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Johnny Cade is guilty of manslaughter in the death of Bob Sheldon.
The accused and main character in the S. E. Hinton novel The Outsiders was sent up the river for four years to Collins Bay Penitentiary Thursday during a mock trial at Gananoque Secondary School (GSS). The Trial of Johnny Cade was the highlight of an interdisciplinary study for intermediate students at GSS that involved elements of art, biology, English, drama, and civics.
Cade, a Greaser in the novel, was charged with murdering Sheldon, a Soc, who had tried to drown his friend Pony Boy in a water fountain a key scene in the book.
During the dramatic presentation, played out before a crowded school gymnasium, Grades 7 and 8 students played the roles of Cade, the prosecution team, defence team, sketch artists, detectives, witnesses, judge and jury. The Hinton novel examines the struggle between two rival groups the Greasers, from the wrong side of town, and the Socs, members of the social elite. The Greasers and Socs are sworn enemies; however key characters on both sides in the novel eventually learn the folly of their ways.
The exercise went beyond the novel, in which Cade died before police could capture him and put him on trial.
Teacher Doug Bowlby said the exercise brought the book alive for students, and connected them with the story at a deeper level because they were able to participate in areas that interested them. Drama students played the main characters in the trial. Students interested in science analyzed evidence from the crime scene and art students acted as sketch artists. Students from English class covered the events leading up to the trial, and the event itself, as reporters for rival newspapers.
The teachers and students worked hard to bring an element of realism to the dramatic presentation. Evidence was presented with audio visual displays from a crime scene set up with the help of Gananoque Police, who collected blood samples, boot prints and other evidence and worked with students at the school science labs to analyze it. The audience was also brought into the game by showing their support or opposition to Cade on a Twitter feed. The prosecution and defence were prepared for the exercise by a criminal defence lawyer from Kingston.
The 12-person jury in the case opted against a conviction for murder after Cade, played by Grade 7 student Gabby Sebrango, testified he and Pony Boy were outnumbered and he stabbed Sheldon fearing Sheldon and his group of thugs would drown his friend. However, evidence also showed that Cade did nothing to help a dying Sheldon after his friends had fled and the danger was gone. Instead, he let the Soc struggle for 200 yards as he bled out.
Sebrango said the exercise gave students a much greater appreciation for the novel than a traditional English literature exercise.
"I liked this much better, she said. It's hands-on learning. When reading a book and writing down responses it can get kind of boring. When something is boring it leaves my head because you just don't want to think about it anymore. This is more exciting so it sticks in your head.
And going into character makes you understand the events in the book more, and be able to see the other sides of the story. It makes you have a new perspective on the entire book."
Bowlby said teachers were hoping for such connections. By allowing students to participate in roles based on their strengths teachers knew students learning would increase.
"We think this is going to build their confidence, said Bowlby of students who participated. When they sit back later in life they will be able to say they did well in school, they did stuff that was fun and hopefully have nice memories of school because of this project."
Teachers at the school filmed the process and will create a documentary to show to other schools interested in organizing a similar exercise.
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