Walter Dean Myers Critique

1. Monster is a novel written in a screenplay format with Steve’s journal entries mixed in throughout. Do you think this is an effective format for the book? Why or why not?

Walter Dean Myers, born Walter Milton Myers, was born on August 12th, 1937 and died on July 1st 2014. He was an American author for children’s book. He wrote over 100 books including picture books and nonfiction books. Two of his most famous books arguably if not his most famous books are Monster (1999) and Fallen Angel (1988).

Walter Dean Myers was born in august 12, 1937 in Martinsburg while in school, he played Harlem basketball. Mr. Myers lived in New York, New Jersey, and Martinsburg etc. Dean Myers wrote tons of books like Bad Boy, Fallen Angle, and Monster. He wrote all types of books in different kind of genres.

Walter Dean Myers (2014), a famous New York Times journalist wrote that “…I read a story by James Baldwin: “Sonny’s Blues.” I didn’t love the story, but I was lifted by it, for it took place in Harlem, and it was a story concerned with black people like those I knew. By humanizing the people who were like me, Baldwin’s story also humanized me. The story gave me a permission that I didn’t know I needed, the permission to write about my own landscape, my own map.” It broods a similar contentment in the reader that the reader’s conscience is questioned by the exposé of the veracity of the characters’ quandary and epiphany and thus, a deep level of appreciative-ness of the American Negro’s struggle is

The book True Notebooks by Mark Salzman highlights what our youth behind bars are going through while waiting for decisions on their lives to be made. Two interesting characters that stood out the most to me happened to be Mr. Mark Salzman because he embarked on an incredible journey of finding himself while helping others at the same time and Kevin Jackson who grew as a person throughout the book. Mr. Salzman’s character grew a lot from a man who was afraid of entering the steps of juvenile hall into a role model for the incarnated youth. While on the other hand, Kevin Jackson’s character grew from a shyboy to somebody who became very expressive of himself and appreciative of things around him. An article that helped me better understand Mr. Salzman’s charcter and Jackson’s was Synthesized Macsunlties by Victor Rios from our unit two reading due to the fact I was given an insight on Salzman’s and Jackson’s character traits.

Monster is an example of what Patty Campbell would call a “landmark book.” Texts such as these “encourage readers to interact with the text and with one another by employing a variety of devices, among them ambiguity” (Campbell 1) Because it is told through the eyes of Steve himself, the plot can be difficult to decipher. It is ambiguous whether he is innocent or guilty of being involved with the crime. Steve learned to make things unpredictable from his film teacher Mr. Sawicki who teaches him, “If you make your film predictable, they’ll make up their minds about it long before it’s over” (19). Steve took his teacher’s advice and made this film script entirely unpredictable,

African American men born in the United States in 2001 have a one in three chance of being incarcerated at some point in their lifetime, according to Department of Justice statistics. An even greater number will have a criminal record and face the host of collateral consequences that emanate from a criminal record. As Michelle Alexander wrote, “An extraordinary percentage of black men in the United States are legally barred from voting today, just as they have been throughout most of American history. They are also subject to legalized discrimination in employment, housing, education, public benefits, and jury service, just as their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents once were.”, as gathered

In “The Monster” by Walter Dean Myers, there are many things in prison that most affects Steve Harmon which can cause him to change. First, within the prison, is said that all they talk about is drugs and sex. This is important because it affects Steve because he has nothing to do with that and now knows what it is like which could change him to be like that. Also, in that terrible place they call jail there are many fights that occur in it. For example, Steve Harmon mentions in the story that someone was hit in the face with a tray during breakfast. This shows that Steve hates fights and does not want to be in any. This affects him because of he in jail with a bunch of grown men which start the fights. Finally, prison is a place where Steve

How does one know if they can trust themself—that what they believe to be the truth is really true? Sometimes one can lie to themself without even knowing it, other times one worries that they are lying to themself, but they cannot tell if they are. In Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon and James King are put on trial for the felony murder of a drug store owner, Mr. Nesbitt. During his jail time due to the trial, he writes a movie script and journal entries, which is how the information is presented to the reader. Kathy O’Brien, Harmon’s lawyer, helps him to be innocent in the eyes of the jury while the prosecutor, Sandra Petrocelli, and King’s lawyer, Asa Briggs attempt to link Harmon to King. Throughout Harmon’s writing, it is evident

In this story, Collier puts the reader into the story to add a personal feel to it. He tells the reader to imagine picking up the phone with the neighbor describing a masked man carrying something shiny around the neighborhood. Naturally, the person hangs up the phone and goes to investigate while carrying a gun. When the reader finds the masked man, he walks towards the main character. Little to the main character’s knowledge, the masked man is his or her teenage son. Since the son doesn’t think about how the parent sees him in their perspective, he innocently continues walking as he always had. The parent shoots and kills her or her son because of his or her instinct to blindly shoot. (Collier 82)

Kick the exciting novel written by: Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman tells the story of a brave and exciting young man. During the course of reading this book I often found that it regularly mimicked real life situations and challenges people face. While reading this book you find yourself relating to what Kevin the main character goes through on one level or another. For me I connected on multiple levels. The first being when Kevin was playing soccer and got in trouble. Much like Kevin I also played soccer when I was younger. I loved paying soccer and I was very excited to find out that this book contained soccer after I started to read it. The other way I related to Kevin was when he got in trouble. Like him I also got in trouble. However it wasn't with the law but on the soccer field instead.

Reading characters as windows is better because it allows one to get a look into different people’s lives. When a character in a book is a window it is so easy to learn about the character’s life and how it differs from my own. As a reader this lets you see life in a whole new manor. When you read about lives that are different from your own you start to think about what someone had to go through compared to you. Characters that are windows will help the reader make a connection and reflect on the situations the characters are in.

Walter Mosley is one of the most adaptable and admired writers in America today. He is the writer of a lot serious acclaimed books, including his major bestselling mystery series Easy Rawlins. His work has been translated into twenty-one languages that includes, his fiction, science fiction, political monographs, and a young adult novel. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in "The New York Times Magazine and The Nation”, among other publications. He is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, a Grammy and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City (Walter Mosley African American Author, www.myblackhistory.net/Walter_Mosley.htm).

Stephen King is perhaps the most widely known American writer of his generation, yet his distinctions include publishing as two authors at once: Beginning in 1966, he wrote novels that were published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. When twelve, he began submitting stories for sale. At first ignored and then scorned by mainstream critics, by the late 1980’s his novels were reviewed regularly in The New York Times Book Review, with increasing favor. Beginning in 1987, most of his novels were main selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, which in 1989 created the Stephen King Library, committed to keeping King’s novels “in print in hardcover.” King published more than one hundred short stories (including the collections Night Shift,

Stephen Edwin King is one of today’s most popular and best-selling writers. King combines the elements of psychological thrillers, science fiction, the paranormal and detective themes into his stories. In addition to these themes, King sticks to using great and vivid detail that is set in a realistic everyday place. Stephen King, who is mainly known for his novels, has broadened his horizons to different types of writings such as movie scripts, nonfiction, autobiographies, children’s books, and short stories. King’s works are powerful because he uses his experience and observations from his everyday life and places them into his unique stories. Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947, at the Maine General