Unit 10 

The Trial That Rocked the World

John Scopes

Teaching Points

I. Background informationII. Text analysis III. Introduction to the textIV. Rhetorical devicesV. Questions for discussion

I. Background Information

Charles Darwin & his The Origin of Species

The trialThe Person involved in the trial

1. Charles Darwin & The Origin of Species(1809-1882) British, world famous natura

list and bilogistOriginator of the theory of man’s evoluti

on by natural selectionWork: origin of species, descent of man

The process of natural selection “As many more individuals

of each species are born than can possibly survive, and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have abetter chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.”

The Trial John Thomas Scopes

came to Tennessee fresh out of college. In the spring of 1925, he had just completed his first year as science teacher and part-time football coach at the high school in the little town of Dayton. Scopes planned to return home to Kentucky for the summer. But in his words, "a beautiful blonde" distracted him and he stayed for another week hoping for a date. The decision changed his life forever.

The people involvedi. John Scope:the las

t surviving principal of the

famous Tennessee “Monkey Trial” of 1925. The man

whose name became synonymous with the teaching of evolution in American schools.

ii. Clarence Darrow(1857-1938): American lawyer.

He acted professionally in many cases against monopolies or on the side of labor;he pleaded for the Negro defendants in the Scottsboro trial (1932).

He was also the president of the American League to abolish Capital Punishment

iii. William Jennings Bryan (1860-

1925);American leader, editor, and popular lecturer; three times a nominee for the

presidency of the US.,Secretary of State (1901-

1913). Just before his death (1925) Bryan

figured as one of the prosecuting attorneys and a state’s witness against the teaching of

Darwinian evolution in the famed Scopes trial held at Dayton, Tennessee.

II. Text analysisPart I. A lead-in (para 1)A packed court on a sweltering July day in 1925,

all the three main characters are present: John Scopes,

Darrow and Bryan.Part II. A flashback(paras2-9)The reason why I was brought to court: 1)Teach

ing Darwin’s evolution in American schools.2) Fundamentalism was strong in Tennessee

Part III. The process of the Trial (paras10-43)The debate between the two sides--- wentthrou

gh several stages:

III. Introduction to the text

What is the main idea of the text?Analyzing the title: The trial that

rocked the world?Where, what , who

ForFor your your referencereferenceThe conflict between…

The trial:

State VS John Scope

fundamentalists VS the modernists

The fundamentalists:

They adhered to a literal interpretation of the

Old Testament.The modernists:

They accepted the theory advanced by Charles Darwin – that all animal life, including monkeys and men, had evolved from a common ancestor.

Defendant :John Scopes:an unknown school-teacher

(science masterand football coach) at the

secondary school inDayton before the trial. He taught

biology using Hunter’s Civic Biology.

The counsel for John Scopes’ defence:

Clarence Darrow: the famous criminal lawyer, well prepared andquite sure of himself (L.13); shrewd, 68-year-old (L.58); an agnosticDudley Field Malone:handsome and magnetic; a Catholic (L.61)Arthur Garfield Hays:quiet, scholarly and steeped in the law; a Jew

The counsel for the prosecution:William Jennings Bryan:the silver-tongued orator, three timesDemocratic nominee for President of the

U.S., leader of the fundamentalist movement; ageing, paunchy (L.55)

Tom Stewart:Bryan’s son, a lawyer, Tennessee’s

brilliant young attorney-general

Tennessee vs. John ScopesThe “Monkey Trial” --1925Clarence Darrow and William Jenni

ngs Bryan during the trial

II. Introduction to the Passage

Type of literature: -- a piece of objective description

Introduction to the Passage

The purpose of a piece of objective description:

---to record and reproduce a true picture with opinions and emotions of the author excluded

Introduction to the Passage

Ways of developing a piece of objective description:

---to begin with a brief general picture, divide the object into parts and organize the detailed description in order of space

IV . Rhetorical Devices

1.        hyperbole 2.        transferred epithet 3.        synecdoche 4.        ridicule

V. Questions for Discussion

1. How much do you know about the author from this article?

2. What do you think of the struggles between fundamentalists and modernists?

3. Why was so much attention paid to this trial in an out-of-the-way small town in the U.S.?

4. Try to elaborate the views of Darrow and Malone and that of Bryan’s.

5. What have you learned about the Bible?