Discussion 1 – MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers
This question will touch on North Carolina Standard Course of Study Objective 5.02 which requires you to study and express your mastery of the characteristics of literary genres – in this case a screenplay. In answering this quesion you will hopefully be able to prove to me and the world that you
- can evaluate what impact genre-specific characteristics have on the meaning of text.
- understand how the Myers’ choice and use of a genre (sreenplay) shapes the meaning of the literary work, and
- will prove what impact literary elements have on the meaning of the text.
Here’s the question: How does the way in which this story is told – as a script interjected with personal comments from Steve and flashbacks – influence our perseption of the story?
When you post to this discussion use only your FIRST NAME and LASTY INITIAl and the # of the Block you arein.
John Smith in m y 3rd block class would enter John S 4.
From the way the book was written, as a screenplay, I can assume that Myers did this to make the reader seem more into the book, as if they were one of the actors. to help thhe reader understand why things happened as they did, with detail. And the flashbacks was a great use if they were to also help make the reader understand the story plan.
The way the book “MONSTER” is written is as a screen play and i think that it is written this way to try to interest the reader. To keep them guessing about what is probably going to happen. By this book being written this way it makes it so that the reader can see this screen play in there minds as you are reading this book sort of like a mini movie.
I really dilike the way in withch this is written, because when you hear the audio version of the book read outloud, they have to go over every change in name, every sceen description, just spacifically every single writen word in the book.
I really dislike the genre of “Monster” which is a screenplay, it makes the story very boring to me. I understand how is shows the different views of people but to me i would rather the story to be a different genre then a screenplay.
The way that the book “Monster” is written is in a screenplay format. I think this is a unique way of writing. I like this because you get to see Steve’s point of view and it also change they way that you recive information from different characters.
Not done will finish later
With the screenplay written this way in the book , I think it makes the reader feel more into the book , but in some ways it may become confusing. Walter Dean Myers written this book in 1st person to get the understanding of his ( steven, the main character) point of view in the book. The flashbacks and the journal portions are very useful , it sums up parts of the book that happens, and makes a visual scene where you can kinda get an imagine of the character and their personal traits.
The use of flashbacks help a lot the readers, because we can use them to visualize and that can make it easier for some persons. I don’t really like the the way the this book is writted, because sometimes we have to wait a lot to hear another person name and what they have to say about the case.
The way that the story is told is good for this story, because they way that Walter Dean Myers tells, tells you where he is at and the date and who is going to speak. And the way it is written its makes you feel the way that the author is feeling.
The way this story is written makes the reader feel like He/she is watching a movie. The dialog writting style also makes it a very unique type of book and i have never seen a book written like this every before.
the way the storys told influences other peoples perspective because now it makes it harder for some people to read and easy for others to read. the way the author writes the
story also makes it easier for readers to tell who’s talking or not.
By making it a screenplay genre and making the book like a script you are allowed to see many peoples points of view and actually play the movie in your head as you read.
The way the story is written kind of makes the reader feel more into reading the book, since Steve uses the powerful ability of flashbacks.
What powerful flashback could you be referring to. Your opinion is spot on, but give us something to support your opnion. Flashbacks are very useful, they allow us to gain depth of understanding abot a character, location, or event. What did Myers’ use of flashback provide for us? How did a flashback make a character, and in turn the story, more interesting?
By making the genre that of a screenplay Mr. Myers allowed the reader to see the many different points of view throughout the story and chose not to keep it focused on Steve. The description in the story allows the reader to picture everything that is happening and experience everyone’s point of view, also by adding Steve’s thoughts and adding flashbacks of his past it gives you the image of who Steve Harmon really was before this unfortunate turn of events took place.
Although it is a screenplay which normally would give us a view into various characters’ minds, Myers gives us a 1st person point of view screenplay where we really only know what is going on inside Steve’s head. After all, Steve is writing the screenplay, and Steve’s side notes are written by him, and we also have what Myers wants to give us concerning Steve’s past in the form of flashbacks thus far. We aren’t given any (in)side information for any other characters. Through Steve, we see how the other charcters are behaving, and speaking – and becuase of what Steve tells us, we cna only form a one-sdied opinion of what is going on in anyone’s head.
This is a story according to Steve. Ask yourself this, “If he is being tried for murder, can Steve be thought of as a reliable narrator?”