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How Does The Author Use Stage Directions In 12 Angry Men

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In Twelve Angry Men, the playwright uses dialogue and stage directions to demonstrate the differing personalities and opinions of each juror. Each juror had a different perception of jury duty and the case. The 3rd Juror did not put much thought into the case. The 7th Juror did not take it seriously and just wanted it to be over. However, the 8th Juror was unlike the others and wanted to give the boy a fair trial because his life was on the line. In the drama, the reader learns about a murder case. The case was considered by many to be a clear-cut case of homicide. A sixteen-year-old boy was accused of murdering his father. The father was knifed four inches into the sternum. If the boy was found guilty, they "send the accused to the electric chair." …show more content…

He considered it to be "one of those open and shut things." He firmly believed that the boy murdered his father. He even asked the 8th Juror if he needed to list the "dozen different ways" that the prosecutor proved it. In Paragraph 55 he stated that "the man's a dangerous killer. You could see it." He referred to him as a man even though he was only sixteen years old. The 7th Juror also had a similar mindset. He did not take the trial very seriously and just wanted to go to a baseball game. In fact at the beginning of the drama, he said, "This better be fast. I got tickets to a ball game tonight." He was more concerned with the new pitcher than the life of a sixteen-year-old

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An interesting part to think about from this play is the fact that by the end of the story, all twelve men had agreed, not guilty for the defendants trial. The question is why would eleven men with the determined thought that the defendant was guilty, change their mind within a few hours and pieces of justified evidence? The final decision stated that the defendant was…“Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. ”(Rose 1957)

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I think maybe we owe him a few words. That’s all.” (13) In the movie, juror eight said basically the same exact statement with the exception of a few words, only instead of saying the boy was sixteen, he said that the boy was

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Some of the arguments and issues with the case that he seems to care most about are the knife Juror #8 bought that is similar to the murder weapon and how fast it took the old man to get to the door. In Act 1, Juror #4 begins to explain that the knife used is very unusual. That even the store-keeper that sold the knife had never seen a weapon like that before. Juror #8 then argues that someone could have possibly gotten a knife similar to the one the boy had and then “reaches into his pocket and swiftly withdraws a knife... they are exactly alike”(23).

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As the jury was discussing the old man’s testimony, Juror 9, who is also an old man, thinks that he was lying in the testimony. This makes everyone

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He is a rational stockbroker who analyzes the case from every angle. He focused on facts and not much else. His verdict was guilty throughout the majority of the movie. His reasoning was the lady who claimed to see the puerto-rican boy kill his father from out her window across the street. He said that all the other evident could be thrown out due to this evidence.

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896 Words | 4 Pages

The main priority is to discuss the defendant’s innocence or guilt. By keeping the subject of discussion on the boy, Juror Eight, has an easier time convincing the rest of the jury that he is not guilty of the murder of his father. Juror Three, the main antagonist of Twelve Angry Men, doesn’t possess the perseverance that Juror Eight does. Juror Three doesn’t have a reasonable cause, which in turn weakens his argument. His bottled up emotions over his son become a problem later in the play when

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Daja McLaurin Benton TA: Yiwen Dai Communications: 250 1 April, 2016 12 Angry Men Assessment After viewing the movie 12 Angry Men the group was able to implement the ideas of group think immediately during the start of the movie. Since the men briefly established a relationship from the time of witnessing the trial to start of deliberation n the empty room and reaching a unanimous decision, they found that all of the men initially achieved a verdict of guilty accept for juror 8. After this surprising decision the men began to show their true colors and distinguish how one may believe something and another juror may believe another. The group takes time in pleading individual opinions while deciding on the guilt or innocence of a young boy

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The eighth juror says “It’s not your boy. He’s somebody else.” The third juror thinks about it and decides “ Not guilty.” (72) He realizes that he is comparing the boy on trial with his son. He knows that is not fair and he has a reasonable doubt.

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He constantly judged the boy and believed that he was guilty when they were actually similar in a way. He was too stubborn and prejudice against the boy that he did and said anything that would make the verdict guilty, even when he contradicted himself which prohibited the truth from coming

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His thought is that he can get back at his son by sending this boy off to his death. He sticks to his vote of guilty throughout the play and tries to get others on his side, even when it is clear there is reasonable doubt. Towards the end of the play the jurors realize the women that testified must wears glasses, and could not have seen the boy murder his father, which is one of the key testimonies Juror 3 is making his claim out of. After recognising his vote of guilty is wrong, Juror 3 defends himself by saying, “How do you know what she saw?”(lll,62) The rest of the jurors decide there is reasonable doubt, but still Juror 3 blurts out, “I think he is guilty!”

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In 12 Angry Men, the movie begins in a courtroom where the case is being discussed by the judge, who seems fairly uninterested. The jurors are then instructed to enter the jury room to begin their deliberations. They take a vote and all but juror 8 vote guilty. The jurors react violently to the dissenting vote but ultimately decide to go around the table in hope of convincing the 8th juror.

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Throughout the whole play, Juror Ten remains stubborn in his decision that the defendant is guilty. Yet, at the end the finally sees that there is reasonable doubt (62). Interestingly enough, on the previous page Juror Ten is called out by Juror Four (60). The foreman also has some prejudice at the beginning of the case. He brings up another case that is similar to the one they are doing.

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The movie “Twelve Angry Men” illustrates lots of social psychology theories. This stretched and attractive film, characterize a group of jurors who have to decide the innocence or guiltiness of an accused murder. They are simply deliberating the destiny of a Puerto Rican teenaged boy accused of murdering his father. Initially, as the film begins, except the juror Davis (Henry Fonda), all other jurors vote guilty. Progressively, the jurors begin trying to compromise on a point that everybody agree because the decision of the jury has to be unanimous.

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1404 Words | 6 Pages

Could they be wrong? “ – Both the statements listed above involve use of the fallacy of “Begging the question” 3) “How come you believe the woman’s story, she is one of them too, isn’t she?” – This fallacy is what we call as Hasty generalization. According to him, since the woman who gave the testimony against the boy lives in the same locality as the boy, her testimony can also be doubted upon. He tries to convince other jurors with this seemingly inappropriate

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He’s slipping through our fingers!” Juror 8 told Juror 3 that he wants the boy to die because of his own desire rather than the actual

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