May 26 and 27-Did Steve do it paragraph and Closing Argument

We read to page 237. We also wrote out a paragraph answering the question "Did Steve do it?" (agree to walk into the store, check it out, and give some sort of signal to Bobo and James King). This should include at least three specific examples that back up your claim.

We also began working on our Closing argument sheet:

Name:  ___________________________

O’Brien’s Closing Argument

The most important testimony is _____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

The state doesn’t even suggest that he was in the store during the robbery. It doesn’t suggest it was his gun that was used.  The state does contend

________________________________________________________________________

At no time does the state establish ____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

The State tells us that it was “understood” that Steve was to check out the drugstore. But there are two problems with that.

1.  _____________________________________________________________________

2.  _____________________________________________________________________

Remember Evan‘s testimony that they stopped for a “quick bite?”  Let me tell you how this testimony clears Steve’s name.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Briggs has already suggested that the major reason for the testimonies of Mr. Evans

and Osvaldo Cruz was ____________________________________________________.

But let’s look at the reliability of Mr. Evan’s testimony.  He is a ___________________,

_____________________ man who doesn’t think about very much of anything.

Finally, let us come to the character of Steve Harmon.  Compare Steve to Mr. Zinzi

Zinzi testified to _________________________________________________________.

It is up to you, the jury, ____________________________________________________.

It is also up to you to ______________________________________________________.

Petrocelli’s closing arguments

Let’s refocus this case.  It’s not about the character of ______________________

______________________    _________________________   _____________________.

The defense says that the witnesses testified only because _________________________

 

_______________________________________________________________________.

Even though Lorelle Henry is uneasy _________________________________________,

She still had the courage to _________________________________________________.

What would have happened if Mr. Harmon had come out of that store and gone over to Mr. King and said, “There’s someone in the store”?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

I can imagine Harmon trying to _____________________________________________.

Mr. Harmon wants us to look at him as _______________________________________.

Now pretend that you are a jury member, deliberating on the guilt or innocence of Steve Harmon.  Circle your answer. 

GUILTY               INNOCENT

Now give three reasons FROM THE TRIAL why you think this.

1.  __________________________________________________________

2.  __________________________________________________________

3.  __________________________________________________________

Now give two reasons that support your answer that the jury does NOT know about (from a flashback or Steve’s journals).

1.  __________________________________________________________

2.  __________________________________________________________

Extra Credit

If you like writing or if you like extra credit, here are some ideas for you. Remember, the more you write, the more points you'll get....

Extra credit Monster writing prompts

1.       Steve appears to have been drawn into this confrontation with the law by his association with King and Osvaldo. How powerful is peer pressure? Have your friends ever gotten you into trouble or vice versa?

2.       Steve’s brother, Jerry, obviously admires him. What are your responsibilities as a role model if a person looks up to you?

3.       Were Bobo and Osvaldo right to testify against Steve and King? Even if Steve did not play a direct role in the robbery, he obviously knew about it, so should he have contacted the police before it happened? Should Steve be held accountable for his failure to be a good citizen? What are your responsibilities as a citizen? Is it OK to tell or snitch on someone?

4.       Steve pains a pretty ugly picture of life in jail. What do you imagine life to be like in an adult jail?

5.       On page 1, Steve says, “If anybody knows that you are crying, they’ll start talking about it and soon it’ll be your turn to get beat up when the lights go out.” Does crying mean that you are weak? When is it OK to cry and when should you hold it inside?

May 21 and 22- bobo questions

We read to page 201 and answered the following questions:

1.     Describe Bobo physically.

2.     Describe Bobo mentally.

3.     Is Bobo the type of person you would want as an acquaintance?

4.     Let’s say you wanted to rob a store.  Would you want to have Bobo as your partner? 

5.     Describe the qualities your partner should have.

May 19- 20 Character chart

Today we finished our character chart and read to page 148.

Character Chart

Character’s name	Relationship to Steve or role in the book	Personality	A quote that shows this:
Kathy O’Brien
Asa Briggs
Sandra Petrocelli
James King
Salvatore Zinzi
Wendell Bolden
Detective Karyl
Osvaldo Cruz
Mr. Harmon
Mrs. Harmon

May 15 and 18-Escape warm-up and snapshot

First we did the following warm-up

WRITING WARMUP

1. what does Steve do to escape

2.  What do people you know do to escape.

3. what do you do to escape

Then we finished our fourth snapshot journal:

SNAPSHOT JOURNAL

Scene from the book: King curled his lip and narrowed his eyes.  What was he going to do, scare me?  All of a sudden he looked funny.  All the times I had looked at him and wanted to be tough like him, and now I saw him sitting in handcuffs and trying to scare me.  How could he scare me?  I go to bed every night terrified out of my mind.  I have nightmares whenever I close my eyes…I started laughing because it was funny (96-97)

Snapshot (Draw the scene)

Question (Think of a question that this scene raises for you):

Interpret (Why is this scene put in the book?  Does it tell us something about the character?  About the story?):

Reflect (How would you feel?  How would you react?):

Connect (Have you ever been in a situation similar? Have you ever felt similar?):

May 13 and 14- Snapshot journals #1, #2, #3

We read some more of Monster and completed the following snapshot journals:

Scene from the book: There is a mirror over the steel sink in my cell.  It’s six inches high, and scratched with the names of some guys who were here before me.  When I look into the small rectangle, I see a face looking back at me but I don’t recognize it.  I couldn’t have changed that much in a few months.  I wonder if I will look like myself when the trial is over (1)

Snapshot (Draw the scene)

Question (Think of a question that this scene raises for you):

Interpret (Why is this scene put in the book?  Does it tell us something about the character?  About the story?):

Reflect (How would you feel?  How would you react?):

Connect (Have you ever been in a situation similar? Have you ever felt similar?):

Scene from the book: I can hardly think about the movie, I hate this place so much.  But if I didn’t think of the movie I would go crazy.  All they talk about here is hurting people.  If you look at somebody, they say, “What are you looking at me for?  I’ll mess you up.”  If you make a noise they don’t like, they say they’ll mess you up.  One guy has a knife.  It’s not really a knife, but a blade glued onto a toothbrush handle (45).

Snapshot (Draw the scene)

Question (Think of a question that this scene raises for you):

Interpret (Why is this scene put in the book?  Does it tell us something about the character?  About the story?):

Reflect (How would you feel?  How would you react?):

Connect (Have you ever been in a situation similar? Have you ever felt similar?):

Scene from the book: O’Brien: Half of those jurors, no matter what they said when we questioned them when we picked the jury, believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you.  You’re young, you’re Black, and you’re on trial.  What else do they need to know? Steve: I thought you’re supposed to be innocent until you’re proven guilty? (78-79)

Snapshot (Draw the scene)

Question (Think of a question that this scene raises for you):

Interpret (Why is this scene put in the book?  Does it tell us something about the character?  About the story?):

Reflect (How would you feel?  How would you react?):

Connect (Have you ever been in a situation similar? Have you ever felt similar?):

May 11, 12- Steve sentences

We began reading Monster today. Students answered the following:

Read each section

Write a sentence describing Steve’s personality for each section

1. 18 bottom-19
2. 41 bottom- 43
3. 58
4. 61 middle- 63 middle
5. 80-82-middle

Then we read to page 40

May 7th and 8th- why criminals and block party

Today we discussed why people become criminals. Students wrote for 1/2 page on this topic.

We also did a "block party" to meet some of the characters in the book we are reading, Monster. If you missed this day, come in to class during lunch sometime and I'll get the work for you.

May 1st and 4th-sniglets

We completed the following worksheet

Sniglet- A word that doesn’t appear in the dictionary, but should.

Here are a bunch of examples:

Aeropalmics - The study of wind resistance conducted by holding a cupped hand out the car window.

Animalanche - When you kick your stuffed animals in your sleep and they fall all over you or the floor. 

Aquadextrous - Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub faucet on and off with your toes.

Aqualibrium - The point where the stream of drinking fountain water is at its perfect height, thus relieving the drinker from (a) having to suck the nozzle, or (b) squirting himself in the eye.

Bazookacidal Tendencies - The overwhelming desire of most individuals to reach out and pop the gigantic gum bubble billowing from someone's mouth.

Blivet - to flip your pillow looking for a cool spot.

Blossor - The hair style one has after removing a baseball cap.

Bowlikinetics - The act of trying to control a released bowling ball by twisting one's body in the direction one wants it to go.

Chwads  -The small, disgusting wads of chewed gum commonly found beneath table and counter tops.

Cheedle - The orange residue left on fingers after eating Cheetos or some other cheesy snack.

Elbonics - The actions of two people maneuvering for one armrest in a movie theater.

Ellacelleration - The mistaken belief that repeatedly pressing the elevator button will make it go faster

Fetchplex - State of momentary confusion in a dog whose owner has faked throwing the ball and palmed it behind his back.

Fictate - To inform a television or screen character of impending danger under the assumption they can hear you.

Grackles – The wrinkles that appear on the body after staying in water too long.

Knuck  -Ice cream collected on the back of the hand when scraping the last portions from the box.

Mittsquinter - A ballplayer who looks into his glove after missing the ball, as if, somehow, the cause of the error lies there.

Oopzama  - Sudden scratching of scalp or face upon realization that the person you were waving at isn't who you thought it was.

Optortionist  - The kid in school who can turn his eyelids inside out.

Oreosis - The practice of eating the cream center of an Oreo before eating the cookie outsides.

P-spot  - The area directly above the urinal in public restrooms that men stare at, knowing a glance in any other direction would arouse suspicion.

Phonesia - The affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer.

Pigslice - The last unclaimed piece of pizza that everyone is secretly dying for.

Prestofrigeration  - The peculiar habit, when searching for a snack, of constantly returning to the refrigerator in hopes that something new will have materialized. 

Slurm - The slime that accumulates on the underside of a soap bar when it sits in the dish too long.

Snackmosphere - The empty but explosive layer of air at the top of a potato chip bag.

Snargle - To lessen the visual impact of a horror movie by filtering it through one's fingers.

Sniffleridge - The groove running between the nose and the mouth

Spirobits -  The frayed bits of left-behind paper in a spiral notebook.

Spudrubble  - Unclaimed french fries at the bottom of a fastfood bag.

Umbrace  - The small strap that holds an umbrella in place.

Toastaphobia - The fear of sticking a fork in a toaster even when it's unplugged

On the back of this sheet, do any combination of these three options as long as you do 10 total.

1.  Choose a sniglet and explain why the word is a perfect match for the definition.

2.  Choose a new word that you think is better and explain why it’s better.

3.  Make up your own sniglet and defintion.