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)

-He is scared while in jail because he is all by himself even though he is surrounded by people.

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 men? 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."

-Being predictable is ok but, a movie must be unpredictable to make it exciting.

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."

-There is good and bad people in this world.  The bad people have no respect for others and good people have respect for others.

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.

-I think that this is right.  The law can help criminals get a fair trail and innocent people too.  That is why the American system of justice works.

5. On page 46

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

- Steve hates prison like nothing else.  He doesn't want to be there and he is scared of everybody that's in there.

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."

-He feels like in the courtroom he can't express himself, but when he gets back to his cell and he thinks about what happened he feels involved in the case.

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 shows how racist everybody is.  The jury already set their verdict the moment they saw him because he is black and young.  In their minds this is what a criminal looks like.

8. On page 89

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

-This shows that Steve is trying to stay strong.  He knows he didn't do it and that's all that matters.

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."

He is in a state of panic. He thinks he is going to jail and he is so worried about his family and their well-being.

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."

-Steve thinks his dad is disappointed in him for being a criminal.  He thinks his dad thinks he is a monster.

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?"

-He is in a rage about him going through a tough time in jail.  While the person that actually did the crime is going about his regular life.

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 he thinks. Steve is innocent because he makes honest and truthful movies.  Which makes him an honest and truthful person.

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."

-A crime is a crime.  If you did something no matter how severe.  You should be punished.