Across the Curriculum with Detective Fiction for Young People and Adults

Teaching Strategy

The target group for this curriculum unit is 9-12 graders. Teachers who teach law courses at the high school level, or junior college teachers, in an introduction to criminal justice course as well as in civics, sociology or social studies, may find this curriculum unit helpful. The duration of the unit will be approximately four to five weeks. This schedule is set for teaching in two to three 40 minute block class periods. The teaching strategies and assignments will be implemented on a weekly basis.

The teaching strategies I will use involve crime fiction novels, two videos related to snitching, cooperative learning assignments, a project based assignment and role-play. I will also utilize the required class textbook on criminal justice with a worksheet for clarification of terms and pertinent information. Students may also read supplemental books related to snitching chosen from the books listed. I will allow for active learning with an opportunity for the students to devise a role-play of what they have learned about snitching, witness intimidation and witness protection.

I will use a combination of lecture, PowerPoint slides and discussion as components to my teaching plan. The instructional information will be comprised of my research on crime fiction and the readings in the Yale National seminar. The discussions will stimulate critical thinking and allow the students to connect the lecture content to everyday situations they may encounter. This could include personal situations or current events.

Students will also be placed in cooperative learning groups that are devised to have them work in pairs or groups for continued collaborative discussion and critical thinking. Students may have different opinions on snitching. The collaborative learning activities will allow students to offer such opinions and defend them. This is a topic that would certainly generate an ethically complex debate among students. Students will apply the collaborative relationship to a project based assignment.

Students will provide information on witness assistance and programs that are federally funded for victim or witness assistance. This assignment will help the student see the victim or witness as a real person and not just an entity without a face. Perhaps if the students are educated on everything involved with being a witness, their views will change and their ethics be improved.

Many law enforcement agencies welcome the opportunity to visit the classroom. For this reason, I will invite a police detective from the Wilmington Police Department or New Castle County Police Department homicide units to visit my class. This will afford the students the opportunity to ask questions on policies relative to witnesses. They can also share information about how witness intimidation is handled and any statutes relating to this topic in the state of Delaware.

The students will view two videos that deal with snitching. The first video Stop the F- -ing Snitching was produced by Rapper Skinny Surge. The contents are very radical and the language is explicit, devoted to propaganda encouraging people not to talk to the police. Prior to viewing the video, I would suggest that a parent permission letter be sent home with the students, authorizing the teacher to allow the student to view the video. The second video, Keep Talking, was made by the Baltimore Police Department as a counter response to the video produced by Rapper Skinny Surge. Teachers may preview both videos online at http://www.theatlantic.com/ doc/200703u/stop-snitching.

Crime Fiction Novels

In this curriculum unit, students may elect to read one of three crime novels listed in Group 1 (See Class Activity). After reading a book from Group 1, the students will read the mandatory book Snitchcraft in Group 2 and compare the books to one another. The students will be given a Story Map for Solve-it Stories Worksheet (See Appendix C). The worksheet will help the student to collect information about the characters, plot and clues while reading the books. Students should be informed that the vocabulary in crime fiction evolves and word meanings may change. For example, the word "gay" in times past was reflective of merriment or being happy, whereas in today's vernacular, the word "gay" would also refer to gays or lesbians. Also, students should be reminded to look for clues while reading the novels. Clues can be obvious and at other times subtle and obscure. Students should also observe the way language is used in crime fiction for problem-solving. Let the students know that often times, the author will play a "cat 'n mouse" game with the reader. Have students stay alert to "red herrings" which are a false clue planted by the author. The author may use the book to deliver viewpoints about controversial issues, and the plot of the book may revolve around such issues. Crime novels may have a theme related to such forms of social disturbance as greed, sex, money or violence. However, the detective will often expose the evil in the social order to get at the root of the evil. This is evidenced in a book entitled Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, where the detective stirs up havoc in a town called Personville (or Poisonville). Overall, students should look deeper into the meaning of a plot in a crime story. But most important, the students should read the books for enjoyment.

See No Evil by Diane Young

The first book that students may select to read is entitled See No Evil by Diane Young. In this book, two young men are on their way to the mall and witness someone being beaten. These young men recognize one of the offenders as a local gang member. The two witnesses run away from the incident, fearing that they too would be harmed if it were discovered they could identify the perpetrators. This book is ideal for students to read because it brings to life a situation they could easily encounter. This book presents a snitching dilemma and helps the student understand the complexity of having information about a crime but being reluctant to share what they know. It also shows how a witness to a crime ultimately shares vital information to help solve the crime, even though they may face danger. It is a short story worth reading.

Truth by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

The second book that the students may select to read is Truth by Tanya Lloyd Kyi. In this book the main character, a teenager, just happens to be in a home where a man is found beaten to death. She, along with some of her friends, gives the wrong information to police detectives about the perpetrator when they are interviewed. Although she did not see the offender deliver the fatal blows, the witness believes she knows who did it and starts to gather clues about the incident in order to make absolutely sure the person she feels is responsible for the crime is pegged. As she discovers clues, she finds herself being intimidated by her friends, who also happen to be the killer's friend. This book will show how protecting someone you suspect of committing a crime by withholding information can lead to serious danger for the witness and the community as a whole. Students will learn that the solution is not to protect the perpetrator by not telling what they have done, but simply to tell what they know. After all, the perpetrator may come after them even if they don't tell what they know because they are still known to have information. This also occurs because the perpetrator does not want to spend time in jail or have it discovered that they have committed more crimes.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

The third book the students may select to read is a classic detective story by Poe written in 1841. Since the original writing, this story has been included in many classic crime fiction collections. The murder of a mother and her daughter takes place in Paris. Detective Monsieur Dupin and Poe, writing in the first person, work to solve the murders. Dupin's savvy detective work and the witness interviews help to crack the case. This is an excellent story that shows how witnesses, when speaking to a detective, can have muddled recollections or unintentionally misremember. It clearly shows that being a good witness is not unlike being a good detective. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the students when the culprit is revealed.

Snitchcraft by Edera Davis

The last book that all students are required to read is Snitchcraft by Davis. This is Ms. Davis' debut novel. This book is very interesting and will be compared to the three texts in Group I. This book is different from the three previous texts because it looks at the present day social phenomenon of snitching, police corruption and the use of paid confidential informants in a solving crime. Snitching is at the core of the serious accusation that lands an innocent man in prison. What I like about this book is the "After the Book" section that offer helpful questions for discussion. It also has a "take action" section and a resource list of contacts for various issues related to snitching, i.e., Drug War Facts, Forfeiture Endangers American Rights (FEAR), and many others. There are comments that students can identify with in this novel about the idea that African Americans are kept oppressed and in prison. This idea is a reminder of the locus of control and responsibility theory. In psychology, locus of control is considered to be an important aspect of one's personality. The concept was developed originally by Julian Rotter in the 1950s. Locus of control and responsibility refers to an individual's perception about the underlying main causes of events in his/her life. Or, more simply:

Do you believe that your destiny is controlled by yourself or by external forces (such as fate, god, or powerful others)? (Neill, 2006)

For the benefit of new readers in the crime fiction genre, you can share the following crime fiction terminology with your students. This will help them to read the novels with understanding. I plan to go over these terms with my students and give them a copy of the terms to keep in their notebooks as a reference. I would also suggest copying these terms on colored paper for a quick reference. (This is something I learned from my principal Mrs. Evelyn Edney, the colored paper guru.) The following terms can be found at www.Thinkquest.com, but are included here for your reference:

alibi - an excuse that an accused person uses to show that he/she was somewhere else than at the scene of the crime

1. breakthrough - an advance or discovery that helps solve a crime
2. clue - a fact or object that helps to solve mysteries
3. crime - an act committed in violation of the law
4. deduce- to infer by logical reasoning
5. detective - a person who investigates crimes and gathers information
6. evidence - something, such as a witness statement or object, that is used as proof in a crime investigation
7. hard-boiled - street smart detectives who focus on the criminals rather than crime fighting; involves the commission of a crime against a violent urban backdrop

hunch - a guess or feeling not based on known facts

8. motive - an inner drive that causes a person to do something or act in a certain way
9. mystery - something that is secret and unknown
10. plot - the arrangement of incidents in a story
11. purloin - to steal or filch
12. red herring - something that is used to divert attention from the basic issue (a false clue)
13. setting - the time, place, environment and surrounding circumstances of a story
14. sleuth - another name for a detective
15. suspect - a person who is suspected of a crime
16. victim - someone who is harmed or suffers some loss
17. witness - someone who saw or can give a firsthand account of something