In writing his novel “Monster”, Walter Dean Myers used his experience to keep the judicial system relevant to his points while still realistic. Steve’s attorney, O’Brien, is honest about her role in the system to Steve, telling him, “My job is to make sure the law works for you as well as against you.” Instead of pretending to be crusading for a not guilty verdict, O’Brien tells the truth that she intends to help hunt down the truth both for and against Steve as an unbiased tool of the court. This means that she will insure that the jury’s predispositions do not change their verdicts, that the prejudice of the court doesn’t change the evidence given in court, and that the evidence against Steve is legitimate and/or nonexistent.…
“Even though I asked to be transferred here for the master’s program, coming here was a shock,” Michael Morton wrote on January 22, 2002, from his cell in the Ramsey I prison unit, south of Houston. He was replying to a letter he had recently received from Mario Garcia, a former co-worker at the Safeway in Austin where he had worked before being sent to prison fifteen years earlier. Besides his parents and his younger sister—who made the five-hundred-mile round-trip from East Texas to visit when they could—Garcia was the only person from Michael’s previous life who had stayed in contact with him. Virtually everyone else believed that he was guilty. Throughout the fall and winter of 1986, his case had been splashed across the front pages of…
This is Walter Dean Myers at a young age of 9. He was supposed to be in 4th and 5th grade but he was so intelligent so they moved him up to 7th and 8th grade. At this time Walter was really into basketball and was looking into getting a scholarship to play college basketball. Our character of Walter that we created is him in his basketball uniform and him holding a basketball.…
Walter Dean Myers had discovered he liked to write. His teacher told him to read in front of the class. Mr. Dean had frozen in front of everyone, after that he wrote even more. He became a great writer. He wrote lots and lots of books. Mr. Dean also wrote different genres.…
In Walter Dean Myer’s novel Monster, a young, black 16 year-old, Steve Harmon is on trial for participating in a robbery and murder. Steve is innocent. Why? Ms. Petrocelli describes him as a monster. Why? She sees a young, black teenager. She stereotypes Steve. She assumes that he would commit the crime by his association with Bobo and James. To her he seems ready to confess. However, I see that Steve plays no part in the crime. He is not a “monster.”…
A very significant case in Cook County Courts was the Bridgeport case, known as a “heater” case because of the publicity that surround it, and the racial overtones (Bogira 181). The Bridgeport case involved three white teenagers, Michael Kwidzinski, Jasas, and Caruso that were accused of brutally beating two young black boys who were riding their bikes in the predominantly white neighborhood. The entire summary of the case, in Courtroom 302, was based around the fact that one of the boys, Michael Kwidzinski, was most likely innocent. The question then turns to the boy himself, Michael Kwidzinski; if he was innocent, why did hid then accept a guilty plea bargain?…
Walter McMillian was wrongly sentenced to death after someone murdered a girl at a store. He was betrayed by Ralph Myers, who gave false accusations about the case, and the officials, who wanted a quick outcome, indicted McMillian without considering any evidence that proved otherwise. We can compare this case to Brock Turner, who raped a girl behind the dumpsters. In contrast, he was given a three-month jail sentence. We can say that the justice…
Walter Dean Meyers’ Monster is a realistic fiction novel following Steve Harmon, a sixteen year-old student on trial for felony murder, navigate his way through one of the most challenging, nerve-wrecking experiences of his life. The novel focuses on time spent at Steve’s trials as well as moments in jail, while it also takes the reader back to moments of his childhood. Written in the point of view of Steve himself, the book is written as a journal and not only focuses on the events which are taking place in Steve’s life, but the role it is playing on him emotionally. As one studies the book, there is one question that sticks in the reader’s mind: Is Steve Harmon truly innocent?…
There are several themes throughout this story. Introspection, Steve must come to terms with his own identity. He accomplishes this throughout the novel in his journal entries which he makes during his time in jail awaiting trial. Peer Pressure, This theme is the basis for how he ended up in his current situation. Had he not given into the peer pressure by James King he wouldn’t have been involved with the robbery that led to the death of the store clerk. Humanity, Steve is called a "monster" by the Prosecutor at the beginning of the novel and Steve grapples with the question of whether or not he is monstrous for his actions in the robbery. He is constantly reflecting upon this in his journal entries. The word can also be found scribbled faintly and scratched out on pages of the novel itself.…
It has taken across the board open consideration regarding the weaknesses of a criminal equity framework seriously needing change. In that lies its chance for recovery, not in its makers' longing, however solid their protestations unexpectedly, to irritate the conviction of the culprit of a repulsive murder. In the event that I discovered not any more about the Avery case than what "Making a Killer" encouraged to its readers, I too would be shocked by its decisions. "Weak: The Missing Truth about Steven Avery, Teresa Halbach, and 'Making a Killer'," describes my free examination of the realities and conditions encompassing the Steven Avery case. With as open and unprejudiced a brain as could be expected under the circumstances, I began once again without any preparation and took after the truths wherever they drove. After a thorough examination of all the proof, it is clear who the genuine casualty is in the second Avery case, and it isn't Avery. It's a treasured young lady who cherished life named Teresa Halbach, and her family misses her…
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein or; The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, is a product of its time. Written in a world of social, political, scientific and economic upheaval it highlights human desire to uncover the scientific secrets of our universe, yet also confirms the importance of emotions and individual relationships that define us as human, in contrast to the monstrous. Here we question what is meant by the terms ‘human’ and ‘monstrous’ as defined by the novel. Yet to fully understand how Frankenstein defines these terms we must look to the etymology of them. The novel however, defines the terms through its main characters, through the themes of language, nature versus nurture, forbidden knowledge, and the doppelganger motif. Shelley also shows us, in Frankenstein, that although juxtaposing terms, the monstrous being everything human is not, they are also intertwined, in that you can not have one without the other. There is also an overwhelming desire to know the monstrous, if only temporarily and this calls into question the influence the monstrous has on the human definition.…
Individuals break crimes all the time but some cases take America by storm with the mass amount of media coverage. The Scott Peterson trail is a prime example of a criminal case that took the nation by storm. What makes the Scott Peterson trail special is the fact that for the first time in California an individual was sentenced to death based solely on circumstantial evidence. In this paper I will be discussing the Scott Peterson case in three key areas background/summary, evidence, and finally crime elements.…
There are a number of horror movies that come out each year. It seems that movie goers are fascinated with the gore and brutality that comes with this genre. Each movie has its own individual plots, but there remains a “monster”, the character that inspires fear and brings suspense. The monster is what makes each movie unique. One of these is Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise. Michael Myers or better recognized as the man with the white mask, is the most misunderstood villain in my opinion. He was committed to a sanitarium as a kid for the murder of his older sister. After fifteen years, the villain escapes and starts his killing spree on, you guessed it, Halloween. What haunts me is not the fact that he is a killer, but that there is little to no background on what made him in to the monster he is.…
One day, there was a scientist, named Billy Clayton. He has been experimenting with corn, the horrendous stench of corn fills his laboratory. As he’s whirling the spoon in a cauldron of different types of hazardous chemicals, the corn behind him starts to stand, poised for attack, like a gladiator ready to battle a pride of lines. Billy turns to see what the uproar was about, and SMACK the corn hit him so hard he crashed to the floor in a heap. The corn crashed through the lab like a bull in a fine china shop. After an hour, billy woke up with a colossal headache. He was hit so hard he didn’t know what happened, so he sat there wondering what the heck happened. He then saw the huge gap in the wall, the size of an elephant. Billy just sighed…
The trial draws on a rather bleak image of humanity the crime in question is first degree murder most serious charge tried in our courtroom’ the victim is not portrayed as innocent but as a ‘tough, cruel, primitive kind of man’ the lawyers on the case too are described as not doing their job properly and lacking the motivation to investigate the possibilities…