We further discussed the narrator's reasons for not leaving the community due to his allegiance to his students and, unconsciously , to his aunt who raised him. As Bobby is familiar with sports history, he was also able to elaborate on the references in the novel to Jackie Robinson and Joe Lewis and to discuss their importance to the African-American community in the novel. We discussed the importance of role models as a source of hope and inspiration. For homework, read the next two chapters.