...In Reginald Rose’s play ’12 Angry Men’ the jurors not only let their prejudices affect their opinions they have towards the accused, but also their opinions of each other. Jurors three, ten and four show strong prejudice against the accused purely as he is from the slums and claim that he is guilty on this point alone, whereas juror five is more reluctant to think badly of the boy as he also grew up in the slums. Many of the juror’s prejudices against people from the slums make juror five too nervous to initially speak or express his opinion and his opinion is not taken as seriously because he is seen to be just trying to defend the accused as they both grew up in the slums. Many of the jurors also do not take juror nine seriously and do not believe he will have any valuable points to make purely because he is an elderly man. Conflict is started when juror seven changes his vote. As he originally stated that he wanted to get out of the jury as soon as possible to watch the ball game the other jurors have the preconception that anything he does will be a strategic move so that he can leave, rather than doing what is best for the case. Throughout the play juror three makes comments about his son and towards the end it becomes clear that he was being prejudiced towards the accused purely because it reminded him of his son, who he does not get along...
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...Democracy and the right to serve as a juror are a great privilege and responsibility which is not to be taken lightly, as seen in Twelve Angry Men. How does Rose use the play to reflect these themes? In Reginald Rose Twelve Angry Men, Rose uses the play to reflect the duty and responsibility of a juror. Rose uses the characters to reflect different themes of the play. As a democratic country, jurors have a great privilege and responsibility and it shouldn’t be taken lightly as some juror’s demonstrated. Rose represents different personalities and beliefs with each juror. A young man’s life is at stake, most of the juror’s assume he is guilty on the first vote. But luck for the boy is that the 8th juror who wants it to be a fair trial and wants to “talk this thing out”. A fair trial that everyone is entitled to. Juror 8th is in contrast with the other jury members who allow personal bias to make up their verdict and decisions. Rose starts of the play with the judge stating the duty of the jurors, and that they have to come up with a unanimous verdict. The play progresses with the changing of individual juror’s minds. Rose represents juror 8 as the protagonist and the hero of the case. Juror 8 represents the strengths of the jury systems. Juror 8 insists on looking at the facts in the case even though everyone else has already got their mind made up. In the play juror 8 is used to represent a juror who is doing his duty the right way. He is patient , tolerant and thinks about...
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...The Final Verdict of 12 Angry Men On the average, about five parents are killed by their biological children in the United States every week. Matricide and patricide are both very rare events when considered in terms of the thousands of individuals arrested every year for murder. Killings of mothers and fathers each constitute about 1 percent of all homicides in the United States in which the victim-offender relationship is known. Did he do it? If he didn't, who did? Why would a young man kill his beloved father with a switchblade knife? Attention gentleman of this trial by jury, I am here to present and address to you a murder/homicide case that has previously already been put on trial with a different jury, in which it involves a teenage boy of about eighteen years old, who was accused for the killing and murder of his father by stabbing him to death. It is now our job to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death sentence. With this intention, I will be sure to diminish all fraudulent pieces of evidence in this case and do whatever I can to prevent the result of a hung jury in this trial as we are dealing with the innocence of a young boy and his ultimate life fate. The boy on trial in Reginald Rose’s play 12 Angry Men is not guilty because, the self-acclaimed woman whose testimony as a witness seemed to be false and misleading as pertaining to the lack...
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...Twelve Angry Men: Justice is Served Twelve Angry Men takes you into a day in the lives of twelve jurors in a New York City courthouse. In the hands of the jurors lies the fate of a young man accused of stabbing his father. Throughout the film, the audience becomes familiar with each of the jurors and is quickly introduced to topics at issue such as discrimination, iniquitous motives, and concerns about the American judicial system. As the twelve jurors deliberate to reach a verdict, the film epitomizes the validation and condemnation of the American justice system. There are many responsibilities of a jury: to achieve fair and impartial decision, determine guilt or not guilt, give people voice in the government, and to protect the rights of the accused. In other words, the main point of the jury system is not to provide innocence but eradicating or sustaining reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence is a key theme in the narrative that reflects one of the distinct characteristics of the American justice system. As much as this film is about lessons of discrimination, fate, and impartiality, it is also a lesson of the American justice system. Although this film demonstrates many imperfections in the court system, as imperfect human beings, perhaps it is necessary that justice call upon such a system. As shown in Twelve Angry Men, the American justice system, although seemingly flawed, works for us imperfect human beings Aside from the opening courtroom scene where...
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...In Reginald Rose’s play ’12 Angry Men’ the jurors not only let their prejudices affect their opinions they have towards the accused, but also their opinions of each other. Jurors three, ten and four show strong prejudice against the accused purely as he is from the slums and claim that he is guilty on this point alone, whereas juror five is more reluctant to think badly of the boy as he also grew up in the slums. Many of the juror’s prejudices against people from the slums make juror five too nervous to initially speak or express his opinion and his opinion is not taken as seriously because he is seen to be just trying to defend the accused as they both grew up in the slums. Many of the jurors also do not take juror nine seriously and do not believe he will have any valuable points to make purely because he is an elderly man. Conflict is started when juror seven changes his vote. As he originally stated that he wanted to get out of the jury as soon as possible to watch the ball game the other jurors have the preconception that anything he does will be a strategic move so that he can leave, rather than doing what is best for the case. Throughout the play juror three makes comments about his son and towards the end it becomes clear that he was being prejudiced towards the accused purely because it reminded him of his son, who he does not get along with. Most of the jurors are prejudiced towards the accused based on the fact that he has grown up in the slums, some prejudices favourable...
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...Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose Structure, Language and Genre Structure • Twelve Angry Men follows a two-act structure, with the action running continuously rather than being broken into scenes. The second acts takes up exactly where the first left off – there is no change in chronology. • With no scene divisions, the progress of the play can be measured by the votes which take place, functioning as a kind of pulse, reminding the audience where the jury’s opinion stands on the defendant’s conviction. These moments serve as markers for the audience on the journey through the play, helping to structure the action. • The play follows the three classical unities of theatre derived from Aristotle: - Unity of action: there should be only one central plot (the jury’s deliberations and decisions). - Unity of time: In real and continuous time where there are no shifts in chronology (no breaks in play). - Unity of place: Action occurs in only one single location (the jury room). • Allows the audience to feel very close to characters, their relationships and the conflict and challenges with which they are faced in deciding the defendant’s fate. • Intensifies sense of realism and is particularly effective because of the claustrophobic nature of the setting. Language • Rose’s characters use naturalistic, everyday language appropriate to the times and for the audience. • Heightened poetic or symbolic language is rarely used, instead speaking in concrete terms about the...
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...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The mass media, most especially television have gradually become a part of our daily lives, and sources of information, education and entertainment have been described as the primary functions of the media. Lasswell (1948) as cited in Folarin (2005, p.74) assigns three functions to the media: i. Surveillance of the Environment (the news function). ii. Correlation of the different parts of the Enviroment (the editorial function). iii. Transmission of the cultural heritage from one generation to the other (the cultural transmission function). The focus of the researcher in this study is not only on the entertainment function of the media, but the role the entertainment media especially television, plays in shaping social behaviour among teenagers in the society. Stephenson (1967) a British psychologist, as cited in Folarin (2005, p.170), divides man’s activities into work and play. The former involving reality and production, while the latter deals with entertainment, relaxation or self satisfaction. He further says that people use mass communication more as play than as work, more for pleasure and entertainment than for information and serious work. Folarin (ibid) corroborates this view by saying that one constant criticism of television in Nigeria is its focus on entertainment rather than on development purposes. There is no doubt that the impact of the media on young people’s lives is broadly considered within...
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...Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born in Germany), 1830–1902 Valley of the Yosemite, 1864 (detail) Oil on paperboard 30.16 × 48.89 cm (11 7/8 × 19 1/4 in.) Museum of Fine Arts, BostonGift of Martha C. Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865 47.1236 Buyer: Susan K. Culbertson Media Project Manager: Sridevi Palani Compositor: MPS Limited, a Macmillan Company Typeface: 10.5/12 Times Roman...
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