IV. Topics for discussion.

1. Do you think that Adam failed as a lawyer?

2. Why didn’t McAllister pardon Sam?

3. Describe how these people feel about Sam at the end of the story: Adam,

McAllister, the chaplain, Donnie, Lee, Nugent, the reporters.

Activities

1). Use the correct tense form:

1. Slattery just … (to deny) Cayhall`s claim to be mentally incompetent. An appeal

…(to go) to the Fifth Circuit within the hour. Sam Cayhall just …(to take) a

huge step toward the Mississippi gas chamber, the host said dramatically.

2. Sam …(to tell) him from the beginning that Mississippi …(to want) an

execution. Other states, such as Louisiana and Texas and Florida, …(to kill) at a

better rate.

3. These were the pants he …(to wear) for forty years, until he …(to go) to prison.

It …(to be) nine years and six months since he …(to wear) these pants.

Appropriate, he …(to guess), that he should now wear them to the gas chamber.

4. “I …(to start) to order some designer clothes from New York, but I …(to

change) my mind – it’s only an execution. It …(to be) a good feeling to take off

that red prison suit.”

5. Donnie …(to begin) to talk about their relatives, and Sam …(to remember) a

joke they …(to play) many years ago on their old Aunt Finnie. The stories and

the laughter …(to grow).

6. Bill Monday …(to earn) 500 dollars for his services if an execution …(to take

place).

7. “The Supreme Court of the United States just …(to deny) the last appeals from

Sam Cayhall,” he said dramatically. “And so, after all this time, justice …(to

arrive) finally for Sam Cayhall. His crime …(to be committed) twenty-three

years ago.”

8. As he …(to walk), Adam …(to wonder) how many lawyers before him …(to

make) this short journey from the front office to the Observation Cell to inform

a dying man that his last hopes now …(to be gone).

9. Sam …(to stop). Adam …(to hold) his breath and …(to hope) that he …(to

finish).

10. For a moment, Adam’s eyes …(to meet) Sam’s. He …(to look) at his

grandfather for the last time.

2). Use Indirect Speech.

to admit to remind to ask to warn to confess to order to say to announce

1. “You look nice, Sam. Really nice.”

2. “So there’s still hope?”

3. “I have been asked by many people to pardon Mr. Cayhall, but I cannot do so.”

4. “ The Supreme Court just denied everything. And the governor just denied

clemency.”

5. “We don’t have a lot of time, Sam.”

6. “There was another lynching. A boy named Cletus.’

7. “I didn’t kill those Kramer boys. I had no business being there, and I was wrong

to be involved.”

8. “At 11.55 I will enter through that door. At that time, we’ll go into the Chamber

Room.”

9. “Listen to me. You can walk in there with me, but you cannot stay.”

10. “Tell Lee I love her. I’m not mad at her for not coming.”

3). Fill in the gaps with prepositions.

On for for at on under to inside on on with up in front of for to in of up in to before from in into off forward of to in through at next to for from into around at from in after of to to

1. Sam heard the news sitting … his bed … the Observation Cell. He stared … the

television, watched the scenes switch … Jackson … Parchman and back again.

2. He pulled … his red jumpsuit … the last time, bundled it … and threw it … a

corner.

3. Sam was … the front office when Adam arrived, sitting … the desk, admiring

his shoes. Adam stepped close and inspected the clothing … shoes … shirt. Sam

was smiling.

4. Donnie Cayhall arrived … his last visit a few minutes … six. He was led straight

… the front office, where he found his well-dressed brother.

5. When he opened the door, two bodyguards were waiting … him. They walked

… him … the area where a crowd … reporters and cameras pressed … to hear

his announcement. McAllister stood … the bright lights, a dozen microphones

… him. He waited … quiet, then spoke.

6. Sam and the chaplain were sitting low … the bed, heads nearly touching … the

darkness, whispering. They looked … … Adam, who sat … … Sam and

placed his arm … his shoulders.

7. The walk … the Isolation Room took only seconds. The door … the opposite

wall was shut. It led … the chamber.

8. Nugent hurriedly guided the reporters … the open door … a small room where

two rows … folding chairs were waiting, facing a wall … black curtains.

9. “The curtains will be opened … exactly midnight, and when you see the

chamber the prisoner will already be … it, less than two feet … the window.

Things will happen quickly … that.”

10. Nugent met the governor and took him … the witness room, where he took a

seat … the front row.