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Book Reviews of Twelve Angry Men (Penguin Classics)Book Review: Great! Summary: 5 Stars
I teach this play in high school, and students just love it. If you use the book with the movie, they can study the texts and learn a lot about what is the truth and the value of fighting for it and overcoming our laziness. It also explains well the jury system and racism in the 1950s. Overall you teach them a lot about character and a lot about America. The movie is also excellent.
Book Review: Best courtroom drama ever written! Summary: 5 Stars
Long before any John Grisham novel, there was Twelve Angry Men. I had to read this play in grade school, and it is the reason why I am hooked on both mysteries and plays to this day. As you read, you imagine yourself sitting in that jury room and how you would be thinking and reacting in the same situation. The movie, too, is just as superb!
Book Review: Arrived in perfect condition. Summary: 5 Stars
12 Angry Men arrived in 1 week and in perfect condition. Looked more like a new book than a used book. Would recommend this company to anyone who needs a book.
Book Review: Love the use of persuasion! Summary: 5 Stars
I used it to help write a paper on different approaches to persuasion and persuasive techniques! Such great examples and truly enjoyable!
Book Review: "The burden of proof is on the prosecution... that's in the Constitution." Summary: 4 Stars
Twelve Angry Men is one of those American classics that has grown more memorable over the years, an examination of a judicial system that allows each man his day in court with a jury of his peers. Although written in 1954, the play remains relevant in its intent. Juror Eight is pivotal, the one man who refuses to take the easy way out, requesting a logical examination of the facts before jumping to conclusions. The result of this one man's stand is significant, a gradual shifting of opinions as the other jurors speak their personal concerns, assumptions and general willingness to participate in the process in a meaningful way.
Each of the jurors, like Americans in general, brings his own mind set into the jury room. The evidence as presented acceptable to the majority, the first inclination of the majority is to vote the accused guilty. To further complicate the drama, the room is unbearably hot, some of the jurors anxious to escape the sweltering crucible of the small space, unwilling to put in the time or energy necessary to reach common agreement. Yet Juror Eight holds out, refusing to give in to the pressure of the more verbal jurors, calmly arguing the facts of the case and asking his fellow members to reconsider their opinions. Over time, the more thoughtful members become willing to discuss the troublesome aspects of the case before them, although those who have no patience chafe at the changing of opinion.
The beauty of this play lies in its simplicity, democracy in its purest and most practical form, when a single voice speaks to reasoned consideration. Despite the complexities of the various personalities and their views on crime, law and order and life in general, reason prevails, each character opening to the extraordinary experience of sharing opinions, calmly discussing the pertinent details of the case and reaching a decision based on more than impulse. While the play is dated by the composition of a twelve-man jury, commonplace at the time, the message is unchanged by the intervening years. As simple as its premise, Twelve Angry Men is a civics lesson in play form, a reminder of the legal tenets of a Democratic society. Luan Gaines/2006.
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