Monster By Walter Dean Myers Sparknotes

The novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers is the book I chose to read and do my essay on. The genre Walter chose for the book Monster is realistic fiction. The novel was published in 1999 which is a year after I was borning. The reason why I chose this Novel is because a teacher recommended the book to me a couple year ago but, I never got a chance to read it. I always assumed the book was good because it won three awards. The first award the book won was the National Book Award for young people’s literature. The second award the book won was the Michael L. Printz Awards. The third award the book won was called the Coretta Scott King Award Honor all in which the book won in the same year 2000. The book is told from the perspective of a young african american teenager named steve harmon. Steve lives in harlem where the story takes place. One night steve chose to hang with a bad group of friends and was in a robbery. During the robbery one of Steve’s friend kills the cashier. Now Steve is in jail and going back and forth to court hoping to be proven not guilty of felony murder. Steve and I lives are alike in many different ways although we come from different backgrounds.

James King is guilty. As a member of the jury, there are many reasons to support this verdict. Mr. King was one of the four men involved in the robbery and murder that took place in Alguinaldo Nesbitt’s drugstore. When brought to the stand, Bobo Evans provided evidence that proved James King as guilty. He testified that James King was the one who shot Mr. Nesbitt. Mr. Evans was the man inside of the store with Mr. King. “I looked over and saw the guy falling down and King was holding the chrome. We grabbed what we wanted and split” (Myers 179). Mr. Evans also testified that he and James were the ones who planned the robbery at the drugstore. A prosecution witness, Lorelle Henry, was inside of the drugstore right before the crime was committed.

One of the reasons why Steve was definitely innocent is the fact that none of the witnesses brought on the stand recognized like they did James King. For example, on page 169, Lorelle Henry was supposed to go on stand and testify against him. She revealed her state of being unsure when she says “I think

Today we are discussing whether if Steve Harmon should be held guilty or not guilty. I, the defender, says that he is not. We’ve all experienced being accused of doing something we didn’t actually do but Steve’s situation is just more extreme than most of ours. It’s not everyday when we get told a friend is being accused of felony murder. I will be using O’brien’s closing statement along with other quotes to prove to you, that Steve Harmon is not guilty.

Bobo said that King and him "spent some of it (the money) on fried chicken and wedgies. Then me and King split the rest.” The evidence means the only King and Bobo went out to eat and that they only split the rest of the money between themselves. Therefore, Steve was not involved in the reward. This means he was not helping the criminals in any way, shape, or form. He was completely uninvolved. Steve Harmon is not guilty to felony murder because he did not receive a

The questionable forensic evidence, the untrustworthy witnesses and the insufficient investigation are all reasons why Steven Truscott should never have been charged with the rape and murder of Lynne Harper. Being charged with something you did not commit is something nobody wants to go through. Evidence, witnesses and the investigation portion is very important for a case to run correctly. It took Steven Truscott 42 years to finally get his name cleared. He went through many trials and hearings to finally get the news one day that he was free to go. Most of his life was taken from him that he will never get back. “They finally got it right after all these years. I am so used to fighting. Now we don’t have to fight anymore.”

One reason I believe that Steve is guilty is because of his journal. In Steve’s journal he says, “Anybody can walk into a drugstore and look around.”(115) This proves that Steve was helping to be a lookout in the crime, which means he was an accomplice, and that he was in the drugstore when the crime happened. “It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them.” Steve also writes in his journal (130). Steve is writing that he wanted to be tough like King and his friends. This proves that he wants to be like King, which might have influenced him to help with the crime. Steve also writes in his journal, “I knew she felt that I didn’t do anything wrong. It was me who wasn’t sure.” (148). Steve wrote this after talking with his mother. Steve is doubting his own innocence, if he is doubting his innocence, then is he really innocent?

On December 22 Alguinaldo Nesbitt, was murdered when Bobo Evans and James King were trying to rob his drugstore. Steve Harmon allegedly went into the drugstore to check for cops. We the jury have decided that Mr. Harmon is in fact not guilty of felony murder Mr. Nesbitt. Many testimonies stated that Steve Harmon didn’t participate in this crime.

Imagine being on trial for a crime you did not commit. In the book Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon, a nice sixteen-year-old boy living in Harlem, New York was in a situation just like this. Steve was on trial after being accused of being a lookout during a robbery and murder at a neighborhood drugstore. Steve is innocent because he never gave a signal to the robbers that the store wasn’t clear of people and he did not know Bobo, one of the other suspected robbers. Steve was just in the store shopping for mints at the time of the crime.

The book I chose is called Monster by Walter Dean Myers. This novel won the Coretta Scott King award , the Printz award , and was also a National Book Award Finalist. Monster is the name and thing that Steve considers himself as he has gotten in a bit of trouble. This novel took place in Harlem New York in mid year of 1997. Steve harmon was in a drug store while some of the people he has been seen around the neighborhood with stuck the place up and murdered the owner of the store in cold blood now he is on trial for Felony 1 murder and this is the story of his trail. Our lives compare to each others in many ways. There are thousands of inferences that could be made

14 year old Steven Truscott gave his classmate Lynne Harper a ride on his bicycle on June 9, 1959. Truscott had dropped her off before they parted ways. Lynne was reported missing later that night, and two days later, her body was found on a nearby farm. She was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The community was horrified by what happened to this young girl and everyone was determined to find the killer. Immediately, investigators became fixated on Truscott as the prime suspect since he was the last person to see Lynne. They didn’t consider any other suspects, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. He was arrested 24 hours later, and stood trial as an adult. (Steven Truscott |

How would you feel to be put on trial for a crime you did not commit? In the book, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, this is the case for a sixteen-year-old Harlem boy named Steve Harmon. Steve is on trial for felony murder because he has been accused of being involved in being the lookout for a robbery that took place on December 22nd in an uptown convenience store that resulted in the shooting of Alguinaldo Nesbitt, the convenience store clerk. Steve Harmon is innocent for the reasoning’s of he does not know who Richard Evans is, the convenience store was not empty, and there was no signal.

It is almost impossible for justice to be served when the trail was a mess. There was a 12 hour police interrogation of Jessie Misskelley. He is intellectually disabled, causing him to give a false confession. The police should have known the psychology of false confession and shouldn't have interrogated Mr. Misskelley for 12 hours. The sentences were based on hearsay testimony of witnesses who heard the boys talk about the murders: “...the defendant had been motivated as members of a satanic cult” (Robertson 4). Hearsay doesn't prove anything in the court of law. The jury is supposed to know nothing about the case; but of course one juror already had his mind set on his conviction. This juror

The young man accused of the terrible crime was a bug-eyed boy with a bowl haircut who came from a broken home and attended at least seven schools in nine years. Many afternoons, he would sit silently on the curb in front of his roomy yard and, when he tired of it, move to a different curb. He helped neighbors with their yard work, but they still found him strange.

He is not guilty because he helped them and they made him mad when he was small.They talked about him and he cut his hair and messed up.Then when he went to school he had a bag on his head and took it off.He had cut marks on his face.They called him names.So he left and lived on a mountain.