Judgment In Monster By Walter Dean Myers

When analyzed online many of the definitions you will find for the word monster include: a strange or horrible imaginary creature, one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior, or an animal of strange and/or terrifying shape. (Merriam Webster) When observing the “Monster Theory” by Jeffrey Cohen and the 7 theses that he provides in this text, one can begin to somewhat disagree with these formal definitions and attempt to say that it has an even greater meaning. Monsters might scare us and frighten us because of their physical appearances but also can provide us with possible solutions to gaps and uncertainties in our mind that Sigmund Freud would label as “The Uncanny”. I can only but agree with

As the prosecutor, Petrocelli shows the jury that a man is dead because of Steve Harmon and James King. Petrocelli wants to put both King and Steve behind bars, and to do so, she shows the jury that Steve was a part of the plan. Petrocelli already thinks Steve and King are guilty and that they participated in the act of the robbery. When Petrocelli bring up her first arguments to prove Steve guilty, she says, “But there is no doubt in my mind, and I believe by the end of the trial there will be little doubt in yours, that these 2 men, James King and Steven Harmon, were all part of the robbery that caused the death of Alguinaldo Nesbitt” (25). There isn’t clear evidence Steve committed the crime; Petrocelli wants the jury to know that he volunteered to commit theses acts.

If you read page 245, O’brien’s closing statement reads, “The State did elicit from Steve that he spoke to Mr.King about basketball. The conversation were short, and without substance. At no time did the State establish any conversation between Steve and anyone else about a robbery.”. Even though Steve has had small talk with James, there is no proof that they’ve talked about planning the robbery. On page 51, there’s a flashback between a woman named Peaches, a man named Johnny, King, and Steve. King did mention the difficulties of getting money and the only thing Steve did was agree to just that. Nothing more, nothing less. Then, Peaches, Johnny, and King spoke about is money.

“Unless you know who you are, you will always be vulnerable to what people say.” In this quote, American television personality, author, psychologist, and the host of the television show “Dr. Phil”, Dr. Phil McGraw explains, that if you are not true to yourself or if you are not aware of your own beliefs, you will always be susceptible to what people say of you and what people want you to think or believe. A similar theme is communicated through the novel “monster.” In the Novel “Monster”, what Walter Dean Myers suggests about the nature of stereotypes is that one must ignore the negative views of others and stay true to their own beliefs.

What else do they need to know? STEVE I thought you 're supposed to be innocent until you 're proven guilty? (6.80-81).” In this quote, Steve is in a frenzy and talking to his lawyer, Mrs. O’Brien. Mrs. O’Brien is smart enough to realize that even though Steve may be innocent, this is not enough. Since this is the American judicial system, Steve is at a disadvantage. Since this is America, and attitudes towards African Americans have been prejudiced since our founding, it is unlikely that Steve will win. Before Steve is even put on trial, the jury automatically thinks he is guilty without knowing the virtue of his character. Steve is seen as different because of his reputation as a New York gang banger and his race in the eyes of “the system” which is dominated by white people, including the judge and the lawyers. American law states that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. This is how the law should be obeyed, however, O’Brien is telling Steve that his circumstances are different. This makes Steve wonder why his trial is different and O’Brien bluntly tells him that he is not innocent until proven guilty, he is guilty until proven innocent, because of his race. Although Steve does not exhibit a ghastly appearance like a traditional monster, he is still unaccepted because of a mainly white society’s reaction to his appearance.

1. Monster is a novel written in a screenplay format with Steve’s journal entries mixed in throughout. Do you think this is an effective format for the book? Why or why not?

“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria” - Alan Greenspan. New York author, Alan Greenspan, here is explaining that the threat fear presents is really no different than the state of intensity caused by euphoria. In Andrew J. Hoffman’s anthology, Monsters, there is substantial evidence that both fear and euphoria are inflicted upon men, by female monsters. The two threats men typically face against women are temptation and emasculation. Thus, in mythology and folklore, female monsters exemplify the impulse of desire (sexually) for men, and male weakness. These are creature that are lusted after and yet, still feared because of their power. Men find female monsters both fearsome and euphoric and will always threaten their dominance and control.

Throughout history we see monsters taking many different shapes and sizes. Whether it be a ghoul in the midst of a cold nightly stroll or a mass genocide, monsters are lurking everywhere and our perception of what monsters truly are, is enhancing their growth as a force with which to be reckoned. Fear of the unknown is seen throughout time, but as humans progress we are finding that things we once were afraid of we are less frightening than they once were. Monsters can evoke fear in their targeted victims rather than physically harm their victims. For instance, every year a new horror film is released with the next scary beast, but why do we call something a monster even if we know it is not real? Even certain people and creatures are

Everyone thinks steve is guilty just because he is a black male in an impoverished community. Everyone prejudges him but he is really a nice person at heart. The fact that he new the guys who stuck up the store and killed the owner didn’t make it any better. Is it true that majority of the world stereotypes african americans. If you 're not an athlete they either think you steal or are a thug and I think that 's what everyone thinks about steve besides his own parents.

Steve does not stop here with gaining our trust and pity. He makes it clear that even O’Brien doubts his innocence. When he is found not guilty, O’Brien “stiffens and turns to pick up her papers” (276), not showing even one ounce of happiness. Steve wonders after the trial, “What did she see that caused her to turn away?” (281) The reader is infuriated with the lawyers cruel behavior. If she didn’t believe in him in the first place, then why would she represent him? If he really did something wrong, why was he found innocent by an entire jury? However, if his own lawyer thinks that he is guilty, then perhaps this is the case. The only time when Steve talks one on one with O’Brein is when they are getting ready for him to testify and she flips a cup if he answers incorrectly, and he must rephrase or even change his answer. Steve doesn’t let us in on the questions she was asking or what his answers were. “We don’t hear O’Brien’s questions or Steve’s answers but we see O’Brien turning the cup” (219). This is suggesting that Steve was answering as a guilty criminal and O’Brien helped him to doctor his

Many times in society, people tend to create different stereotypes or view people as “different” or “unusual”. People are constantly judging before considering facts and other valuable information. Sadly, most victims that are being judged are wrongly convicted. The idea of judging and characterizing a person by how he/she looks, seems to be typical and common. Very few people in today’s day and age take the time to discover the true qualities of a person who may be convicted and is either behind bars or being judged for things they have never done. Sometimes, the people who are being as weird, inferior or irrelevant tend to become extremely important and even influential in books, movies and real life. Similarly, in Harper Lee’s novel, To

Monster by Sanyika Shakur yields a firsthand insight on gang warfare, prison, and redemption. “There are no gang experts except participants (xiii)” says Kody Scott aka. Monster. Monster vicariously explains the roots of the epidemic of South Central Los Angeles between the Crips and the Bloods that the world eventually witnessed on April 29, 1992. As readers we learn to not necessarily give gangs grace but do achieve a better understanding of their disposition to their distinct perception in life.

The study I chose was the Monster Study, it was a study that took place at the University of Iowa in 1939 by two female researchers named Wendell Johnson and Mary Tudor. They conducted an experiment on stuttering. This experiment was done on 22 orphan children in Davenport, Iowa. The children were separated into two groups, the first group received positive speech therapy where the children were praised for how good their speech was. In the second group the children were taught bad speech therapy and the children were belittled for every time they did not speak the right way. At the end of the experiment the normal-speaking children from group two that was belittled developed negative psychological effects, and

In “Monster Culture”, Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies. Russell delves into society’s need for conformity, gender roles, and change. The story is told from the point of view of the middle wolf girl, Claudette, and follows her on her journey from wolf to woman. In relation to Jeffery Cohen’s idea of monster culture, Claudette’s journey applies to Thesis IV “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” and part of Thesis I “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body”. Claudette is torn between two worlds and she has to learn how to successfully “move between the two cultures”. Through Cohen’s theses, Karen Russell uses character development and dialogue to depict the inner and outer battle of societal femininity and individualized femininity and the decision of accepting either side. The presence of “monsters” are essential for this acceptance.

Many people often base their opinions on a person by judging his whole life in general and his attitude towards life without caring about who the person really is deep down inside. This unfair reasoning can occur in the courtroom when people are put on trial and the judge and the jury must delve into the life of the accused and determine if he is a hazard to society. Occasionally, the judge and jury are too concerned with the accused’s past that they become too biased and give an unfair conviction and sentencing. In his novel, The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the courtroom as a symbol to represent society that judges the main character, Meursalt, unfairly to illustrate how society forms opinions based on one’s past.