(also
called a Wide shot)
Medium Shot
Close-up
Analyzing Flashbacks
SCENES
Pg. 71-73 (Steve at the
precinct)
Pg. 76-77 (Steve in jail with
other prisoners)
Pg. 117-119 (two women
discussing the robbery/murder)
Pg. 120-121 (news report of the
robbery in the Harmons
apartment)
Pg. 121-126 (Steve is taken in
for questioning)
QUESTIONS
What do we learn about Steve?
How does Myers depict societys
reactions to violent crimes?
What questions do these
depictions raise about the way we
(individuals, groups, law
enforcement, media) think, act, or
feel about violent crime?
How does the setting, camera
shot/angle/technique affect the
scene?
Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007, p. 186.
Sample Introductions
Michael Jordan, a famous NBA player, was once asked
about missing big shots. He responded that he never
looked at the consequenceswhen you think about the
consequences you always think about a negative result.
For whatever reason, society has engrained in us the idea
that consequences are bad. Slogans surround us regarding
negative consequences: Dont drink and drive, the
consequences are too large; Practice safe sex or suffer
the consequence of an STD. Yet, what we seem to be
missing are examples of positive consequences to our
actions, especially when something negative occurs. It is as
if a negative can only equal a negative. Through the
examples in Whirligig of how life goes on after tragedy,
Sample Introductions
If you decided to make your life into a movie, what would you write
about, and what would you gloss over? In the book Monster, Walter
Dean Myers writes as Steve Harmon, a black teen caught in a court
trial due to being accused of being part of a robbery that resulted in
the death of a drugstore owner. While going through this ordeal, Steve
decides to write it all as a movie, claiming it is Told as it actually
happened! In Monster, Walter Dean Myers uses Steves Journal
Entries to display how Steves thoughts about his contribution in the
robbery changed throughout the story. These thought changes that
are written and recorded really show Steves doubt and his trouble
distinguishing truth and untruth, due to the contradicting entries that
are found in the book. Through this, it is easy to see how the court
system has faults with their judicial system.
Sample Introductions
The American Born Chinese is a graphic novel
written by Gene Lune Yang. Some of the novels
themes include: stereotypes and racism, identity,
and transformation. Through the use of diction and
imagery, Gene Luen Yang depicts the stereotypical
Chinese person, Chin-Kee, in an over the top and
over exaggerated way. The purpose of Chin-Kees
character is to get readers to see beyond
stereotypes.
Sample Introductions
According to the NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet, the United States of
America makes up 5% of the worlds population but boasts 25% of the
worlds prisoner population. Americas prison population quadrupled
between the years of 1980 to 2008, reaching a staggering 2.3 million
prisoners. Out of those 2.3 million prisoners, 1 million are African American.
While African Americans make up only about one quarter of the countrys
population. Even more startling is the fact that African Americans are
incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. Author Walter Dean
Myers addresses those gross racial disparities and the destructive
consequences they have on African American males in his book Monster. In
Monster, Myers uses the metaphor of a monster to argue that the US
corrections system treats African American males unfairly. This leads to a
broken sense of self that in turn creates the behavior that is trying to be
avoided. The metaphor of a monster can be seen most clearly through the
diction of the characters especially those in positions of power