Jurors
The juror who kickstarts the deliberation of evidence and continues questioning jurors as the play moves forward.
Juror 8
How does the vote count change from the beginning to the end of Act i?
11-1 at the beginning and 10-2 at the end of Act I
They believe it is juror 5, but it was really juror 9 who changed their vote.
What weather event happens towards the beginning of Act III?
A thunderstorm starts
What are stage directions?
Non-spoken text of a play that convey essential information about the context and action; They are not read or heard by the audience.
Juror 3
According to the defendant, why did he buy a knife on the night of his father's death, and what happened to it?
He bought it as a gift for a friend and lost it when it fell from a hole in his pocket
What does juror 3 yell at the end of Act II, and what reasonable doubt does it raise?
He yells, "I'll kill him!"
It reveals doubt that when someone says "I'm going to kill you", they might just be angry and not intentionally trying to kill someone
When juror 3 says, "You can throw out all the other evidence," what piece of evidence, in his opinion, is the most important?
The eyewitness account of the lady witnessing the murder through her bedroom window
What is indirect characterization? Give the definition and example.
Readers are shown a character’s traits without an explicit description; “Mary threw the glass against the wall and screamed at the top of her lungs” which reveals Mary is enraged and quite possibly has an anger problem
This juror explains why he understands why one of the witnesses would lie ("I speak from experience; I am the same man")
Juror 9
What is the reasonable doubt created by the appearance of the second knife?
The murder weapon isn't as uncommon as jurors believed it to be; it is possible for other knives like it to exist in the city and in the same neighborhood as the defendant, so someone else could have had one and used it to kill the victim
According to one of the jurors, why might the old man have lied in his testimony about the murder?
"This is a quiet, frightened, insignificant man who has been nothing all his life ... a man like this needs to be recognized, to be questioned and listened to, and quoted just once. This is very important..."
What does Juror 3 do in this scene, and how do the other jurors respond?
He has a monologue full of hatred and prejudice and one by one the other jury members turn their back on him
What is a motif?
An object, image, sound, or phrase repeated throughout the story to draw attention to an underlying concept and/or theme
Juror 11
According to witnesses, what happened at 8 PM on the evening of the victim's murder?
Witnesses heard the defendant and victim arguing; the defendant was hit by the victim and then the defendant stormed out of the apartment
Why does juror 8 say, "This isn't a game. This is a man's life," and who does he say it to?
He says it to juror 3 because juror 3 starts playing a tic tac toe game instead of listening to and participating in the deliberation of evidence
What reasonable doubt is raised regarding the eyewitness testimony? How is it discovered?
Eyeglasses discussion
Identify two symbols in the play and what they represent.
Eyeglasses represent the ability/inability to see the truth due to biases and prejudice obscuring the facts
Two knives represent the two different realities of the defendant (innocence and guilt)
The storm represents the 6-6 vote; both sides are evenly matched (like cold and hot air) and this results in an inescapable conflict
This juror couldn't remember all of the details (actors' names and accurate titles) from the movie he saw a few evenings ago
Juror 4
What is the problem with the boy's alibi? Hint: there are 3 problems.
He says he was at the movies, but he doesn't have a ticket stub, no one remembers seeing him there, and he can't remember the name of the film/actors when questioned about it the night of his father's death
What two reasonable doubts come to light after deliberating about the testimony of the old man?
1. It is doubtful that he made it from his bedroom to the front door in time to see the defendant running out of the apartment
2. It is doubtful that the old man could have heard yelling over the sound of the passing el-train
Who changes their vote to "not guilty" because "they've had enough" (of deliberation) and is then scolded by Juror 11 because he is "playing like this with a man's life"?
Juror 7
Name two motifs found in the play and what they reveal about the play's themes/concepts
The heat, father/son relationships, games