1. After pages 3-4

    "This is not a movie about bars and locked doors. It is about being alone when you are not really alone and about being scared all the time." (Pages 3-4)

    I know what it feels like to feel alone when there are a bunch of people around me. Just like with Steve I have a bunch of people near me but no one that cares. This can really make me feel lonely. About being scared all the time I can not related to that because I have never been in a situation like being in jail. Steve is right though everyone can be surrounded by a sea of people and continue to fell alone and scared.

2. On page 19

"I didn't say it was bad, but wasn't it predictable? You need to predict without predicting. You know what I mean? When you make a film, you leave an impression on the viewers who serve as a kind of jury for your film. If you make your film predictable, they'll make up their minds about it long before it's over."

    Steve’s film teacher is right. It does ruin the movie when you can predict what happens in the movie without any surprises. This quote also relates to what is happening in the book right now. He is on trial for murder but at the moment you can not tell if they are going to find him innocent or guilty. In addition you don’t know if there will be any big turning points in the case.

3. On page 21

    "Most people in our communities are decent, hardworking citizens who pursue their own interests legally and without infringing on the rights of others. But there are also monsters in our communities--people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others."

    I believe that Petrocelli is correct with this statement. There are very hard working people in the country, state, or even city that make things happen for themselves. But sometimes these hard working people do not get acknowledged for it until something bad happens. And that is where the “monsters” come in by taking advantage of those kinds of people to get what they want for themselves and that’s it. They do not care if someone gets hurt just as long as they acquire it for themselves.

4.  on page 26

    "...the laws also protect the accused, and that is the wonder and beauty of the American system of justice. ...We apply the law equally to both sides. The law that protects society all of society.

    This statement is true because felons are innocent until proven guilty. This means that the accused are not held for the crime until the defense makes the jury believe that they have done the crime. But sometimes there are flaws in the judicial system. Like in the OJ Simpson case it was acquitted of all charges because he is famous and had money. So without those kinds of problems it would be perfect.

5. On page 46

    "I hate this place. I hate this place. I can't write it enough times to make it look the way I feel. I hate, hate, hate this place!

     There are definitely places I hate but none of them are as bad as a jail cell. Like school at I don't really like going because there are people that I do not like to be around. Most places I go I like due to the fact I do want to go somewhere I wouldn't like. Of course things are different between why he hates the place he's in and where I've been. He's going to possibly be in that place for the rest of his life where as I could leave if I wanted to.

6.on page 59

    "It's funny, but when I'm sitting in the courtroom, I don't feel like I'm involved in the case. It's like the lawyers and the judge and everybody are doing a job that involves me, but I don't have a role. It's only when I go back to the cells that I know I'm involved."

    Steve makes it seem like he is a little kid again in this quote. Like when I was young adults always used to ignore me because I didn't have anything useful to say. But then when he goes back to his cell he makes it sounds just like when he is talking to his friends at school. Just like when I go to school my friends always wanted to hear what I had to say.

7. On page 78-79

    "Half of those jurors, no matter what they said when we questioned them when we picked the jury, believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you. You're young, you're Black, and you're on trial. What else do they need to know?"

    This quote is saying that those jurors haven't judged him yet, but when they first see him their first impressions might change if they were racists. When meeting new people they usually judge you on what you look like instead of what you have to say.

8. On page 89

    " 'All they can do is put me in jail,' he said. 'They can't touch my soul.' "

    This man is saying that they can just put him somewhere but they can't change him. I can not relate to this man in any way because I haven't ever felt like that.

9. On page 91

    "I think about myself so much, about what's going to happen to me and all, that I don't think about my folks that much. I know Mama loves me, but I wonder what she's thinking."

    All Steve can do in this situation is think about what might happen to him. He seems kind of unsure if his Mom thinks he's done the crime and what she thinks of him if he did do it. I know how that feels because once I did something that disobeyed one of my moms rules, and all I could think about it what she thought of me and what she would tell other people.

10. On pages 115-116

    "Seeing my dad cry like that was just so terrible. What was going on between us, me being his son and him being my dad, is pushed down and something else is moving up in its place. It's like a man looking down to see his son and seeing a monster instead."

    I know what it is like to see your dad cry. When my dad cried I felt so terrible because he is supposed to like protect me from harm. But it wasn't between him and me but between him and his uncle who had recently passed away. So I don't exactly what it feels like to make me dad cry but I know if I did do something like that i would feel just horrible.

11. On page 140

    "What did I do? I walked into a drugstore to look for some mints, and then I walked out. What was wrong with that? I didn't kill Mr. Nesbitt. . . Sunset said he committed the crime, Isn't that what being guilty is all about? You actually do something?"

    If does feel awful getting blamed for something you didn't do. I always felt that way because my brother would blame me every time he got into trouble. Although it wasn't as drastic as going to jail.

12. On page 237

    " His film footage shows me what he's seeing and, to a large extent, what he's thinking. And what he sees, the humanity of it, speaks of a very deep character...

It is my belief that to make an honest film, one has to be an honest person."

    Steve's film teacher is saying that he make honest, good, and good-hearted films which means that he is trying to become just like the movies he makes. So at the end of the trial Steve will try to become more like the films he makes.

13. on page 261

"They are all equally guilty. The one who grabbed the cigarettes, the one who wrestled for the gun, the one who checked the place to see if the coast was clear."

    I feel that everyone involved in a crime then they are all guilty the same amount as the person who fired the gun and killed the man.