Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

ACT I

Reading Check

1. What criminal charge is the defendant facing in the trial?

2. Which character oversees the deliberations?

3. What does the 7th Juror have tickets to attend on the night of the deliberations?

4. How many jurors vote “guilty” on the jury’s first vote?

5. What did the defendant yell at the murder victim on the night of the murder?  

6. What is the first piece of evidence the jurors ask the court to produce for their review?

7. What does the 8th Juror produce from his pocket that surprises the others?

8. What city does the 7th Juror use as a derisive nickname for the 5th Juror?

9. What noisy occurrence might have obscured observation of the murder, according to the 8th Juror? 

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are the conditions like inside the jury room at the beginning of the deliberations, and how do they contribute to the mood of the conversation?

2. Why is the 12th Juror doodling pictures of breakfast cereal, and what does that tell the audience about him?

3. What does the 5th Juror reveal about his upbringing, and how does it set him apart from the other jurors?

4. Who calls for the second vote, and what “proposition” about the results does he make to the rest of the jurors?

5. Who testified to hearing the events of the murder, and where was this person during the murder?

6. According to the testimony, who was an eyewitness to the murder, and what impeded their view?

7. What interaction has the defendant had with the police, and how does this bode for his case?

8. What was the relationship between the defendant and his father, and what role did that play in the jury’s view of his guilt?

Paired Resource

“How Racism in the Courtroom Produces Wrongful Convictions and Mass Incarceration”  

• This article from the Legal Defense Fund explains how systemic discrimination affects the makeup of jurors and contributes to racism and bias among jury members.
• This source connects to the themes The Dangers of Racial and Class Prejudice and The Myth of the American Dream.
• How does the makeup of the jurors in the play show discrimination? How do the characters express discrimination against the defendant and against one another? Which jurors’ judgment seem to be most clouded by racism? 

“Race and Wrongful Conviction” 

• In this article, the Innocence Project reports its findings from an exhaustive 2022 report about wrongful convictions and exonerations over 30 years.
• It connects to the themes The Myth of the American Dream and The Dangers of Racial and Class Prejudice.
• Are the concerns of the characters in Twelve Angry Men more or less relevant than they were in the late 1950s?

ACT II

Reading Check

1. What sport does the 3rd Juror coach for a high school team?

2. Where on the victim’s body was the stab wound?   

3. Which juror demonstrates the proper use of a switchblade knife?

4. What piece of equipment do the jurors attempt to get working?

5. Where did the defendant claim to be at the time of the murder?

6. What was in the other room while the defendant was being questioned by the police on the night of the murder?

7. What do the jurors declare they might discuss at 7:00 pm?

8. Who is the final juror to vote “not guilty” in Act II?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What will happen if the jurors cannot come to a unanimous decision, and how will this affect the defendant?

2. When and where did the police apprehend the defendant after the murder?

3. What was the defendant unable to remember when the police questioned him on the night of the murder, and when was he able to remember those details?

4. What does the 8th Juror question the 4th Juror about in a mock cross-examination, and how does the 4th Juror perform?

5. What does the 7th Juror suddenly do that provokes the 11th Juror, and how does the 11th Juror react?

6. What is the nature of the 10th Juror’s angry speech in which he implores his fellows to “talk facts,” and how do the other members of the jury respond?

7. Which member of the trial had marks on their nose, and what do the jurors deduce that meant about their testimony?

Paired Resource

Trailer: Twelve Angry Men

• This trailer for the 1957 film adaptation of the teleplay demonstrates the main conflicts among the jurors and the themes of the play. 
• This trailer connects to the themes Father and Son Familial Dynamics, The Dangers of Racial and Class Prejudice, and The Myth of the American Dream.
• How did the directors and actors bring to life the conflicts and themes of the teleplay?  

“Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes

• This short story tells the tale of a young, impoverished boy who commits a crime to fulfill a short-sighted dream and is met with kindness rather than contempt.
• This connects to the theme The Myth of the American Dream.
• How is the boy in the story different from the defendant in the play? How are they similar? Why is this important to the theme of both stories? 

Recommended Next Reads 

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

• This classic of the 20th-century American stage tells the story of Willie Loman, a 63-year-old salesman from Brooklyn who falls into episodes of memory and fantasy as his business and family worlds collapse around him.
• Shared themes include The Myth of the American Dream and Father and Son Familial Dynamics.
• Shared topics include family trauma and masculinity.      
• Death of a Salesman on SuperSummary  

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

• This award-winning play follows a working-class family’s aspirations to leave their poverty behind and build a better life for the next generations.
• Shared themes include The Myth of the American Dream, The Dangers of Racial and Class Prejudice, and Father and Son Familial Dynamics.
• Shared topics include 1950s American plays and the American Dream.
• A Raisin in the Sun on SuperSummary