Credit to: Unknowwn
• On the first page, Steve Harmon says that he looks in the mirror and sees a face he doesn’t recognize. Is this book about a boy’s search for identity? Petrocelli says that there are monsters in our community—people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others (21). O’Brien says that his job is to make Steve a “human being in the eyes of the jury” (16). Compare and contrast Steve’s two identities: innocent, young boy and “thug”.
• Why does the jury rule the way they do regarding Steve’s case? Keep a list of the evidence against Steve and the jury’s reaction to him; then, analyze the evidence. Did the jury rule the way you would have? You will be explaining with examples about the ruling to explain why the jury ruled the way they did.
• Steve says that the trial isn’t about race (146). Do you agree or disagree? Doesn’t race always play a role in our society? Also, there is the thought that sometimes you are guilty by association. Is that what happened to Steve? After reading the novel, decide whether there are any cause and effect relationships between any of the following: Steve, where he grew up, his race, his class, his literacy, the jury’s ruling and his imprisonment.
• Explaining with examples, How does Myers develop one of the following themes? Which is the prominent theme?:
1. a sense of helplessness, hopelessness
2. juvenile justice
3. father/son relationship
4. violence
The previous questions are prompts for your 11 sentence paragraph that will be due at the end of the novel. Read each question carefully and choose ONE that you wish to follow throughout the novel. You will turn in notes on this topic at random times. I will show you how to take notes on the topic.
When the book is finished, you will go over your notes and begin brainstorming how you wish to organize your notes (creating an outline).
This is a minimum requirement...