Question

Can someone plz help me ( free medal )
After reading the following passage from The Wager, explain in a well organized paragraph (7 to 9 sentences) the evolution of the jurist's values using the books/novels he was reading as evidence of how he was changing what he thought was important. In other words, trace how his values were changing by using the evolution of his reading material as evidence. E.g. Why read light novels the first year but change to reading "the classics" the second to fifth year? (The classics would be things like The Count of Monte Cristo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Answer 1

here is the passage :

In the first year the books he sent for were principally of a light character; novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories, and so on.

In the second year the piano was silent in the lodge, and the prisoner asked only for the classics. In the fifth year music was audible again, and the prisoner asked for wine. Those who watched him through the window said that all that year he spent doing nothing but eating and drinking and lying on his bed, frequently yawning and angrily talking to himself. He did not read books. Sometimes at night he would sit down to write; he would spend hours writing, and in the morning tear up all that he had written. More than once he could be heard crying.

In the second half of the sixth year the prisoner began zealously studying languages, philosophy, and history. He threw himself eagerly into these studies—so much so that the banker had enough to do to get him the books he ordered. In the course of four years some six hundred volumes were procured at his request. It was during this period that the banker received the following letter from his prisoner:

"My dear Jailer, I write you these lines in six languages. Show them to people who know the languages. Let them read them. If they find not one mistake I implore you to fire a shot in the garden. That shot will show me that my efforts have not been thrown away. The geniuses of all ages and of all lands speak different languages, but the same flame burns in them all. Oh, if you only knew what unearthly happiness my soul feels now from being able to understand them!" The prisoner's desire was fulfilled. The banker ordered two shots to be fired in the garden.

Then after the tenth year, the prisoner sat immovably at the table and read nothing but the Gospel. It seemed strange to the banker that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred learned volumes should waste nearly a year over one thin book easy of comprehension. Theology and histories of religion followed the Gospels.

Answer 2

can anyone help me understand this , cause i have no idea. what kind evolution did the jurist go through ? plz

Answer 3

I will try:)

Answer 4

Sounds to me that the man changed because he may of realised that he was going to be in jail for a long time! He knew that he wouldn't benefit anything, or that he would lose his mind if he did not change. ONce he gained the knowledge, he became increasingly smarter and wanted more and more knowledge.

Answer 5

thanks