Monster By Walter Dean Myers Sparknotes

“Monster” by Walter Dean Myers is an amazing book and a great show of Author’s Craft. In the book, he uses many different techniques to achieve specific goals. He uses description to create the setting, Flashbacks to provide context, and Inner thinking to build the mood. First of all, Myers uses Description to create the setting. He does this by arranging the book into a movie script format that tells the reader what is going on in a certain scene in the book. For example, at the start of the book, he writes,” FADE IN: INTERIOR: Early morning in CELL BLOCK D, MANHATTAN DETENTION CENTER. Camera goes slowly the own grim, gray corridor.”(Myers, 7). This kind of formatting is very important for the context of the book because Myers is trying

Inner Thinking is used when the author wants the reader to understand how Steve is feeling emotionally, instead of just seeing his actions from the script. This comes in the form of diary entries, and they help to build a troubling mood. Further, this is used after Steve is only recently logged into the county jail and is talking to his distraught father,” I’ve never seen my father cry before. He wasn’t crying like I thought a man would cry. Everything was just pouring out of him and I hated to see his face. What did I do? What did I do? Anybody can walk into a drugstore and look around. Is that what I’m on trial for? I didn’t do anything!”(Myers, 115). This kind of thinking is what connects the reader to what Steve is trying to say, and it makes you almost want to believe what he is saying because of the amount of empathy that you have for him. This is huge for the mood and overall feel of the book. Lastly, Inner thinking is also shown when Steve reflects on his experiences in jail thus far,” Everybody in here either talks about sex or hurting somebody or what they’re in here for. That’s all they think about and that’s what’s on my mind, too. What did I do?... I didn’t kill Mr. Nesbitt.” (Myers, 139-140). In that section, Myers makes it very clear to the reader how terrified Steve is and how he doesn’t feel like any of the other prisoners at all. This kind of emotion builds a very strong and stable mood for the entirety of the