Name: _______________Your job in the group: _________________

_______________

Your side:

Of Mice and Men: The Trial

George kills Lennie at the end of the novel and he is going to be put on trial for
murder. The prosecutions job will be to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that
George planned to kill Lennie and that he is guilty of premeditated murder. The
defenses job will be to prove that George was temporarily overcome with emotions
and unable to tell right from wrong. They will argue that his inability to tell the
difference between right and wrong makes him not guilty by reason of temporary
insanity.
Each group will have to provide the following during the course of the trial:
An Opening Statement:
A student or students will prepare and read an argumentative summary of what
they plan to prove during the course of the trial. This statement should include
references to the witnesses that will be called, the evidence that they will present,
and a counter argument that refutes what the opposing side may have to say.
Students that give the opening statement will be graded on their ability to
accurately summarize their case and their ability to use logos, pathos and ethos in
the course of their argument.
Lawyers:
Each side should have several lawyers. Their job will be to ask the witnesses
questions and to cross-examine the witnesses presented by the opposing team.
Lawyers should work together with witnesses in order to prepare them for the
questions that they will be asked and should be prepared to ask their own witnesses
at least ten questions during the course of the actual trial. Students that crossexamine witnesses from the other team should be prepared to ask through
questions related only to the specifics of what the witness said during the actual
trial. Lawyers will be graded on the quality of their questions and the quality of the
responses given by the witness that they question.
Witnesses:
Each side must call at least three witnesses to the stand. Witnesses must know the
information that they are sharing without using note-cards or the book. The most
important parts of being a witness are a good memory and an ability to react to
questions about the book when the opposing side asks them. Witnesses will be
graded based on the quality and accuracy of their response and will also be graded,
to a lesser degree, based on the quality of the questions that are asked by the
lawyers on their team.
A Closing Statement:

Name: _______________Your job in the group: _________________

_______________

Your side:

A student or students will prepare and read an argumentative summary of what

they have proven during the course of the trial. This statement should include
references to the witnesses that have been called, the evidence that they shared,
and a counter argument that refutes what the opposing side presented. Students
that give the closing statement will be graded on their ability to accurately
summarize the case that was actually shown to the class and their ability to use
logos, pathos and ethos while asserting Georges guilt or innocence.