Lesson 9

[margo meck]

Margo’s Old Ways Challenge Chart

What I learned doing this assignment is:…? I realized that the “Old Ways” are both internal in protagonist’s emotions and world view as well as external in her actions and reactions.

Old Ways – Wants a marriage
Challenge – Fiancé cancels wedding

Old Way – Wants a family
Challenge – With genetic complications of being an incest baby, can’t have children

Old Ways – Angry at what her Mother did
Challenge – Moves out of home but with no skills, can’t support herself

Old Ways – Worldview she will be taken care of
Challenge – Harsh reality that the only thing she can rely on is herself

Old Ways – In despair she has a death wish.
Challenge – Goes for a parachute jump hoping it will kill her.

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  margo meck.
• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  margo meck.

[Paul Penley]

Paul P's Oldways

What I learned doing this assignment: Audiences will be more involved with your story if they can relate to the characters. Everyone runs on their "Old Ways", but if you can show them a different way to think about the same subject you have begun your journey to profound storytelling.

1. He received a fair trial. – Challenge- Was his attorney motivated to give him the best defense? Maybe he didn't want the case.

2. Kid can't remember the movies he watched. Challenge- What did you eat for dinner last night. The night before? the night before that? What was the second movie you watched? Who were the actors…. You weren't under stress and you can't remember.

3. These types of people… Challenge – I'm from the projects. – Yes but you're different. How so?

4. The knife was used in a stabbing motion downward. Challenge – The kid was a proficient knife fighter. Switchblades are used like this. It would have been a different stab motion if the kid killed him.

5. The witness said it took 15 seconds. Challenge – After mapping out the room it took 43 seconds. Maybe the witness lied.

6. The female witness was "Dolled Up" for the Jury to make a bettter case for the Prosecution team. Challenge- Who wears glasses to bed. Could have made a mistake? She was 60 feet away and wasn't wearing glasses. and she say the crime thorugh train windows.

7. When things didn't go their way a few of the Jurors began to insult and bully to coerce the innocent jurors to change their verdict.

8. Guilty Jurors originally held onto beliefs learned from social norms. They were not able to see another way until they were shown another way.

9 People have personal attachments/ hangups and approach life situations differently. The last juror had to face his relationship with his son before he could see the other side of the argument.

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  Paul Penley.

[Paul Penley]

Paul P’s Old Ways Challenge. # 3

1. Trying to do something fast isn’t always the best way. Challenge: Slow down, plan your actions and get ahead of the problem.

2. Being quick to the Gun is the easy way to solve a problem. Challenge: Shooting someone is causing more problems. What if you Billy didn’t shoot someone and found another way to solve the problem?

3. The Outlaws who rob the bank got themselves into a mess. Challenge. It wouldn’t have been that way if they would have waited for Billy.

4. Revenge is the norm for killing. Challenge: Revenge doesn’t solve the problem it only extends it.

5. Indiginous People are lower than dogs and shouldn’t be allowed in the Saloon. Challenge: What if the Angels are afraid of what Red is capable of and know that he is a true enemy.

6. Angels and demons are from fairy tales as is Hell. Challenge: What if the stories are true? What if we are all living in Hell?

7. Gold, fortune, fame and becoming immortal is what everyone wants. Challenge: Not if you are trapped in Hell and the cost is your soul.

8. Only good can destroy Evil. Challenge – How evil does one have to be to destroy God’s Fallen Angels.

9. Stereotypes are unspoken social truths. Challenge: What if they are not.

10. Are we victims of our father’s failures? Challenge: What if we can rise above and show our father’s failures were our most valuable lessons.

[Mark Roeder]

Mark Roeder’s 12 ANGRY MEN Analysis

What I learned doing this assignment is there’s constant challenges to the old ways in 12 ANGRY MEN. The movie’s a battle between old ways and the challenges.

I paraphrased and quoted some of the juror’s arguments for the old ways and the challenges below.

OLD WAYS and CHALLENGES:

ASSUMPTION OF GUILT

The lawyer’s talking is a waste of time in an open and shut case like this.

You can see it.

Challenge: Supposing he’s wrong.

I think he’s guilty. I thought it from the get go. No one proved other wise.

Challenge: no one has to prove otherwise. The burden’s on the prosecution. The defendant doesn’t even have to open his mouth. That’s in the constitution.

One guy looks at the kids history of reform school, stealing a car.

Challenge: This kid’s been beat up his whole life.

The boy is guilty. Period.

Challenge: the angle of the wound doesn’t really make sense for a switch blade.

PREJUDICE

I’ve lived among these guys all my life. They’re all liars.

Challenge: only an ignorant man would believe that.

It’s these kids. The way they are now a days.

He’s a common ignorant slob who don’t even speak good English.

Challenge: who doesn’t even speak good English.

They’re all alike. Come to our country for 2 second and think they can tell us how to run the show.

These people don’t need a reason to kill. Big drinkers. All of ‘em. Then bang. Someone’s lying in the gutter. That’s how they are. By nature. Violent. Not a one of ‘em is any good.

Challenge: people get up and turn away as he goes on his prejudice rant.

Challenge: Foreman tells him to sit down and not open his mouth again after his rant.

Challenge: it’s always a difficult thing to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this, and prejudice always obscures the truth.

One juror blames the suspect like he blames his own son for anger and hurt that he feels after his son hit him in a fight and he hasn’t seen him for two years.

Challenge: Juror rips up the picture of him and his son, then cries “not guilty.”

ASSUMING THE WITNESSES WERE ACCURATE

The woman saw the boy stab him from the window.

Challenge: through the window of a passing L train. Let me ask you a question. You don’t believe the boy’s story. Why do you believe hers. She’s one of them. Isn’t she? (This also challenges prejudice)

There’s 2 witnesses.

Challenge: They could be wrong. Couldn’t they.

The neighbor downstairs heard the boy say I’m gonna kill you, then the man drop, then saw the boy running away.

Challenge: I was wondering how he could hear it so clearly through the ceiling. It’ not easy to identify a shouting voice from downstairs.

Challenge: With the L train roaring by, which is unbearably loud, there’s no way the guy downstairs could have heard the boy’s voice and identified it.

Why would he lie? What’s he got to gain?

Challenge: attention maybe. The older witness with a torn jacket could be someone who’s never had his name in the newspaper, needs to be quoted, maybe make himself believe he saw the boy.

The neighbor saw him running out of the house.

Challenge: he said he did.

Challenge: witnesses can make mistakes.

Reasonable doubts. That’s just words. The guy was seen ramming this knife into his father.

Challenge: That’s not the knife. Remember.

He was an old man. He was confused how can he be positive about anything.

Challenge: Everyone looks at him, and he feels bad, realizing he just discredited the witness he was trying to say was right.

Challenge: by looking at the diagram of the apartment, figuring how far the old man would walk in 15 seconds, and getting timed walking as if he had a bad leg like the witness after the stroke, it took 41 seconds.

Challenge: the old man could have heard a fight, then 3 hours later heard the fall.

Challenge: The woman witness rubbed her nose and had marks on her face from glasses, putting her eyesight into question. She was in bed when she saw the murder through the window and the windows of a passing L train. Probably didn’t have her glasses on in bed.

NOT LOOKING BENEATH THE SURFACE

I’ve never seen a knife like that.

Challenge: pulls out a similar knife and stabs it on the table.

Challenge: how many times have we used that phrase: “I’m gonna kill you.” We say it everyday. We don’t mean it.

Challenge: do you think the boy would really shout out “I’m gonna kill you” and then kill him. He’s much too bright for that.

Challenge: At the trial, on the surface he looks guilty, but not if you look deeper. Why would the boy kill him, then come back 3 hours later?

The guy runs at him. “I’ll kill him.”

Challenge: “you don’t really mean you’ll kill me do you?,” proving the point that people say I’ll kill him without really doing it.

The boy couldn’t even remember the names of the movies he just saw or the stars.

Challenge: when under a little pressure, the jury foreman couldn’t remember the exact name or the stars of the second feature he saw.

JUST WANT THIS OVER

What are we gonna do? Stay here all night.

Challenge: a boy’s life is at stake.

You know he’s guilty. Better wrap it up. You’re wasting time.

Challenge: suppose you were the one guilty.

NOT CARING

Challenge: you can’t play with a guy’s life like that. Voting guilty because baseball tickets are burning a hole in your pocket then not guilty because you’re tired of us bickering.

ASSUMING THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY DID HIS JOB

Kid had a lawyer. Lawyer knew he didn’t have a chance.

Challenge: he was court appointed. Could mean he didn’t want the case. It’s the kind of case that brings you nothing, no money, no glory.

ASSUMING THE EVIDENCE IS NOT QUESTIONABLE

Challenge: the angle of the wound doesn’t really make sense for a switch blade.

[Lonnie Nichols]

Lonnie’s 12 Angry Men Analysis

What I learned doing this assignment: Always re-visit scenes and old ways of thinking, to come up with different perspectives. This approach can also lead to a more open, creative approach to any scene, and the entire plot.

(lesson)
Watch the movie 12 ANGRY MEN. As you do, fill in the Old Ways you see; using the chart, make a list of Old Ways for the movie — habits, assumptions, filters of perception, beliefs, social values, rules, etc. – and the Challenges presented to those Old Ways.

Old Ways: First of all, as a general comment, this movie depicts a typical scenario from that era in the movies – all white males! Not only were there no women in the movie, but all the men were white, middle or working class, and for the most part “old school” thinkers. This sets the stage for prejudice, stubborness in thinking, and impatience . . . among the many “fixations” of that situation.

Except for Henry Fonda’s character, the 11 other jurors were content, in the beginning, to simply assume the kid was guilty, assume the attorneys were all truthful, the information feed in the court was all factual, and, not to mention, most of these guys were anxious to get home, not taking the kid’s life seriously. (if found guilty, he would be executed.)

Here’s few details:
1) Most of the jurors assumed the kid was guilty without questioning.

Challenge: Henry Fonda challenged all 11 to a discussion before they sentenced him to death.

2) One witness stated she saw the murder through a train car. Most jurors did not challenge that statement.

Challenge: one juror re-visited that testimony and discovered that the lady witness needed glasses, and probably did not have them on and did not actually identify the murderer correctly.

3) One juror stated , “you’ll not change my mind in a hundred years”.

Challenge: By looking at the actual evidence, and putting prejudices aside, minds can be changed. Look at situations from different angles and different perspectives.

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  Lonnie Nichols.

[Mark Roeder]

Mark Roeder’s Old Ways Challenge Chart

What I learned doing this assignment is when an old way is prejudice against pandas the challenges show they’re not all the same disgusting, lazy, evil, hateful creatures she thinks they are.

OLD WAYS:

Suspicious
Paranoid
Prejudice against pandas
Scientific in a cold hearted way.
Reluctant

CHALLENGES:

SUSPICIOUS

Rosemary’s suspicious of Kyo, that he’s not the promised panda.

Challenge: Most of Blaze’s team seems to believe it.

Suspicious of Blaze, his vision, his plans.

Challenge: Blaze shows her documentaries he made of alien pandas experimenting on humans, but won’t show her hers til she’s ready.

She’s suspicious of the tests she has to do to join. Do they want her dead? Do they have ulterior motive?

Challenge: Blaze trains her how to fight alien pandas and protect her son.

Suspicious Kyo’s not the promised panda.

Challenge: she discovers Kyo can regenerate his teeth instantly.

Suspicious and convinced Kyo is out to destroy humans, so she fights him.

Challenge: he proves he is the promised panda by protecting Blaze, attacking Incisor, fighting with her against the pandas, and then regenerating her back to life.

PARANOID:

Blaze has sent underground warnings, through dark web, social media and interviews, that we shouldn’t inseminate them. Pandas aren’t who we think they are. Rosemary believes Blaze for most part, maybe slightly suspicious of him, but it confirms how she feels.

Challenge: boss tells her Blaze is an enemy. He’s hurting pandas.

PREJUDICE AGAINST PANDAS

Rosemary has to clean up after the pandas, and they are disgusting creatures she feels. Cleans one that rubs itself in manure.

Challenge: Sees one take a bath. Splashing water on itself.

When her boss tells her Blaze is hurting the panda community under her breath she mutters hey should all die. I hope they become extinct. Lazy, disgusting. Vicious.

Challenge: One panda with seed and plant matter on it deposits it as it moves climbing trees and swimming. It’s pointed out they disperse seeds. That’s good.

Flashbacks of getting bit by a panda with rabies.

Challenge: people and docs say it’s rare they bite.

Nightmares of getting abducted by pandas and experimented on.

Challenge: There’s psychological reasons for her nightmares she’s told.

It may be partly because of her panda prejudice that she lets a rock hit Kyo and fails to protect him.

Challenge: his teeth regenerate instantly, showing he’s different, their not all the same. He must be the promised panda.

Learns Kyo triggered the invasion, sent a signal. He must not be the promised panda.

Challenge: loves him now.

SCIENTIFIC IN A COLD HEARTED WAY

A baby panda dies under her watch, and she’s blamed for it. She claims she did everything scientifically possible. Shows no remorse.

Challenge: Everyone else seems to love these pandas and be outraged at her. There’s a nationwide call for her to get fired. That’s why insurance won’t cover her time in the coma after she was bitten by one with rabies.

Lena Zu (the betrayer on Blaze’s team) hunts them and tries to kill Kyo, and Rosemary saves Kyo by killing Lena. Rosemary’s afraid she’ll be wanted for murder and questions why she saved this worthless…

Challenge: her motherly instinct

RELUCTANT:

Flashbacks of getting bit by a panda make her more reluctant to do her job, artificially inseminating pandas, taking care of them.

Challenge: you wont’ get bit again. That’s rare. Just work with them. You’ll feel better. Get this done for us.

Reluctant to take care of her own panda.

Challenge: motherly instinct kicks in.

[Jennifer Quintenz-Berry]

Jenn’s 12 Angry Men Analysis

What I learned doing this assignment is: I appreciate the practice of thinking about what would constitute “old ways” then finding specific examples of the old ways, then laying out challenges to each specific example. I think this makes it very clear how to construct this into a script as you’re writing it. I hadn’t seen this movie in a long time, but appreciated watching it again through this lense.

12 ANGRY MEN “Old Ways” and “Challenges presented to those Old Ways”:

Old way: Assumption of guilt
– the boy bought the knife that the shop owner claims was one of a kind
– man heard boy say “I’ll kill you.”
Challenges to assumption of guilt:
– a juror buys the same knife just blocks away – it’s not unique after all.
– just saying “I’ll kill you” doesn’t make you a murderer, even a juror says it in a fit of rage

Old Way: Just want this over.
– One man has baseball tickets
– One man thinks this is a waste of time (you know how they are)
Challenges to “just want this over”:
– “You don’t care what happens to this boy because you have baseball tickets burning a hole in your pocket”
– jurors confront one man who wants the boy to die- you’re a sadist.
– it’s our responsibility in a democracy to think this through carefully

Old way: Assuming the evidence is not questionable:
– one-of-a-kind knife
– stab wounds in father’s chest
Challenges to “assuming evidence is not questionable:”
– juror finds a duplicate of the “one-of-a-kind knife” which another juror later mistakes for the actual knife
– someone who knows how to use switchblade wouldn’t have attacked by stabbing down

Old ways: Prejudice
– “they are born liars”
– “slums turn them into criminals”
Challenges to prejudice:
– One of the Jurors has lived in slums all his life – he pushes back against the racist who backs down (you seem okay)

Old way: Assuming witnesses are credible:
– old woman saw the murder
– old man heard shouts / body drop / ran to see son escaping
Challenges to assuming witnesses are credible:
– old woman needs glasses to see but claims she saw the murder through a moving train while trying to sleep.
– old man couldn’t have gotten to the door fast enough to see killer escaping
– people couldn’t have heard murder b/c the train was passing at that time

Old ways: Assuming the Defense did its job
– assuming that if the defense didn’t bring something up, it’s becaues it would hurt his case.
Challenges to assuming the defense did its job:
– Defense didn’t cross examine witnesses strongly or thoroughly.
– Defense was assigned to this case, could feel resentment or irritation b/c it’s not sexy or “winnable”
– Defense didn’t ask any of the questions that come up in the jury room… and they were only there for a few hours.

Old ways: Assuming the case is completely logical
– believing the prosecution b/c the defense didn’t mount a strong case
Challenges to assuming the case is completely logical
– why would by return to the scene of the crime?
– why would boy wipe finger prints off the knife then leave it behind?

Old way: Assuming the boy is guilty:
– He shouted at his father
– Couldn’t remember details about the movies he saw
– bought a similar knife
Challenges to assuming the boy is guilty:
– people shout, even one of the jurors said “I’ll kill you!” in a fit of rage, doesn’t mean he wants to murder
– Boy has been hit all his life, not enough to assume this is what made him snap.
– he was questioned about the movies in view of his dead father’s body, emotional stress
– just because he bought a similar knife doesn’t mean his was the one used in the killing, or that he used it

[Jennifer Quintenz-Berry]

Jenn’s Old Ways / Challenge Chart

What I learned doing this assignment is: This is going to be transformative for my writing. It’s helping me find and elevate these moments that already exist and giving me ideas for emotionally powerful moments that should be added. I definitely think this will help craft a solid, emotionally rewarding character arc.

Using the “Old Ways / Challenge Chart” make a list of Old Ways for your story — habits, assumptions, filters of perception, beliefs, social values, rules, etc. for your story.

1. Old Way: I am powerless to change my life or fate.
Challenges:
• Taylor believes she can’t change the memories, but then she yells at Sydney—which she didn’t do in the past—and when she returns to the past she finds an unexpected ripple effect that makes things worse (Sydney won’t talk to her), forcing her to rethink the scope of her power.
• Carrie casually demonstrates how a small act (helping a stranger) creates immediate, tangible results, contrasting Taylor’s inaction with Carrie’s proactive approach.
• Taylor hesitates to act during a pivotal time-jump moment, leading to a tragic result. She realizes her inaction was as impactful as action.

2. Old Way: Mistakes define me; there’s no coming back from them.
Challenges:
• Flashback to Success: During a time jump, Taylor revisits a moment where she made a seemingly small choice that had a hugely positive impact. She sees that even her imperfect decisions can lead to good outcomes.
• Sydney’s Reassurance: In a memory, Sydney reassures Taylor after a failure, saying, “You’ll always have the chance to make things right if you’re willing to try,” planting seeds of hope.
• A Mistake Creates an Opening: Taylor’s attempt to change an outcome backfires but sets off an unexpected chain reaction that gives her a second chance to get it right.

3. Old Way: I need someone else to fix or save me.
Challenges:
• Riaz asks Taylor what she thinks is going on. She’s dumbfounded – you’r ethe expert. He shrugs… sometimes we have intuitions… what does your gut say? Taylor thinks it through and finally identifies that the lapses all take her back to moments she wishes she’d done something differently. Taylor’s insight leads to progress.
• Carrie’s fiercely independent actions contrast with Taylor’s dependence, prompting Taylor to feel inadequate but also inspired. (“You’re the only one holding yourself back.”)
• During a critical moment, Taylor is entirely alone (no Riaz, no Carrie), and she must solve a problem on her own—proving to herself she has the strength. (She forces herself into another lapse, back to the hospital for life-saving treatment, giving Riaz time to find her).

4. Old Way: Time is the enemy; it only takes things away.
Challenges:
• Time as a Gift: Taylor jumps to a cherished moment with Sydney and is struck by the realization that even fleeting time together can be precious, reframing her view.
• Learning from Loops: After revisiting the same event repeatedly, Taylor starts to understand how each repetition gives her a chance to refine her actions and intentions.
• Witnessing Cyclical Growth: In the present, Taylor observes someone else (a stranger or Riaz) making steady progress despite setbacks, illustrating time’s role in healing and development.

5. Old Way: Only big, dramatic actions matter.
Challenges:
• Carrie’s Small Acts: Taylor sees how Carrie’s subtle, everyday kindnesses (e.g., bringing coffee to a tired nurse, fixing a broken chair) leave lasting impressions on others.
• Minor Change, Major Impact: Taylor changes something small in a past event (e.g., convincing Sydney to wear a seatbelt), which creates a larger positive outcome than she anticipated.
• Self-Realization: Taylor has a breakthrough where she acknowledges that the buildup of tiny, consistent choices in her own life could lead to monumental personal growth.

6. Old Way: Grief is something to endure, not work through.
Challenges:
• Carrie opens up about losing her husband, framing grief as a transformative process, not just something to survive.
• Riaz avoids opening up about his own pain, which mirrors Taylor’s struggles, making her reflect on her own resistance to processing grief.
• In a memory with Sydney, Taylor relives a moment of love and laughter, breaking through her emotional wall and beginning to experience healing.

7. Old Way: I am not worth saving.
Challenges:
• Carrie defends Taylor in front of someone doubting her abilities, showing Taylor that others see her value (external validation).
• A time jump reveals a moment when Sydney sacrificed for Taylor, highlighting how much Taylor is loved and worth the effort.
• Taylor risks herself in a pivotal moment, succeeding and realizing her own life has inherent worth through her actions (Sydney – “I don’t know what I would do without you…” something Taylor never even considered until this moment).

8. Old Way: Love is about sacrifice, even to my detriment.
Challenges:
• Carrie shows Taylor a healthy dynamic in which mutual respect and boundaries are central to love.
• Riaz refuses to let Taylor harm herself out of misplaced love or guilt, forcing her to reevaluate what love truly means.
• Taylor chooses to let go of Riaz, the man she loves, in a way that’s empowering rather than self-sacrificial, reframing love as mutual growth.

9. Old Way: People like me are inherently unlucky or doomed.
Challenges to the old way:
• Riaz (unaware of her conversation with Carrie about luck) points out how many variables (health, decisions, environment) led to Taylor’s survival in the crash. He emphasizes that "doom" isn’t written in the stars—it’s a narrative she’s telling herself. This logical approach forces Taylor to step back and reconsider the story she’s built around her life and survival.
• Taylor jumps over the fire during a time jump and saves herself from the terrible burn she got in childhood. She realizes her actions create the “luck” in that moment. This shows her that “luck” can be created rather than inherited or assigned.
• Carrie calls her out – bluntly tells Taylor, “That’s just an excuse you’ve made up so you don’t have to try. Luck isn’t real. You either show up or you don’t.” Though harsh, this tough-love approach resonates with Taylor and plants a seed of doubt about her victim mentality.

10. Old Way: Telling Sydney the truth would hurt our relationship.
Challenges to the old way:
• Someone else tells Sydney something brutally honest—maybe a professional critique, a mistake she made, or a tough observation about her relationship with Christopher. Instead of falling apart, Sydney handles it with unexpected strength and gratitude for the honesty—and Taylor realizes Sydney may be stronger and more open to difficult truths than she assumed.
• Taylor withholds the truth in a minor situation (e.g., letting Sydney believe something small that’s untrue, like that someone admires her work when they don’t). When Sydney later finds out, she’s more hurt by the deception than the truth itself. Taylor sees that hiding the truth can lead to even more pain and disappointment than being upfront.
• Taylor experiences this with Carrie—Carrie doesn’t tell her she’s dying of cancer, and Taylor is devastated that she kept this truth from her. This mirrors her own reluctance and makes her realize that silence can be just as damaging as a harsh truth. Maybe Taylor overhears Strove talking with Carrie, “Protecting her from the truth isn’t protecting her—it’s protecting you. If you really love her, you’ll trust her enough to tell her.”
• In a lapse, Taylor has the chance to correct a moment where she withheld the truth from Sydney –she tells her that Christopher is a no-good asshole… and though Sydney is upset, Taylor learns (in a later lapse) that Sydney took the words to heart and realized Taylor was on to something. Taylor realizes that avoiding the truth is a pattern she’s been repeating, and she has the power to change it.

~ end

[Margaret]

Margaret’s Analysis of 12 Angry Men

What I learned: Old ways need to be challenged to effect change

Old Ways/Challenge:

Old Way: Prosecution proved Guilt. Challenge: “People make mistakes”, “It’s not an exact science”, “Concidences are possible”, look-a-like switchblade, noise from train refutes testimony, prosecutor did not did deep; knife angle wrong for switchblade,
Old Way: Guilty because of who he is/culture:. Challenge: Juror from same culture, background doesn’t count, “prejudice obscures the truth”, son’s influence on juror’s beliefs.
Old Way: There for the entertainment value. Challenge: Jurors won’t listen to stories, game broke up
Old Way: Need to get over quick. Challenge: People taking time to sit, bathroom breaks, juror opposed to claiming guilt without talking about it, side arguments, juror wanting to see exhibits, juror wanting to play act the scene
Old Way: Defense Lawyer did his job. Challenge: “Lawyers can be stupid”, “He let to many little things go by.”

[Margaret]

Margaret’s Old Ways Challenge Chart

What I learned: Not only do i need to understand my character’s “Old Ways”, I need to build in challenges for these ways so that gradient change can occur.

Margot Old Ways: 1) Too old to make a difference. 2) Cannot be a Christian and a spy.
Challenge: 1) Verse, “For such a time as this” – age is not a barrier, timing is what counts. 2) Nazi inspection of her goods requires deception. 3) Story of Rahab – used deception to protect the spies. 4) Spy in midst required deception. 5) Required to learn a new skill (coding) to be effective.

Lise Old Ways: Incapable of keeping important secrets.
Challenge: Resistance requires a person with a talkative nature and strategic communication (Nazi inspection of goods and questioning about code.)

Helene Old Ways: Son will protect from arrest.
Challenge: Son threatens her with arrest. Arrest becomes a moral stand for Helene.

Marie Old Ways: Can’t be myself (brilliant mathematician) and survive.
Challenge: 1) Required to stand up to Nazi’s. 2) Must teach Margot coding.

Old Ways: Culture required fear and passive acceptance of Nazi occupation.
Challenge: Network of resistance requiring committment

[margo meck]

Margo’s 12 Angry Men Analysis

What I learned doing this assignment is…? Well, I learned I’m not very good at analysis. I could see the beliefs and how they were challenged, but I couldn’t break it down by “habits, assumptions, filters of perception, beliefs, social values, rules, etc.”

Old Ways: Belief that the knife was one of a kind that belonged to the boy.
Challenge: An identical knife was produced from a pawn shop in the boy’s neighborhood.

Old Ways: Belief that the old man with a gimpy leg could walk down the hallway in 15 seconds.
Challenge: Simulation of similar circumstances that took 45 seconds.

Old Ways: Belief that the man heard the boy threaten to kill his father.
Challenge: Introduce doubt that the yelling could be heard over the noise of the “L” passing by.