12 Angry Men Unit

Item description

This unit is designed to be used with Reginald Rose’s play 12 Angry
Men. Students will record information, analyze language, think
critically, and make connections with common psychological principles as
they read the play.

It includes a variety of lessons, activities and assessments:

1. Anticipation guide – a variety of statements are provided that relate to topics/issues in the play. Students share their opinions about each statement and discuss them as a group.

2. Intro vocabulary (two versions with key included) – students learn key vocabulary that will assist with their comprehension of the play.

3. Guilty or innocent? chart – a chart is provided to help students track evidence presented in the play.

4. Opinion change response – after reading act 1, students share their opinion about the innocence or guilt of the defendant. Students follow up after reading the play to see if their opinions have changed.

5. Jury representation and society- students determine whether the jury in 12 Angry Men meet the essential characteristics of a jury, and examine whether the composition of the jury and how it represents American society.

6. Language and vocabulary- students examine the type of language used by specific jurors and analyze its impact.

7. Theories of persuasion (key included) – students learn about theories of persuasion (based on psychology) and identify examples of them in the play.

8. Movie/play comparison – students compare the written version of the play with a movie adaptation.

9.
Final assessment – includes 2 options – final essay or final project
with analysis of a real court case or evidence from the play.

This unit will take approximately 2 weeks to complete, depending on the pace of reading and the assignments that are used.