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Summary : ' Twelve Angry Men '

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Jackson, Daizia
Professor Runkle
English 1C
15 October 2015
Proper Jury Duty A normal jury room consists of twelve jurors discussing, and colliding opinions about a particular case. In the play; Twelve Angry Men twelve jurors were placed in a room doing just that to determine exactly how innocent a 16 year old boy is after being the blame for his father’s death. However, to begin with eleven of the twelve jurors felt as if the young man was guilty supporting the disciplinary sentence of a 1st degree murder charge that results in an automatic death penalty. Surprisingly, the 8th juror did whatever it took to discuss the evidence and determine if reasonable doubt was a possibility, while the others locked in their vote without analyzing and …show more content…

In comparison to this fallacy, there is an old saying, don’t judge a book by its cover, meaning one can not necessarily base an opinion on a person nor state facts without knowing the individual and their capabilities. For example, the 3rd juror insists on using personal attack toward the 16 year old boy, focusing more so on his appearance and upbringing while, disregarding all other possibilities or factors to the murder situation. The 3rd juror began to share his encounters with dishonesty, then further stating “you come in here with your sanctimonious talk about some slum kid... Every one of you knows this kid is guilty” (Rose 47; Act I). Juror three believes that the kid is guilty and allowed experiences to influence and shape his perception of the situation. Although juror three was stuck on the wrong things and blinded to factors of the kid’s life that can be useful for the case, juror eight took his life into consideration.
With all the kid faced in life, there are many possible fallacies the jurors utilized in the play, however another fallacy often used was the appeal to pity. The appeal to pity is when an individual attempts to win sympathy for someone or something. It was obvious, that the 8th juror used this particular fallacy to gain a change in votes and possibly be able to influence his colleagues to establish an open mind. However jurors should not base their votes

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