How to pass data to AJAX call

How to pass data to AJAX call

Can anyone tell me how to pass data to the jsp making the AJAX call ? This
is what I am trying:
Here is my AJAX call:
$.get("gridedit.jsp", { before: "row", time: "2pm" })
.done(function(data) {
alert("Data Loaded: " + data);
});
here is my gridedit.jsp
<% String b=request.getParameter("before");
if(b.equalsIgnoreCase("row"))
{
System.out.println("ROW ROW ROW your boat");
out.println("bummer");
} %>
i want to store the value returned from gridedit.jsp into a javascript
variable. How should I do this ?
please help
thanks