Entry #5: Nonfiction Current Texts Support Themes in Monster

I should start this entry with a disclosure on my belief that our judicial system is broken; yet, I don't know the answer on how to begin fixing it. Growing up, I was surrounded by relatives who lived in the “ghetto,” were addicted to drugs, extremely poor, or even, homeless. I have seen first-hand how desperation makes people do extreme things. Monster tells the story about a young boy, who is on trial for aiding in a robbery and homicide. Steve Harmon, the main character, is a sixteen-year-old African American boy in jail while his trial is under way. He decides to write a script for a movie about his experiences to help him stay sane and survive the jail. Steve calls the movie “Monster” because that's what the prosecutor called him. This story or movie could be told by any young boy in jail and is still very relevant today, maybe even more relevant with the current raiding and rioting occurring as a result of police officer and African American violence. In the classroom, I would argue this point and share the following news article as an introduction to this book. While reading the book, I would continue a unit on linking nonfiction text with this book. My students would bring in current news articles, journal entries, news clips, etc. that support themes that run throughout the book, primarily violence, race, and the judicial system.

Juan Williams is a Fox News political analysts, who during the Ferguson protests made the argument that there is bigger racial justice and police force issue that should be discussed, which is that the death of African-American men is primarily a result of homicide committed by other African-American men (Williams on Fox News). Linda Qui's article provides credit and references to Juan Williams' claim. She supplies a chart from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) that supports this claim by showing that according to the CDC, the number one cause of death for black men between the ages of 15 and 34 is indeed homicide compared to a ranking of fifth for all men (Qiu). She goes on to explain that the reason why this is true could be because of poverty and geography (Qiu). Along with the article, I would show the news clip of Juan Williams on Fox News. The students and I would talk about his claim that racial paranoia on both sides is another real issue and whether we agree (Williams). After a discussion of the news clip and article, I would draw their attention to Monster with questions such as: Does the setting of Monster help aid claim to Qiu and William's belief of poverty and geography playing a critical role? Does it aid claim to Williams' belief that racial paranoia on both sides is a real issue of our time? What about the links to Monster and the quote from Eli Silverman in Qiu's article: "The (homicide) numbers highlight the condition in minority areas, where a lot of violence occurs and the whole way of life is further intensified because police surveillance is always trying to track down people...People have heightened survival instincts, will do anything to survive, and they’ll seek retribution for anything...because they don’t trust law enforcement?"

The primary goal I would have when teaching this book alongside non-fiction text would be to encourage students to start drawing their own conclusions based off of current news. Throughout the unit and while we were reading Monster, I would have students work in groups to provide other news articles, journals, clips, etc. and lead class discussions on these topics while making clear links to Monster. This book would provide a great opportunity to have some lively and enlightening conversations about current racial and judicial issues in our country while also focusing on determining themes in Monster.

Works Cited

Hughes-Hassell, Sandra. “Multicultural Young Adult Literature as a Form of Counter-Storytelling.”

Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy. Vol. 83(3), 2013.

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York: HarperTeen, 1999.

Qiu, Linda. “”Juan Williams: No 1 Cause of Death for African-American males 15-34 is Murder.” Tampa Bay Times. 24 August 2014. Web. 6 June 2015.

Williams, Juan. “Juan Williams Analyzes the Situation in Ferguson.” Online video clip. Fox Business. Fox News: 22 August 2014. Web. 6 June 2015.