The book Monster is a realistic fiction that was written by Walter Dean Myers. This book is set in inner city Harlem where crime is just a part of everyday life. It is nothing unusual to hear of a stickup once a week, and the people of this area casually accept crime as a part of their normal, everyday life. Children also seem to be considered guilty if authorities get the smallest tip that they were involved in a crime. They do not investigate as thorough as they should because most of the time everyone in that area is guilty. Monster is a book written in the form of a film script by its main character, Steve Harmon. Steve is a sixteen-year-old boy that is being tried for participating in a robbery and murder. As the book progresses, the film script is broken up by Steve’s journal entries …show more content…
He is facing twenty-five years or more in prison, and through his journal entries, he displays his fear of living there his entire young adulthood. Steve is not the only one being tried for this murder. Authorities claim that he was the lookout man, and his friend Bobo Evans is the one that actually committed the murder. He and Bobo are considered monsters by the prosecutor, and she tries her very best to put every possible witness on the stand to testify against them. However, she does not always choose witnesses with the best character or background to reveal the events that happened the day of the crime. When the verdict is read, the screenplay cuts to silence, and the reaction of Steve, his family, and his lawyer is portrayed very clearly. I found this book to be very interesting because even though it was a fictional book, it taught a lesson that all young adults should learn. The book showed being at the wrong place at the wrong time can cause a lot of problems. Even though Steve was not the one that actually killed the Mr. Nesbitt, he was tried for the crime of murder because he was at
Five percent of U.S citizens have been wrongfully convicted. The book “Monster” written by Walter Dean Myers is about Steve who is on trail for a murder that he didn’t commit. There is agreeance with the jury that Steve isn’t guilty because there is a lack of evidence of his involvement and it is inferred that Steve doesn’t have a criminal record. To begin with, there was a lack of evidence of Steve’s involvement. The author wrote “one of the men arguing she points to King”(Myers 114).
The book ended ambiguously and left the reader to question whether or not Steve was truly innocent. Because of the numerous questionable scenes/parts in the novel, I believe that Steve Harmon is guilty of being a participant in the crime that led to death of Mr. Nesbitt. Would a man who was innocent continuously change his story? Steve’s statements regarding his whereabouts and what he was doing on the day of the murder is inconsistent. Steve stated that he just went inside
First and foremost, Steve Harmon is innocent due to the reasoning
Rhetorical Analysis of “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” Many people believe monsters are imaginary creatures that are seen in movies or even for others, it could be a serial killer that was heard about on the news. Stephen T. Asma wrote “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” which “first appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2009” (Hoffman 61). Asma, who is a professor of philosophy, examines how different individual’s perceptions of a monster can be different depending on the era or even events happening around them. In “Monsters and the Moral Imagination,” Stephen T. Asma wrote a nonfiction, persuasive article for an educated and possibly specialized audience to examine how the idea of monsters have changed over time, what could be the motivation to create them, or even how life experiences could change an individual’s perceptions.
Monster Culture Jeffrey Jerome Cohen is the writer of “Monster Culture: Seven Theses.” He went to the University of Rochester and acquired a PhD in English and has been teaching at George Washington University since 1994. The intended audience of this essay is anybody interested in the monster culture. This essay came from Monster Theory: Reading Culture.
Steve believes that he is a monster. He dislikes being on trial and does not want to be in jail anymore. The book Monster was written by Walter Dean Myers. He wrote about a boy named Steve Harmon. Steve has been put in jail for felony murder, later on he gets put on trial.
Steve’s mother’s insight into the crime makes Steve feels as if he is innocent. Ordinarily, he is relying on others’ to see where he stands in the crime and if he is innocent or not. In this case, he is
Imagine a kid having their father leave them, their mother dying when they are three years old, having a speech problem, and being a highschool dropout at the age of seventeen. Who would ever come over all of this to become successful in the real world? Walter Dean Myers would to shape himself into someone for African-American children to look up to, to show there is a way out. Writing more than one hundred books about African-Americans and Juveniles helped him be shown as an author that speaks out on equality for African Americans. His own life impacted what he wrote about and his message is there is a way out for young African-Americans.
He writes the book as if it were a movie script, so we get details on his thoughts about everything, so he describes well how that he’s hating being in Jail and at court, and knowing that he really wants to get out. Steve Harmon undergoes a change from being afraid to becoming lost as the book nears completion because of what happens to him before, during, and after the trial. Steve Harmon has lost himself because he has been through a couple incidences of self-doubt before
In the court of law, everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Thus, Hobart Ison was guilty when killing Hugh O’ Connor. Though by law Hobart was a murderer, many question that very decision. Though a killer, locals of urban Kentucky would argue that his actions are justifiable. Elizabeth Barret creates Stranger with a Camera as a tool to look into those justifications and see the reasons Ison murdered O’Connor.
Before reading the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers, I disagreed with the statement “Lying to save yourself from being convicted of a crime is an okay thing do.” Reading this book has made me slightly change my mind. Before I read this book I believed that it was never okay to lie to save yourself. Now I believe that is is sometimes okay to save yourself. In the book Steve lied to make himself seem more innocent.
Molly Childree Fleischbein EH 102.147 Draft February 5,2018 Our world is full of monsters, some imaginary, but most are legitimate and terrifying. In his text “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”, Jeffery Jerome Cohen examines the use of monsters in literate and cinema. Cohen makes the claim that the use of monsters, historically and presently, in forms of entertainment symbolizes more than just the fear they instill in audiences. A monster is no longer just a monster.
Perceptions from others can be cruel. Criminals are often thought of negatively by themselves and are also disrespected by others in society. The novel Monster presents the impressions people have about Steve Harmon, an accused criminal on trial for robbery and murder. Furthermore, the text explains Steve’s views of himself during and after time in prison from first person point-of-view. The novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers highlights the various perceptions that exist about an accused criminal.
When people hear the word “monster”, most people imagine a massive, horrid, and grotesque figure that haunts people. While pondering what a monster is, mankind thinks of the outward appearance. Seldom do people think of man’s internal qualities as being barbaric or gruesome. Authors allow readers to create their own images of these terrifying beings. Frankenstein is a thought-provoking novel that empowers readers to have their own opinions about who the actual monster is and what it looks like.
Prison Reform Essay In the book Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve was on trial for being a look out for a robbery that ended in murder. The book followed him during his time in prison, his protection and recorded his experience. It told about the struggles of being a teen in prison, but being tried as an adult. Through the book and later articles, many discussions came up.