Serial Episode 3

Answer the following questions. Y ou may need to listen to the podcast again to answer some of these. Highlight your answers in Y ellow . 1. W rite at least three details that Sarah gives us about Leakin Park. 2. Considering that the narrator could have mentioned other details about this setting (like the nature center , chapel, and herb garden that are in the park), why did she choose the details you noted above? What impact do they have on you as the listener? 3. Based on what you know about W oodlawn High School, how does the setting of Leakin Park compare to the original setting of this story? Remembering that Adnan had apparently never even heard of the nearby park, what is the impact of contrast that Sarah presents? 4. W rite at least three details that you get from Sarah’ s description of Mr . S. 5. Considering that Sarah could have emphasized other details about this character (he’ s married, for example, and works at a school), why did she choose to share the details about Mr . S that she did? What impact do they have on you as a listener? 6. Mr . S voluntarily goes to the police when he finds a dead body , and yet the detectives are very suspicious of his story . List at least three things that hurts Mr . S’ s credibility . Do you ultimately believe him? 7. If possible, look at the evidence map at Leakin Park. Combined with the narrative, what clues do you think are the most significant? What does Sarah’ s story about Mr . S’ s story tell us about the case, if anything? 8. Comparing the map to Sarah’ s story , are there some clues or observations that you think she might be over -emphasizing? Are there any that she’ s underselling? 9. Consider the possibility that Serial is not just a story about Adnan, but it’ s also a story Sarah’ s search for truth. Even if none of these clues ultimately help solve the case, what does this episode show us about Sarah’ s researching skills as an investigative reporter?

Contemporary Lit Serial Discussion Questions: Answer and be prepared to discuss tomorrow . 1. How far is 127 feet? What does that look like on a football field, for example? Is that a normal distance to walk from a road to urinate? 2. Is it believable that someone could end up on the back side of a huge log if they’re trying to walk back even further? 3. Is it realistic he noticed a little bit of hair as he “tried not to stumble”? Do you have an example of a time you were walking along with your head down, and found something that was very hard to see? 4. Is it believable that he would stop to urinate in a park, when he was only a few miles from his work, and a few miles from his house? 5. Why do you think that the police don’ t ultimately test the liquor bottle and rope for DNA? [This isn’ t easy to answer—the most likely answer seems to be that the police force was understaf fed, underfunded, and/or overworked]. 6. Why does Sarah spend a significant amount of time talking about Mr . S’ s record? Is it because it hurts his credibility as an innocent witness, and is relevant to why the detectives consider him a suspect? Or is Sarah trying to make the story more exciting with some scandalous details?