Monster

 

Monster 

Written by Walter Dean Myers

Grade 6

11+ year olds

 Link to purchase "Monster" from Source of Knowledge Bookstore

Summary:

 Written in first person point of view, the protagonist, Steve Harmon is a black, sixteen-year-old incarcerated in jail and on trial for murder. The story is told from Steve’s point of view inside his jail cell. Steve loves cinema and wants to become a screenwriter. He uses his interests to tell his story of how he ended up in jail through a screenplay, and calls his movie, “Monster” because that is “what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. Monster.” (Myers 5) Sandra Petrocelli is the state’s prosecutor and has a reputation for being a good lawyer. In court, Petrocelli presents the charges against Steve and James King, his co-defendant. The prosecutor tells the jury that James King and Steve Harmon, along with two other criminals, robbed Anginaldo Nesbitt’s drugstore, where Mr. Nesbitt was later found dead. Steve is the prime suspect in the murder of Mr. Nesbitt. Steve writes about his experience on trial for felony murder through handwritten notes and a screenplay where he expresses his experience, thoughts and journey to discover the systemic injustices in jail, specifically for a young black teenager.

The narrator uses screenplay techniques such as incorporating transitions, dialogues, cut frames and setting up scenes to create a movie as a coping mechanism as he loses his innocence as an adolescent into an adult that is a victim of oppression in a systemic injustice world.

Element 5: Awareness Raising

Monster explores themes of race and how racism enables systemic injustice. The novel focuses on the racial injustices that Black and other people of color feel victimized in a systemic injustice world. By focusing on the way that the court, the prosecutors, the defiant, the witnesses and the increment in jail oppresses the Black community, it addresses key oppression concepts such as the 4 I's of oppression and advantage. Monster emphasizes the reality of today’s support justice system. Monster encourages readers to reflect and recognize exactly how institutional oppression can be seen today. The policies, procedures and structures that lead to school-to-prison-pipeline are emphasized in the text in a way that young readers can understand. 

Activity/Action:

This book can be used not just in an ELA class setting, but also in a social studies class, where students are introduced to the reality of systematic injustice practices and the school-to-prison pipeline. This book raises awareness to the oppression that black and people of color are victims of from racist institutional policies, procedures and structures. This book raises awareness for students to learn more and become advocates of racial justice. One activity that can be created following the reading of Monster as well as teaching the 4 I’s of oppression and advantage can be geared towards spreading awareness and educating students how they can take a stand and protest against institutional oppression and systematic injustice. Introduce organizations and protests that fight against racism and the systematic injustices.