Monster: Socratic Seminar

Name: ______Period: ______

For our Socratic Seminar, you are responsible for being prepared to discuss, in detail, the following questions, along with developing questions of your own to pose to your classmates. Remember that you are to USE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE in your answers! Refer to specific page numbers/quotes from the novel in your answers! Write your answers on a separate piece of paper. Your preparation for and participation in the seminar will add up to a 100 point grade.

1. Is justice served in Steve’s case? Why do you think Myers left his guilt or innocence ambiguous? Do you think Steve served as lookout man for the robbery? If he did, do you think he should have been charged with, or convicted of, felony murder?

2. Re-read the flashback between Steve and Tony on pages 42/43. Why do you think Myers includes this scene? Think critically; what does it reveal about Steve?

3. Steve imagines the defense attorney is looking at him wondering “who the real Steve Harmon was” (p. 92). How would you answer this question? Steve himself says he films his life to try to “look for one true image” (p. 281). Why do you think the question of who he is remains so important to Steve?

4. Reread the prisoners’ debate about truth (p. 220). Who is right? What happens to truth in the legal system? Are the lawyers seeking the truth? Which witnesses in the trial do you think were telling the truth and which were not? Look back at the testimony and try to determine what led you to form your opinions.

5. Steve seems to have found himself on trial due to the people from his neighborhood that he hung out with. Are the friends we choose and the people we hang out with an accurate reflection of who we are?

6. “Steve’s defense attorney, O’Brien, tells him, “half of those jurors, no matter what they said when we questioned them when we picked the jury, believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you. You’re young, you’re Black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?” (p. 78–79) What does this statement imply about the American justice system? Does it treat everyone fairly? Do you agree with O’Brien’s assessment? Was race a major factor in the outcome? Can you relate this to examples from our world today that you have read/heard about?

7. Re-read the end of the courtroom scene when we find out the verdict. Think about his mom, his dad, and O’Brien’s reactions to Steve/the verdict at the end. What is significant about each? Whose reaction to the verdict do you agree with more?

DEVELOP THREE OF YOUR OWN QUESTIONS TO POSE TO CLASSMATES: 1.