12 Angry Men and It's Use in Persuasion

A detailed Summary of 12 Angry Men and It's Use in Persuasion

The movie "Twelve Angry Men" is a film about twelve men, all white, all within the same middle-aged group, and all basically part of the "middle-class", who are jurors for a seemingly open-and-shut murder case. The judge opens up by saying to the jurors,

If there's a reasonable doubt in your minds as to the guilt of the accused, a

reasonable doubt, then you must bring me a verdict of not guilty. If however,

there is no reasonable doubt, then you must in good conscience find the accused

guilty. However you decide, your verdict must be unanimous. In the event that

you find the accused guilty, the bench will not entertain a recommendation for

mercy. The death sentence is mandatory in this case. You are faced with a grave

responsibility. Thank you, gentlemen.

The jurors give their initial opinions before any deliberation within the group of them. They all vote "guilty", except for juror number eight (Henry Fonda). Fonda's character (they never really say any of the jurors names) is an architect, who instigates a thoughtful reconsideration of the case against the accused; he is dressed in all white (not a coincidence) and is a patient truth-and-justice seeker who uses soft-spoken, calm logical rea

soning to try and convince the other jurors to see the whole picture. He is courageous, well-spoken and concerned but for these reasons is considered a do-gooder (who is just wasting others' time) by some of the prejudiced jurors. The ninety minutes of the movies is this juror trying to persuade and convince the other eleven members of the jury that there is reasonable doubt in the case and that they should reconsider their verdicts.

Look, this kid's been kicked around all of his life. You know, born in a slum. Mother dead since he was nine. He lived for a year and a half in an orphanage when his father was serving a jail term for forgery. That's not a very happy beginning. He's a wild, angry kid, and that's all he's ever been. And you know why, because he's been hit on the head by somebody once a day, every day. He's had a pretty miserable eighteen years.

Monroe's Motivation Sequence is made up of five steps. It is often used in public speaking, which is essentially what juror number eight is doing, but with an interesting twist. Juror number eight doesn't use Monroe's motivation sequence in one set monologue; he does it subtly and with patience. The steps of Monroe's Motivation Sequence are too first, gain the attention of whoever you are trying to persuade. Next you should describe the problem. This will give the audience a sense of need. After you have told them what the problem is, give them a solution, known as the "satisfaction" step. After that you should help them to visualize the problem and last give them a way to do something about it, or a "call for action." Juror number eight gets the attention of the other jurors simply by initially raising his hand against the rest of them. They are all thrown back and taken that he is not convinced of the guilt of the boy. Juror number eight then describes the problem with them all voting so quickly for guilty. He says, "We're talking about somebody's life here. We can't decide in five minutes. Supposin' we're wrong?" His solution, or way to make them satisfied by his side of the story, is to simply suggest that they talk about it and discuss the details of the case before being so reckless wi

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Approximate Word count = 1469
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English