Monster

__**Summary**__ - A 16 year-old Black called Steve Harmon who is accused of a felony murder (acts as a lookout of the robbery) - The life of Steve in jail (hates and fears)-- constant threat of violence and sexual violation --> keeps a diary which writes about his inner thoughts and feelings (Struggling if he is a good person or a monster) - The trail preceeds along with the testimony from witnesses and events leading up to Steve's arrest become clear - Steve is announced to be innocent but the question of whether Steve is a "monster" is left for the readers to decide.
 * Monster-- a script based on Steve's experience that is written for a film. He writes it in the notebook and he calls it "Monster", which is shat the prosecuter calls him.

__**Textual Knowledge**__ 1. Arrangement: - a mixture of screenplay and jouirnal entries - most sections open with a narrative from Steve, as written in a notebook that he keeps in prison and in the courtroom, and then close in a screenplay format. - The story moves from jail to courtroom and back again. Within the real time plot, there are glimpses of Steve's life and behaviour in the neighbourhood with some conversations of Steve and his family and friends. There are also scenes of how he's treated after being arrested.

2. Purpose: - illustrate the life in jail as a prisoner and witness how a trail proceeds.

3. Voice: - Mostly in the voice of Steve - As it is a screenplay, there are voices of other people

4. Syntax: - the use of language is simple - words in the specialized field of script writing (e.g. Cut to; Dissolve to; abbreviations: CU= close up; VO = voice over; LS = long shot)

1. Society of America: America is supposed to be a country that advocates justice P. 123: "everyone living in the city deserves the same protection" --> Equality In this story, it reveals how the American legal system works to determine who committed a crime and how the criminal is punished. It is always said that everyone is innocent before one is judged to be guilty in the court. However, it seems that everyone who enters the system, no matter the person is guilty or not, is being punished (treated badly). P. 76: Old Prisoner: "You act like garbage, they treat you like garbage"
 * __Social Knowledge__**

2. Personal experience: there may be a "monster" in everyone, people often have time struggling who they are, just like Steve

3. Bring out the theme that life is like a drama. People are always finding their own identities. Students can try to think about "who they are" and whether it is easy for them to choose the role they want to play -> understand themselves more

P.62: "I want to look like a good person. I want to feel like I'm a good person because I believe I am. But being in here with these guys makes it hard to think about yourself as being different
 * __Cultural Knowlege__**
 * A culture in the jail

1. Life in jail: treated as garbage; violence and sexual violation 2. Environment: P.130:"On the floor, there were big arcs of gray, dirty water and swirls of stinking, brown bubbles" 3. How a trail is being carried out
 * __Topic Knowledge__**

1. HK students may not know much about American society 2. Students do not know much about what is a jail like 3. Students may be critique about justice after the story
 * __Challenges__**

1. Ironic/ Satires (i) Justice: punished even not charged to be guilty yet (ii) What is truth? - P. 79: "What is truth depends on how the jury sees the case" "It is a contest between the defense and the prosecution as to who's lying, the jury will vote for prosecution" P. 222: "Looking for truth means to look far away to stick you under the jail" (iii) Steve doesn't know if he has committed a crime. He doubts his own innocence and tries to convince himself that he is not guilty but he believes his attorney thinks he is guilty
 * __Interesting Themes For Discussions__**

2. Controversial Issue P. 59: "They take away your shoelaces and your belt so ou can't kill yourself no matter how bad it is. I guess making you live is part of the punishment" -> link with Euthanasia (living is a kind of suffer)

3. Discrimination 1. P.79: "You're young, you're Black and you're on trail. What else do they need to know?" (prejudiced) Young~ Less responsible of committing a crime Black~ More likely to be guilty On trail~ a person is on trail is probably to be guilty

2. P. 146: Mother:" I should have contacted a Black lawyer" Steve:" It wasn't a matter of race"

3. Are all prisoners "monsters".

4. Identity: How do you know who you are?

1. Discussion to identify whether Steve is a "monster" or not. Why O'Brien turns away from his hug after winning the trail??
 * __Assignment__**

2. Try to act some parts of the play out

3. To look at teh story in a different perspective (e.g. look in the perspective of Steve's attorney)

4. Write their own scripts as the prosecutor and defense (debate); Classmates can act as jury to judge whether Steve is guilty, giving evidence or reasons

​
 * This book is interested in the sense that it let readers to have the whole film play in their minds when reading the screenplay. It's like watching a movie.