Twelve Angry Men: Act Two

by Reginald Rose
The trial is over, and now the members of the jury hold a man's fate in their hands. Nearly everyone is convinced the defendant is guilty—everyone except Juror 8. He tries to convince the other jurors to acknowledge their preconceptions and examine the case with fresh eyes.

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. remarkable
    unusual or striking
    11TH JUROR: Pardon. This fighting. This is not why we are here, to fight. We have a responsibility. This, I have always thought, is a remarkable thing about democracy.
  2. innocence
    a state or condition of being free from guilt
    That we are, uh, what is the word? Notified. That we are notified by mail to come down to this place and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man we have never heard of before.
  3. determine
    settle conclusively; come to terms
    9TH JUROR: I don’t think the kind of boy he is has anything to do with it. The facts are supposed to determine the case.
  4. intellectual
    a person who uses the mind creatively
    10TH JUROR: Details! You’re just letting yourself get bulldozed by a bunch’a what d’ya call ’em—intellectuals.
  5. bait
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    3RD JUROR: Listen, that business before, you know, where that guy was baiting me. I mean, that doesn’t prove anything. Listen, I’m a very excitable person, y’know. So where does he get off to call me a public avenger and a sadist and everything? Anybody in his right mind’d blow his stack, wouldn’t he? He was just trying to bait me.
  6. persuade
    cause somebody to adopt a certain position or belief
    4TH JUROR: Five of them already have changed their minds. There’s no reason why they can’t be persuaded to do it again.
  7. oath
    a solemn promise regarding your future acts or behavior
    3RD JUROR: Well, that’s the most ridiculous thing I ever...You took an oath in the courtroom. You can’t just quit.
  8. term
    a word or expression used for some particular thing
    11TH JUROR: Pardon. Maybe you don’t fully understand the term “reasonable doubt.”
  9. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance
    5TH JUROR [to the 7TH JUROR]: You mean you’re calling him arrogant because he wasn’t born here? Well, I’m calling you arrogant because you were. How’s that?
  10. alibi
    proof that someone accused of a crime could not have done it
    It was the only alibi the boy offered and he himself couldn’t back it up with any details at all.
  11. interrogate
    pose a series of questions to
    I’ll take the testimony of the policeman who interrogated him right after the murder, when he couldn’t remember a thing about the movies, great emotional stress or not.
  12. strain
    (psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress
    8TH JUROR: And you weren’t under an emotional strain, were you?
  13. indicate
    give evidence of
    9TH JUROR: No. But it indicates that no one can prove he wasn’t.
  14. infallible
    incapable of failure or error
    Being accused of murder isn’t necessarily supposed to give him an infallible memory.
  15. testimony
    a solemn statement made under oath
    10TH JUROR: I wouldn’t give you a nickel for a psychiatrist’s testimony.
  16. tendency
    an inclination to do something
    FOREMAN: What I was gonna say was, the psychiatrist definitely stated that the boy had strong homicidal tendencies.
  17. potential
    the inherent capacity for coming into being
    In discussing such a thing as the murder potential we should remember that many of us are capable of committing murder.
  18. impose
    compel to behave in a certain way
    We impose controls upon ourselves to prevent it.
  19. admit
    allow to enter
    4TH JUROR: Then how come they’re admitted in evidence?
  20. impression
    an imitative portrayal of a person
    In this case they added to the general impression the prosecution was trying to create.
  21. unconscious
    without active awareness
    Perhaps we would find that if we twelve men took the same tests, one or two of us might be discovered to have unconscious desires to kill, and the potentiality of carrying them out. Yet none of us has.
  22. demonstration
    a visual presentation showing how something works
    Look, you’re not gonna be satisfied till you see it again. I’m gonna give you a demonstration. Somebody get up.
  23. object
    express or raise a protest or criticism
    I guess the quickest way is a show of hands. Anybody object?
  24. exception
    an instance that does not conform to a rule
    Oh sure, there are some good things about ’em. Look, I’m the first one to say that. I’ve known some who were OK, but that’s the exception.
  25. vicious
    having the nature of evildoing
    They’re violent, they’re vicious, they’re ignorant, and they will cut us up.
  26. intent
    an anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions
    That’s their intent. To cut us up.
  27. gall
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    Where the hell do you get the gall...?
  28. filthy
    vile; despicable
    4TH JUROR: We’ve heard enough. Sit down. And don’t open your filthy mouth again.
  29. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    8TH JUROR: It’s very hard to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And no matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth.
  30. declare
    announce publicly or officially
    No jury can declare a man guilty unless it’s sure.
  31. sift
    check and sort carefully
    12TH JUROR: Well—I don’t know. There’s so much evidence to sift.
  32. complicated
    difficult to analyze or understand
    This is a pretty complicated business.
  33. acquittal
    a judgment of not guilty
    4TH JUROR: Frankly, I don’t see how we can vote for acquittal.
  34. triumph
    a successful ending of a struggle or contest
    11TH JUROR [to the 3RD JUROR]: What makes you consider this one vote a personal triumph?
  35. concentrate
    direct one's attention on something
    8TH JUROR: There are twelve people in here concentrating on this case. Eleven of us didn’t think of it, either.
  36. evidence
    means by which an alleged matter is established or disproved
    2ND JUROR: You can’t send someone off to die on evidence like that.
  37. reasonable
    marked by sound judgment
    4TH JUROR: I now have a reasonable doubt.
  38. argument
    a methodical process of logical reasoning
    8TH JUROR: We want your arguments.
  39. intimidate
    compel or deter by or as if by threats
    You’re not goin’ to intimidate me.
  40. verdict
    findings of a jury on issues submitted to it for decision
    FOREMAN: We have a verdict.
Created on Wed Sep 23 16:44:19 EDT 2015 (updated Thu Sep 13 16:39:33 EDT 2018)

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