The Possibility of Evil

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: “The Strange Town Trial of Miss Adela Strangeworth”

Your class will conduct a town trial to formally accuse Miss Adela Strangeworth and deal with the havoc she has created in the community. Your job will be to debate how culpable she is and how punishable her actions have been. During the trial, you will portray one of the characters from the chart below. After you choose a role or your teacher assigns one, return to the text to take notes on your character, noting any interactions they may have had with the defendant, Miss Strangeworth. The question at stake is: Should Miss Strangeworth be brought to justice? If so, what would that justice look like?

Character/Role in the Trial

Miss Adela Strangeworth/Defendant

Miss Strangeworth’s Attorney/Defense attorney

The Town Attorney/Prosecution

The Town Mayor/Judge Facilitates debate and metes out punishment if Miss Strangeworth is found guilty.

Mr. Lewis Accuser/Victim

Mrs. Harper Accuser/Victim

Don Crane Accuser/Victim

Helen Crane Accuser/Victim

Miss Chandler Accuser/Victim

Mrs. Foster Accuser/Victim

Billy Moore’s father Accuser/Victim

Linda Stewart Accuser/Victim/Witness

Linda Stewart’s father Accuser/Victim

Dave Harris Accuser/Victim/Witness

Court Stenographer/Note-Taker

Court Reporter/Notes Synthesizer

Jury/Decides the Verdict

Townspeople who respect the Strangeworth reputation

Townspeople who want to see Miss Strangeworth held accountable

• Regardless of which role you play, you will end with your own analytical response to the following question: Should Miss Strangeworth be brought to justice? If so, what would that justice look like? Explain your reasoning.

Teaching Suggestion: An important opening topic is whether Miss Strangeworth could be legally culpable in some way for her actions—e.g. whether libel or slander occurred—or whether this trial will focus solely on the philosophical inquiry into society’s burden to respond to acts of evil or ill-will and mete out some type of justice. Once this is discussed, there are several ways to conduct this debate-style trial (see resources below). You may wish to have students work with a partner or in small groups—for example, students playing Don and Helen Crane or the prosecutor might collaborate on their testimony. Students should stay in character based on the text, but some students may need to come up with reasonable backgrounds for their characters. Some of the roles may be omitted due to class size. No matter how involved a student is in the actual debate, all students should be given an opportunity to reflect on what to do about Miss Strangeworth. Following the trial, consider having students write a paragraph or short essay to respond to the analytical question at the end of the activity.

Additional Resources for Conducting a Mock Trial:

• Mock Trial in the Classroom Activity Framework & Guide: While this classroomlaw.org resource is more geared toward trials for literal crimes or contract breaches, it offers helpful guidance on the roles in a mock trial and a detailed list of steps.
• Roles of the Members of a Trial: provides a brief overview of the different roles students may play in the trial