Monster By Walter Dean Myers Sparknotes

First Steve and Mrs.Petrocelli said “ I don’t remember seeing him play ball” “you having trouble remembering what you’ve seen.” (Myers 226). Steve is using a tactic which he said he doesn’t remember something and nobody can disprove that because it’s his memory. Then in the jail inmate number two states “Nah! truth is something you gave up when you were out there on the street. Now you are talking survival” (Myers 226). This demonstrates my theme because the criminal is saying nobody will tell the truth, they will just look for ways to lie to get out of trouble. Steve is a very smart person as he is only saying the bare minimum as to not say any facts to show that he is guilty. The truth is gone all you have left now is

Monster Essay A substantial of people in today's society have been pressured into doing bad things with their friends. In the book, Monster, Steve Harmon was a victim of peer pressure. Many people every day are in the same position Steve was in.

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.

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

So steve was involved in the robbery with going that day and the communication but isn’t responsible for death cause he wasn’t there when it

This is case, at times, appears as proving Steve as innocent, but other times is seems that Steve is guilty. For example, Bobo Evans had said “I’ve been knowing King my whole life. Just met the other guy the night before the robber went down”. This is making Steve seem guilty by including him in the crime. If Bobo had just said that he had known King his whole life and had not mentioned Steve at all it would have made Steve look like he had not participated in the robbery. The quote “Me and King planned a get over and we done it” portrays Steve as innocent because it does not mention him help plan the crime. Unfortunately for Steve the testimony from Bobo had hurt him more than it had helped. Another quote that had hurt Steve’s case was “He was supposed to tell us if anybody was in the drugstore. He didn’t say anything so we figured it was all right”. This had flat-out said that Steve had been a part of the robbery and had done his part. Bobo had also continued on to say that they had seen Steve leave the store, as planned, before they had entered the drugstore. Therefore, because of the evidence, Steve’s case is evidence that not everything is as it

First, Steve Harmon is not guilty of felony murder because he was scouting locations for school film project. Mr. Sawicki, Steve's film club teacher states, “It is my belief that to make an honest film, one has to be an honest person. I would say that. And I do believe in Steve's honesty." he says this after Steve says, "I don't know exactly where I was when the robbery took place. Most of the day I was going around taking mental notes about places I want to film for a school film project. The evidence shows that on the day of the robbery, Steve was believed to be scouting places for a film assignment. Mr. Sawicki, his film teacher believes Steve is honest. As a result of the evidence Steve Harmon is not guilty because he was scouting locations for a school film project while the crime was taking place. Steve Harmon is not guilty of felony murder

Once he came out he became relaxed psychologically from the inside as he doesn’t have to worry and stress out anymore about what might the judge say. He also started taking movies of himself. As he says “In the movies I talk and tell the camera who I am, what I think I am about”(279). In Steve’s movies he tells the camera who he believe he is and that he is a human being no mater of his race and that he is not a monster like what some people think he is. The purpose of these movies is to prove people wrong.

In Lorelle Henry’s testimony she says that when she was in the drug store at the time of the robbery and didn’t see Mr. Harmon. On page 164 it states “Ms. Henry do you recognize anyone present today in this courtroom who was also in the drugstore on the day to which you are referring? ‘ The gentleman sitting at that table. ‘ Let the record show that Ms. Henry, has indicated that James King was one of the men she saw in the drugstore on that day.” Ms. Henry was at the store when the robbery occurred and she recognized James King but she didn’t say she recognized Steve Harmon. If Ms. Henry was in the store then she would have seen Mr. Harmon but she didn’t say she did.

In the Monster by Walter Dean Myers, the character Steve Harmon finds himself easily excepting of the label of a monster which was presented by Sandra Petrocelli "But there are also monsters in our community- people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others". Steve doesn't view himself as an active participant in the robbery which leads to the death of the store owner Alguinaldo Nesbitt and because of this he has not completely excepted the label of a monster, looking at Petrocelli point of view of what makes a monster showed Steve that regardless if he plays a minor role or are larger role, he still took part in the crime which leads to death of Mr. Nesbitt, a crime which showed no regard for the rights of others and willingness to steal and kill. Being a person of morals Steve should have seen that they were about to steal from an innocent person without consideration for the victim, even though murder may not have been apart of the plan it is still an act which victimizes someone and in some ways place people in danger. Secondly, Steve faces probably the most challenging of all, Steve realizes that his father now views him as a monster and not as his son. Mr. Harmon showed his disappointment when he shares with Steve what he dreamt of for his son "When you were first born, I would lie up in bed thinking about scenes of your life. You playing football. You going off to college. I used to think of you going to Morehouse and doing the same things I did when I was there. I never made the football team, but I thought—I dreamed you would. I never thought of seeing you in a place like this. It just never came to me that you'd ever be in any kind of trouble." This

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 fact that these men know what they did and have the chance to lessen their charge by blaming on a supposedly guilty sixteen year old African American teenager doesn’t help Steve’s case. Especially because of the fact that they know Steve and know he can be an easy target to blame. With this evidence being provided this does nothing but lead us to believe that Steve’s age and his acquaintances did nothing but hurt himself and put him in this situation.

Imagine the punches, the kicks, the smashing on the table, just to realize the character traits can change everything. Monster by Walter Dean Myers evolves on the fact that being tough is key within life. Steve Harmon, 16 year old boy, black male, is being accused of felony murder. A court case involving James King and Steve Harmon is taking place to see who is not guilty. Steve writes in his journal of the experiences in jail. Through Steve’s writing it is clear that one must be strong and avoid showing weakness.

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.

In the book, in one of Steve’s flashbacks on page 149 King says to Steve “yeah, well, you know, I found where the payday is. You know what I mean, You guess? what you are guessing about when i’m so flattered I ain't got enough beer? I need to put together a payroll crew. Get my pockets fat F-A-T. I talked to Bobo and he’s down, he shows correct, but sometimes he act like a spaceman or something.” which mean that during Steve's testimony he lied to Petrocelli when she asks if he had talked to King other than just about basketball.