Twelve Angry Men Test Review - Sara Arora

Juror 12

"all that"; full of himself; egocentric; snob; bright; does not understand people; tries to be a good person; is in advertising

What is the main conflict of the play? Hint: it's not the murder.

Ego conflict occurs when people bump heads due to personality disagreements. In the small group of twelve jurors, each member of the jury is involved in at least one of the three types of conflict. Beginning with juror number eight, the first man to vote not guilty in the case, he was the first to start a conflict.

"Now - you gentlemen can handle this any way you want to. I mean, I'm not going to make any rules. If we want to discuss it first and then vote, that's one way. Or we can vote right now and see how we stand."

Foreman

Juror 5 is not convinced the stab wound was made by the boy. Why?

He's convinced because the boy is an experienced knife fighter and from the wound they had stabbed downward which makes him convinced the boy didn't do it.

Do you think the boy is guilty or not guilty? Support your answer using specific details from the play.

I do not think the boy is guilty. There were many points presented which caused me to have reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused. The testimony of the witnesses was flawed. The old man was hard of hearing and could not move as fast as the prosecution claimed. The lady near the L train had vision problems and could not see what she thinks she saw in so much detail. The knife was not unique and, as juror 8 reveals, can be purchased at any corner store.

How does the setting of the play and the weather affect the jurors?

It causes tension. It is about 4:00 pm on what seems like the "hottest day of the year." The jurors are tired and most would rather be somewhere else. The walls are "drab" which makes the setting even more tired and depressing. There is a decided lack of color which adds to the tired and drab emotions the jurors feel.

"I don't understand you people. How can you believe this kid is innocent? Look, you know how those people lie. I don't have to tell you.... You know, they get drunk, and bang, someone's lying in the gutter....Human life don't mean as much to them as it does to us."

Juror 10

Bright! He's a common ignorant slob. He don't even speak good English!

Juror 10

I've lived among them all my life. You can't believe a word they say. You know that. I mean, they're born liars."

Juror 10

"Please. I would like to say something here. I have always thought that a man was entitled to have unpopular opinions in this country. This is the reason I came here. I wanted to have the right to disagree."

Juror 11

"I wonder what's been going on down at the office. You know how it is in advertising. In six days my job could be gone, and the whole company, too. They aren't going to like this."

Juror 12

"For this kid? You bet I'd like to pull the switch."

Juror 3

"Let me go! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!"

Juror 3

When he was sixteen we had a battle. He hit me in the face. He's big, y'know. I haven't seen him in two years. Rotten kid. You work your heart out...

Juror 3

Who is the last person to change their vote to not guilty? What changes his mind?

Juror 3 is the last person to change his vote to not guilty. When he sees that all the other jurors are against him, he changes his mind. He realizes that he was being biased because of his son which was clouding his judgement. Yes, he was standing alone and everyone was against him trying to convince him that there is reasonable doubt as to the boy's guilt, and at the end he says "all right!" as in "fine I give up." Juror 3 has a son that he hasn't spoken to in 3 years, so he is anxious to blame 'rotten kids' for all the problems that exist in the world. He was ashamed when his son was 8 and walked away from a fight, so he rode him hard to 'make a man out of him. ' When his son was a teenager, he punched his father in the face.

"I went along with the majority vote on this question. And I still didn't agree with voting that way, not really, and I still don't. So I'm changing my vote. I say no, we are not a hung jury. I believe that the boy is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There are some things I want to find out from those gentlemen that changed their minds."

Juror 4

"I've lived in a slum all my life.... I used to play in a backyard that was filled with garbage. Maybe it still smells on me.

Juror 5

"Do me a favor. Wake me up when this is over."

Juror 7

I honestly think the guy is guilty. Couldn't change my mind if you talked for 100 years."

Juror 7

"...Look, this boy's been kicked around all his life. You know - living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. He spent a year and a half in an orphanage while his father served a jail term for forgery. That's not a very good head start. He had a pretty terrible sixteen years. I think maybe we owe him a few words. That's all."

Juror 8

"There were eleven votes for guilty - it's not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first."

Juror 8

But supposing he really did hear it. This phrase, how many times has each of us used it? Probably hundreds, "I could kill you for doing that, darling." "If you do that once more, Junior, I'm going to kill you." "Come on, Rocky, kill him."

Juror 8

"No, he wouldn't really lie. But perhaps he'd make himself believe that he heard those words and recognized the boy's face. He made himself believe the truth. I speak from experience. I am the same man."

Juror 9

After juror 8 votes not guilty, who is the next juror to change their vote? Why do they change their vote?

Juror 9; 9 thinks 8 is courageous for standing alone and wants to give him time to talk

What is the definition of logos? Find and copy down one example of a juror using logos.

Logos is an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason. Juror 8 (quietly) : "Nobody has to prove otherwise. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant doesn't have to open his mouth. That's in the Constitution. The Fifth Amendment. You've heard of it."

Juror 7

Loud; wealthy; quick temper; very opinionated ; bully; coward; quick opinions on things he knows nothing about; being on the jury is "waste of his time"

Juror 9

Nice old man; lives his life strong; does not hide his age; does not hold back on his decisions; wishes he was more courageous when younger; defeated by life; waiting to die; relates to the old man witness

Juror 6

Nice; honest; not too smart; makes decisions carefully; accepts opinions he likes; difficult to create positive opinions

What is the definition of pathos? Find and copy down one example of a juror using pathos.

Pathos​ or the emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions. Juror 3 : "I never saw a guiltier man in my life. You sat right in court and heard the same thing I did. The man's a dangerous killer. You could see it."

Juror 11

Pushover; do what others want/say; ashamed because he is a refugee from Europe; speaks with accent; wants justice because he has been treated unfairly; compassionate

Juror 8

Quiet; a lot of opinions; considers others' opinions; believes in justice; seeks the truth; will fight to get what is right;

Juror 5

Scared; takes his obligations(responsibility) seriously; afraid to speak up (especially to those older than him); young; naïve (not aware of the facts); oblivious; grew up in a slum

Foreman

Short; serious; well dressed; unintelligent man; makes good decisions; likes being in charge

Juror 2

Shy; a follower; easily changes his mind based on the last person he spoke to; no opinion of his own

How is juror 8 able to refute the old man's testimony? How does Juror 8 disprove the old man's testimony of hearing and seeing the boy run down the stairs?

Since the man was older, it would've been impossible for him to reach the door in just 15 seconds.

Juror 3

Strong; forceful; humorless; strict; forces others to agree with him; forces his opinion; his opinion is right; full of himself; racist; bigot; had a son; beats son

What is reasonable doubt? If someone has reasonable doubt, what should they vote?

Under U.S. law, a defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty. If the judge or jury has a reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt, the defendant cannot be convicted. Simply put, reasonable doubt is the highest standard of proof used in any court of law. If there is a reasonable doubt in your minds as to the guilt of the accused... then you must declare him not guilty. If, however, there is no reasonable doubt, then he must be found guilty.

Juror 4

Wealthy; presents himself well all the time; serious; only wants facts; thinks he is above the other jurors; doesn't like other jurors' behaviors, rich/wealthy

If this case happened today, do you think the deliberations would be different or the same? Do you think the verdict would be different or the same? Explain your reasoning.

if this case happened today, I think the deliberations would have been different. The jury, ideally, would not have been allowed to be biased. They would have definitely all put in efforts into their conversations instead of trying to spend 5 minutes then sending the verdict off to die. The verdict would have been in a better position because the jury would deliberate the case with more enthusiasm and less bias.

Describe the crime the boy has been accused of committing.

the defendant is a nineteen-year-old Hispanic youth from the slums who is charged with first degree murder of his father. The jury is entirely composed of white men.

According to jurors 3 and 4, the most important and damning evidence is:

the woman who witnessed the murder with her own eyes

In Act III, how do most members of the jury respond to juror 10's racist speech?

they all turn their backs on him

Why do the jurors begin to doubt the testimony of the women across the street who witnessed the murder through the passing el train?

4th Juror begins a discussion by reintroducing what he considers to be the most compelling piece of evidence, the testimony of the woman across the street, who claims to have heard a scream and then to have seen him stab his father through the windows of the elevated train passing by. While he is speaking, he rubs his nose where his spectacles have made indentations. This causes the 9th Juror to realize that the woman also had those same marks on her nose and must have worn glasses, despite the fact that she didn't wear them in court, presumably for her own vanity. This causes all of the jurors to question the eyesight of the woman, who may have witnessed the murder without her glasses. Based on this, the 4th Juror changes his vote. the 10th Juror gives up and also changes his vote to "not guilty."

At the beginning of Act III, the jurors take another vote. The result is:

6 guilty; 6 not guilty

Juror 10

Angry; miserable; hates everyone but himself; knows his life is going nowhere

There are many ironic situations that happen throughout the play. Copy down two examples of irony below and explain why they are ironic.

At one point, the bigoted Juror 10 rails against the defendant and the fact that he is foreign and poor. He complains that the defendant "don't even speak good English," which is, of course, ironic, because it is itself not grammatically correct English. Juror 9 is often dismissed and overlooked because he is an older gentleman, and many of the jurors treat him disrespectfully. The fact that people are ageist and dismiss him only makes him more observant. At the end of the film, it is he who notices that the woman who says she saw the murder usually wears glasses and likely could not actually see the event clearly. This is what turns the remaining jurors to say that the defendant is "not guilty."

What is the definition of ethos? Find and copy down one example of a juror using ethos.

Ethos is when an argument is constructed based on the ethics or credibility of the person making the argument. Juror 8 : "I don't want to change your mind. I just want to talk for a while. Look, this boy's been kicked around all his life. You know, living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. That's not a very good head start. He's a tough, angry kid. You know why slum kids get that way?"

"I think that's a good point. We've got a job to do. Let's do it."

Foreman

What is the problem with declaring a "hung jury"?

The boy would need another trial.

In Act III, the jurors decide to recreate what scene from the night of the murder?

The jurors recreate the actual murder (stabbing).

What happens in Act III that makes the jurors think about the woman and her glasses?

The narrator states that four is polishing his glasses while squinting which leads to the jurors that the lady's vision isn't clear without her glasses and they were questioning if she wore them when she claimed to see the boy.

After the jurors take this vote, they decide they should take another vote on:

They decide they should take a vote on whether the jury should be a hung jury or not.

Go back and review the reenactment of the murder in Act III. Describe the reenactment of the murder in detail.

[not screaming, but still loud). I'm going to kill you.[Brings knife down, overhand. Blade is collapsed. SEVEN catches a knife in his hands and fails to floor a second after shouting. He writhes a bit, then rolls onto his right side. FOUR stares at him for a few moments, then digs into his pocket and produces a handkerchief. It takes him a moment or two 10 unfold the handkerchief; then he bends down and wipes the handle of the knife. He looks about, as though checking to be sure that he has done everything. Then he rushes to door L that leads out of the jury room and wipes the doorknob. Then he turns around a full circle and wipes the knob again.) He would have wiped both knobs. [Then he rushes R and goes back to the door of the jury room and repeats the double process on the door-knob. Then he stamps his foot and cries out.) Stop!