Name ______________________ Block ______________
Twelve Angry Men Study Guide
Act One Questions
1. What are the judge’s instructions to the jurors?
2. Which juror is particularly anxious to reach a quick decision? Why?
3. Before the first vote is taken, what do you learn about:
A. The crime –
B. The defendant –
4. What’s the result of the first vote? Who votes Not Guilty?
5. How do the jurors react to EIGHT’s statements?
6. In order to convince EIGHT of the defendant’s guilt, the jurors decide to discuss the facts of the case. How
does TWO interpret the facts?
7. How does EIGHT answer TWO’s interpretation?
8. What is the testimony cited by THREE?
9. How do the FOREMAN and FOUR support THREE’s statement?
10. What is the testimony cited by TEN?
11. What is the testimony cited by SIX?
12. How does EIGHT counter their statements?
13. What comments do SEVEN, THREE, and FOUR make about the defendant?
14. Why does FIVE react as he does?
15. How does EIGHT describe his reaction to the trial
16. How does THREE react to EIGHT’s comments?
17. Why is the switch-knife an important exhibit in evidence?
18. What was the defendant’s testimony about the switch-knife?
19. How do FOUR and EIGHT differ in their interpretation of this testimony?
20. What is the dramatic climax in Act I? 8 has an exact replica of the murder weapon
21. How do the jurors react to this incident? Shocked and appalled
22. What does EIGHT prove by his action? Knife is not unique = reasonable doubt
23. What does this incident reveal about EIGHT’s motives? Takes being a juror seriously
24. What proposition does EIGHT make to his fellow jurors? Take a second vote (juror 8 abstains), if
everyone votes not guilty, then he’ll change his vote and everything will be over.
25. How do you think FOUR, THREE, Five, NINE, and TEN will vote on the second ballot? 9, 5 = not guilty
26. How does the result of the second vote create a conflict between juror THREE and jurors FIVE<
ELEVEN< and NINE? People are starting to disagree with 3 – he takes this personally
27. What evidence does EIGHT offer to discount the old man’s testimony? The el train = too loud to hear
the threat
28. What is the connection between the el train’s noise and the old man’s testimony? Noise level = threat
29. Reread the comments NINE makes about the old man. Are NINE’s comments based on fact or do they
reflect his personal feelings? Explain. 9 is getting personal here – he understands that the old man
(giving the testimony) is trying to feel useful and apart of something, that being old means the end of
having a purpose.
30. What is the significance about TEN’s comments that the defendant’s “don’t even speak good English”?
irony = 10 is from American and should have better grammar than the immigrant (11) – makes him
seem ignorant
31. How does this comment affect ELEVEN? FIVE? 11 = corrects juror 10; 5 = changes vote to not guilty
32. Is the comment consistent with TEN’s previous behavior? Yes
33. How does EIGHT interpret the result of his timed experiment? Not possible for the old man to make it
across his apartment in 15 seconds – takes twice as long
34. In Act II, THREE contradicts his earlier views? In what ways? 3 says at the beginning of the play that
people mean it when they claim they’ll kill someone in anger – at the end of Act I, juror 3 states he’ll
kill 8 out of anger.
35. How do you think each will vote now?
FOREMAN – G
SEVEN – G
TWO – G
EIGHT – NG
THREE – G
NINE – NG
FOUR – G
TEN – G
FIVE – NG
ELEVEN – G
SIX – G
TWELVE – G
36. Around page 50, the jurors vote for the third time. What is the result of this vote? 6 - 6
37. Which jurors have changed their minds? 2, 6, 11
38. FIVE provides information that discounts an important piece of testimony? What is this? the direction of
the stab wound
39. Is he qualified to speak as an expert? Why or why not? Yes, he saw knife fights daily in the slums
40. Is FIVE’s ability to provide this information too coincidental to be believable? Why or why not? No –
having prior knowledge of knife fighting comes from his upbringing
41. In what way is SEVEN’s willingness to change his vote consistent with his earlier behavior? He’s been
impatient the whole time; only changes his vote to speed up the process
42. Why does ELEVEN question SEVEN so closely? He is passionate about people getting justice
43. What is the result of the fourth vote? 9 = not guilty, 3 = guilty
44. How do the other jurors react to TEN’s statements about his true feelings? They look at the window and
give him their backs = disrespect
45. Why does FOUR feel that he cannot change his vote? The lady across the el train saw the murder
46. What significant observation does SIX make at this point? The witness didn’t mention wearing glasses
while sleeping – she’d need her glasses to see across the train = reasonable doubt
47. Do you think that THREE was pressured into agreeing with the majority? Explain. Yes – he internalized
the issue with the defendant instead of being objective (because he doesn’t get along with his own son
that’s the same age as the defendant)
48. What does THREE reveal about himself by changing his vote? Prideful, stubborn, bitter
49. Did the jury prove the defendant was not guilty? Give specific evidence to support your answer.
Yes – reasonable doubt:
- Old man couldn’t hear the threat
- Old man couldn’t have made it to the front door in 15 seconds
- The woman’s testimony didn’t include mention of her eyeglasses
- The direction of the wound from the knife
- The uniqueness of the knife