I thought this trial was a very interesting experience. Overall,
I thought it was a fun, new, experience that really brought me out of my
comfort zone. Making questions for the defense witnesses was probably the
easiest part of the trial process. It was easy to try to prove her innocence,
but it was harder to cross examine the other witnesses and try to prove them guilty
of a crime. When cross examining, it was hard to improvise on the spot
questions and to create questions that would make it seem as if they were in
the wrong to begin with.
Some things I had to learn were: trying to project
confidence even if you were not, improvising on the spot, and knowing when to
back down. For me, it was hard to get up in front of people and speak,
especially because I was not just stating facts or giving a speech, so this
really pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me VERY uncomfortable. Even
though I was uncomfortable, I had to learn to, or try to, not show it. I also
had to rely on my skill of intently listening to the person I was questioning
and picking apart what they were saying. Another thing I learned was that the
person was not always going to answer how you want them to so to just move on. I had seen pretend trials on televisions and movies before, but I had never experienced one in real life, or a simulation of one. They are a lot harder than the professionals make them look. I think the jury was a major part of the real trial experience. When we did it the first time, without a jury, I could see how the judges could be biased by their own opinions on the story and their feelings towards the defense or prosecution. Judges are the ultimate authority, but they also have biased opinions about the decision of a case. After the first jury, some people were saying that the decision was rigged, and I could see how that could be with the bias of the judges, because of their own feelings about the play. I thought the jury was a good way to judge this trial, because it was the opinions of people who had no knowledge of the play, and that have not read it. They made a decision off of what they saw with their own eyes.
I also think a big part of the trial was being able to appeal to the jury’s emotions. To make them feel as Antigone would if they were in her position. The emotions of people are a huge tool in winning them over to your side. You also have to appeal to their sense of logic, which was more difficult.
Again, I thought that this experience was fun, although nerve racking, and definitely something new!
