Feb 14, 2020
Jason Cheung, Period 7
Aim: How does prejudice affect the perspective of the jurors?
Do Now: What can you tell us about these two people?
There were multiple responses that all agreed on the same consensus: the man on the left appears as a happy old man that is approachable while the man on the right appears to be creepy due to his appearance. 
Notes
Prejudice- Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
Read Aloud: Act 2 (Pages 32-43)
Reading Focus: While reading, focus on the diction and tone. Take notes that pertain specifically to prejudice
- Page 33-34: Juror 9 states that the old man is lying as he sees him as an old man who looks as he has lived all his life without feeling significant and wanted to finally be recognized.
- Page 36: when Juror 8 stated that the boy was much too bright to scream out “I will kill you”, Juror 10 disagreed with him stating that he was not bright and called the boy an “ignorant slob” and couldn’t speak proper English.
- Page 37-38: The Jurors agreed that the old man must have not been too sure about the time as he was old
Group Work:
How does prejudice affect our perspectives?
Usually, prejudice would be an unjustified or irrational attitude towards an individual or a certain group based solely the individual’s unreasonable thoughts on the person’s ethnic, social, racial, or religious group. If an individual were to view a certain group or person as hazardous based on their general characterization of them, then they categorize anyone who is just like them as the same thing. In the story, the boy who was put into the trial had a background of crimes, reckless behavior, lived in a slum and did not speak proper English. Based on all this information, the jurors assumed that he was the one who orchestrated the murder as they categorized him as someone who would have walked the path of murder. Because of this categorization, they simply absorbed all the information as true and that there was no flaw in what the witnesses had stated and tried to disagree with any counterclaim against the witnesses.
What role does bias play in our decision-making
A person’s bias would play a huge factor in our decision-making. If someone looked like a creepy man, similarly to the one in the do now, then you would assume that he is most likely a pedophile. Our biased opinion would prevent us from accepting true information, resulting in us only believing what we think is true based on their stereotypes.
Summary:
Today I learned that prejudice and bias plays a large role in our perspective and opinion of a certain topic. Prejudice is an unjustified or irrational attitude towards an individual or a certain group based solely the individual’s unreasonable thoughts on the person’s ethnic, social, racial, or religious group. This means that stereotypes that a person would give a certain ethnic, social, or racial group would result in a form of irrational attitude or unjustified opinions about them. If someone views a certain group negatively, then they would make biased opinions about them rather than justified opinions that are backed up with actual proof.
I learned this because it is in human nature that we would stereotype everyone based on their race, gender, appearance, and action. The stereotypes that we use to label these groups would alter the way we view them; for example, if someone was a young boy who is always studying and reading, then we would label them as a nerd and would characterize them as not athletic and spends all their free time reading. This would help us become aware that our stereotypes are not always correct, a person whom we may think is reckless could be someone kind.
If there is ever a time where I am called to be a jury, I will know that I should not base my opinions on my bias on that person’s race
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