1a. How does Lester spend evenings now that he has retired?
2a. What physical symptoms does Lester feel during his last day alive?
3a. Who is Lester's final visitor?
4a. What time is on Lester's watch when his friends find him two days later?
5a. How does Lester's mood change over the course of the story?
6a. How well does this story describe the lives of porters and their relationships with one another? What things did the porters share that enforced their unity? Why would they develop such a strongly bonded group?
1b. Why does he spend his evenings in this way?
2b. What do you think is happening to Lester?
3b. Why is he the person to visit Lester?
4b. Why does his watch read that time?
5b. Do you think Lester knew what would happen at 11:59? In your opinion, did he really think he could escape the "last ride"? How did he feel when the time came?
6b. How was the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters like other groups you know or belong to? In what ways do groups create an identity? How do group members interact in a successful organization?
Suspense. Look over your list of details and plot events that built suspense in this story. Which were the most effective? Which did you like the best?
Foreshadowing. Identify an example of foreshadowing in this story. How does foreshadowing affect suspense? How does it complement the plot?
1. Imagine Lester beat the 11:59. How would he retell the story the next day? Write a scene for the story in which Lester describes this experience for the other porters. Consider Lester's dialect, mood, and audience.
2. Imagine that "The 11:59" is made into a major motion picture. Write an advertisement that would encourage audiences to see the film.
3. A eulogy is a formal statement of praise made at a funeral. Imagine you are Willie Beavers, one of Lester's coworkers on the Pullman cars. Write a eulogy, or tribute, you would deliver at Lester's funeral.
Antonyms. An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word. For example, loud is the antonym of quiet. Review the Words for Everyday Use from the "11:59." Then choose the word that is the antonym of the word in italics.
1. meager click to select answer a. excessive b. small
2. fledgling click to select answer a. experienced b. unpopular
3. chide click to select answer a. scold b. praise
4. mesmerizing click to select answer a. boring b. scary
5. worrisome click to select answer a. distressing b. calming
6. specter click to select answer a. human being b. ghost
7. berth click to select answer a. bed b. seat
8. inspect click to select answer a. skim b. examine
9. hearty click to select answer a. healthy b. weak
10. erupt click to select answer a. collapse b. explode
Working with Prepositions. A writer uses linkers called prepositions to build prepositional phrases. A preposition is used to show how a noun or pronoun is related to other words in the sentence. Prepositional phrases provide specific information to create more specific images in the reader's mind.
Example The 11:59 flew down the tracks.
In the example, the preposition down links the noun 11:59 and tracks. Note: Sometimes words look like prepositions but are really working as something else. If the word doesn't have an object, it is another part of speech. In the example above, if you ask, "Flew down what?", the answer is "the tracks." The word down is a preposition in this sentence. For more information, see the Language Arts Survey 3.69, "Prepositions." In the space provided, rewrite each sentence below using stars (*) to identify each preposition and plus signs (+) to identify each prepositional phrase.
1. Daily he went down to the St. Louis Station.
2. The young porters liked hearing Lester tell stories about the old days.
3. The porters believed there would be at least a few of them in heaven.
4. Time had always been on his side, but now it was his enemy.
5. The old Pullman coaches were full of dust and smoke, and the rough mattresses made it hard to sleep on overnight trips.
6. He ate his evening meal at the porter house on Compton Avenue.
7. "They tell me Daddy Joe could walk flatfooted down the center of the coach and let berths down on both sides of the aisle."
8. Lester took his usual route home across the Eighteenth Street bridge behind the station.
9. He could hear the blood rushing past his ear and up the side of his head.
10. Lester saw the great beam of light and heard the whistle blast before the engine tore through the front of the apartment.
