Monster is the story about a 16 year old black boy named Steve Harmon from Harlem. Steve is on trial for a being a possible accomplice to a murder. The book begins with him in jail waiting for his trial to start. The story is written in screenplay format along with Steve’s journal writing which he does even in the courtroom. Steve enjoys filmmaking and screenplay writing. Steve writes this way to keep his sanity while being in prison during the trial. The majority of the story takes place in the courtroom. Steve is there with another defendant, James King, who has his own attorney. The events of the robbery unfold through the accounts of witnesses, attorneys and the participants. The book is about Steve’s trial and whether he will be found guilty of felony murder. In the end, Steve is found innocent but the reader is left to wonder if Steve is guilty or not. It is a story of a young man who wants to act tough and ends up in trouble for this.
The story starts with Steve in his cell. He is very scared. He only cries at night so the other prisoners can’t hear him. There is a mirror in his room with names of other prisoners scratched into it. He looks into it and calls himself “Monster” . This is the name the prosecutor gave him and the others involved in the crime. He flashes back to when he was ten. He and his friend are throwing rocks and breaking windows then running from the owners. He is with strangers all the time now. He eats, sleeps and even has to go to the bathroom in front of them. He sees a guy make a knife out of a toothbrush. The day his trial starts a guy gets hit with a tray at breakfast. There is blood everywhere. He misses his family very much even his younger brother. His family comes to see him on visiting day and get to see him in court. His mother always looks sad in the courtroom.
Sandra Petrocelli is the prosecuting lawyer and is good. She is pushing for the death penalty. She states that everyone involved in the crime is equally guilty including the one who wrestled for the gun, the robber and the two lookouts. She is trying to prove that Steve knew and associated with the two robbers who are bad characters.
Monster is an example of what Patty Campbell would call a “landmark book.” Texts such as these “encourage readers to interact with the text and with one another by employing a variety of devices, among them ambiguity” (Campbell 1) Because it is told through the eyes of Steve himself, the plot can be difficult to decipher. It is ambiguous whether he is innocent or guilty of being involved with the crime. Steve learned to make things unpredictable from his film teacher Mr. Sawicki who teaches him, “If you make your film predictable, they’ll make up their minds about it long before it’s over” (19). Steve took his teacher’s advice and made this film script entirely unpredictable, even after it is over. His lawyer, O’Brien, says in her closing statement, “What can we trace as to the guilt or innocence of my client, Steve Harmon?” (245) This leaves the jury with an undoubtedly difficult decision, as well as the reader, because there are clues to both guilt and innocence in Steve’s case.
In the film, A Civil Action, Trial Procedure was shown throughout the entire movie. There are many steps that need to be completed before a verdict and judgment can be reached. These steps are the pleadings, methods of discovery, pretrial hearings, jury selection, opening statements, introduction of evidence, cross examinations, closing arguments, instructions to the jury, and the verdict and judgment. The case in this movie was actually called Anderson v. Cryovac. The plaintiffs are the Anderson family, the Gamache family, the Kane family, the Robbins family, the Toomey family, and the Zona family. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are Jan Schlichtmann, Joe Mulligan, Anthony Roisman, Charlie Nesson, and Kevin Conway. The two co- defendants are W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods. The two co-defendants’ attorneys are William Cheeseman, Jerome Facher, Neil Jacobs, and Michael Keating.
The Monster was a creature that Victor Frankenstein brought to life. He never received love from his creator. Also, Victor was running away from him. People
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein the protagonist Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The monster in the novel is deprived of a normal life due to his appearance. Like the creature, some serial killers today are killers due to the same rejection. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that a childhood of abuse and neglect will often result in evil actions.
“The trial was brought to a speedy conclusion. Not only did Judge Evans find the twelve guilty, fine them $100 each, and committed them to jail, but five people in the courtroom who had served as witnesses for the defense arrested. […] The police were then instructed to transfer the seventeen prisoners that night to the county jail”(30).
...me. Certainly I had little respect for life when practically all my life I had seen people assaulted, maimed, and blown away at very young ages, and no one seemed to care” (Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member 102). Monster reflects on his life after he is mortally wounded in a hospital, and in his thoughts he confirms what the two theories state. Violence was everywhere, and the people he knew were apathetic, thus he became apathetic to violence. This instance in the hospital is the first time we get a look at Monster reflecting on why he is what he is. As a victim he realizes he is desensitized to violence. At this point in his life however, he does not change his ways and continues to participate in gang activities. In Kody Scott's life situation it was less of a creation of a monster, and more of a destiny of a child doomed to be become a monster.
The monster portrays more humanistic qualities than his creator as he portrays his compassion, intelligence and feelings throughout the novel. Instead of wreaking havoc on his neighbors, ambushing them for food and shelter, the monster decides to live in secrecy in the De Laceys’ shadow to observe their ways. The monster demonstrates compassion as he refrains from stealing the De Lacey’s food when he realizes that the family suffers from poverty. In this sense, he sacrifices an easy dinner to scavenge for himself. He also expresses intellectual thought in his strategy to advance his knowledge of the English language by observing Felix’s lessons to his Arabian lover, Safie. The monster recalls to Dr. Frankenstein that, “… I found, by the frequent recurrence of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, th...
Kody Scott, also known as “Monster” for his viciousness in beating of a man and further crimes, forms a realistic and brutal picture of gang violence in America. Throughout his story, Scott views his gang participation as the only viable means of survival. Killing is done through the necessity to promote oneself in order to become an O.G., or Original Gangster, the pinnacle of gang member status and achievement. The urge to become an O.G. seems to be paramount in Scott's eyes, and he outlines his plan: first he must build his reputation, then his influence as part of his set, and finally as a “promoter” of the Crips (Shakur, 1993, pp. 14-15). By age eleven Scott's sole desire is to become a gang member of his local set, the Eight Trays. He disregards education, at one point stating how he paid no attention to his middle school teacher, focusing only on the streets and his “homeboys” as source of lifestyle and adventure (Shakur, 1993, pp. 3-4). He clearly reaches his goal, putting the entirety of his mental and physical being into being a gangster, even though it leads him to a life wreaked by violence and prison sentences.
Mental illness misconceptions construct stigmatization within society. There are many source of mental illness stigma from inadequate information, media, religion, and ethnicity. In their article “Wearing the Label of Mental Illness: Community-Based Participatory Action Research of Mental Illness Stigma”, by Jean Theuer, Nicole Jean-Paul, Kristi Cheyney, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, and Bruce Stevens illustrate that inadequate information and the media construct negative stereotypes while religion and ethnicity are conciliators of mental illness. The authors conduct a study which focuses on the community level and examines how community member experience stigma associated with mental illness. And what occurs when an individual is labeled with mental illness. The study identified four sources of mental illness stigma. One, inadequate information, leads to dependents on stereotypes. One interviewee explains that “there’s no good place to get information about it in daily life unless you seek it out. I mean no one ever sits down and talks to you about it in school”. Two, the media contributes to negative stereotypes about mental illness. Since Interviewees could not find adequate information about mental illness. They rely on the media as a source of information. Some interviewees did know that the media illustrate the stereotypic mental illness. Emphasizing the high frequency of characters with severe mental illnesses than compared
Mental illness stigma is an issue that plagues many members of society. The consequences are not well known by the public and include, but are not limited to; family discord, job discrimination and social rejection (Feldman & Crandall, 2007). The most common stigma is the assumption every mentally ill person is dangerous to themselves and others. There are many conflicting articles both supporting and refuting this claim.
In society there are Universal definitions of what it means to be mentally healthy. Mental illness is defined as "all mental disorders, which are characterized by sustained patterns of abnormal thinking, emotions, or behaviors that are accompanied by significant distress and/or impairment in daily functioning.” The most diagnosed illnesses are bipolar, impulse control, and anxiety. The ridicule and embarrassment that is attached to the label strains people from seeking the treatment they need to conquer the problem. Stereotypes play a role to treatment as they enhance stigmas, "People are twice as likely today than they were in the 1950's to believe people with mental illnesses are violent. (Dingfelder 2009).In fact, the mentally ill are almost three times more likely to be victims of violence than people of regular society. The "Hidden epidemic" if goes untreated can lead to numerous problems by effecting educational ach...
Research has shown that “instead of being diminished by the stigma, many persons become righteously angry because of the prejudice that they have experienced” (Corrigan et al., 2002). This proves that it is not the illness that may cause an individual to become violent or aggressive as the media portrays, but rather it is the stigma and the prejudice that these individuals experience that push them to become angry and potentially violent. In 1996, a survey was administered to 1444 American adults by the Mac Arthur Mental Health Module to gather information on the stigmatization of mental illnesses. More than half of that sample agreed that they are unwilling to work next to, attend a social gathering with or have a family member marry somebody who suffers from a mental illness (Corrigan et al., 2002). This is a severe problem in today’s society. Not all countries have such a large stigma surrounding those who suffer, but it is more evident within Western cultures as opposed to non-Western cultures. It is believed that other cultures have less of a stigma surrounding mental illnesses because there is “[a] lack of differentiation between psychiatric and non-psychiatric illness” (Corrigan et al., 2002). Although there may be that lack between the two illnesses types, it may be more beneficial for those who battle with
The book goes into greater detail regarding the monster’s hardships, has a more eloquent and persuasive monster and has a more heartbreaking ending. As a result a reader feels greater sympathy towards the monster in the novel rather than in the play. The monster begins his journey a purely innocent and kind being, but because he has to suffer the misfortune of having such a monstrous appearance he is condemned by society. Frankenstein tells the story of a benevolent being persecuted by man, and has the reader questioning who the real monster is.
In the beginning of my story it starts out with a person who is named Unknown and he has a great personality and friends with everyone in New York(NY).Unknown was sleeping at night and he woke up at 1:00 am and found his parents dead in the bed now Unknown didn’t know who killed his parents and now Unknown is investigating who killed his parents. Second Unknown was investigating collecting clues of what happened and he found a knife near his bed with blood on it and he wonders how did that get there i never even had a knife at all when I went to bed. Next he went to the police station and told the cops that somebody kill my parent’s and they started laughing at him and he cried his eye out and he said ¨Come see for yourself,¨ so the police
She explained that his involvement in the crime was not excessive and that it was his brother who was the leader. She went on to describe his eight previous arrests for crimes like robbery and cocaine possession. Given his long history she said she was not surprised to see him involved in this kind of case. Because of his other charges I thought the prosecutor was going to suggest the higher end of the sentencing guidelines. However, as she continued I realized I was incorrect. Instead of focusing on his previous crimes she talked about how he needed rehabilitation. She emphasized recovery from his current lifestyle more than sending him to prison again. She brought up his involvement in his church and his successful marriage and questioned why he would throw all of that away. She also suggested that he turn to his church and his wife for support and to aid him in his battle with addiction. Throughout the case, the prosecutor was compassionate and seemed more like a disappointed parent to the defendant rather than angry. The one time the prosecutor did act somewhat harsh was towards the middle of her statement. She brought up the fact that the defendant had previous medical conditions such as a stab and shot wounds. She suggested that the defense had asked for these injuries to be taken into account when the sentence was decided on. She was adamant that the court should not take