This project is about annotating the 5 unique POVs in Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson and how a brief study of the POVs reveals a beautiful joint political statement from the authors.
The POVs in Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson align with the co-authors’ own racial and gender identities in a powerful and interesting way. There are five total character viewpoints, and each chapter is dedicated to one of those 5 POVs. 81 of the 83 total chapters in the novel are told from the perspectives of four different Black female characters. Two chapters are reserved for a fifth POV, a white male lawyer representing one of the Black women.
How An Artistic Choice Makes a Beautiful Joint Political Statement
Viola Davis and James Patterson chose to represent themselves in the POVs of this novel, and at the same time, they built a novel together that deliberately and overwhelmingly centers Black women’s perspectives. Their artistic choices make a strong statement against mysogynoir and remind readers that, in both a fictional America and the real life one, worldbuilding is far better when we listen to Black women.
Time To Annotate
A Breakdown of the 5 POVs in Judge Stone
The 5 POVs in Judge Stone are easy to keep track of. Each chapter contains only one POV and when a POV changes, the chapter is clearly labeled with the new character’s name.
- Judge Mary Stone – 66 Chapters – is the main character. Her POV is the only POV in the first person.
- Dr. Bria Gaines – 8 Chapters – is the defendant in the case. Her POV is in the third person.
- Nova Jones – 6 Chapters – is a child and the victim at the center of the court case in the novel. She is also written in the 3rd person.
- Cocheta Bass – 1 Chapter – is a key witness. Her single chapter is written in the third person.
- Benjamin Meyers – 2 Chapters – is the defense lawyer. He is also written in the third person.
Annotating Supplies You’ll Need
What makes this annotating project a massive undertaking is the sheer amount of chapters there are to mark. There’s 83 total chapters, and that means 83 post-it notes are required.
I recommend using mini post it notes! The 83 Post-It notes I used came from an 8-pack of MINI STICKY NOTES from fiVE BELOW. The cost for this pack was $1.
Your 83 post-it notes will be divided into five colors. Here is how many of each color is required. You can, of course, choose your own colors. I’m listing below what I used and what corresponds to the photos in this post.
- 8 Green – for Dr. Bria Gaines’ POV
- 66 Yellow – for Judge Mary Stone’s POV
- 6 Blue – for Nova Jones’ POV
- 1 Purple – for Cocheta Bass’ POV
- 2 Orange – for Benjamin Meyers’ POV
How to Mark the Chapters by POV
On the first page of each chapter, you’ll place a mini post-it note in the bottom corner of the page. The color you use and where you place the mini post it note will be determined by the POV.
- For Judge Mary Stone’s POV, align the post-it with the margin edge (see yellow post-it in the photos). This will slightly indent her POV color, differentiating her POV from the other 4 POVs.
- For all other POVS, align the post-it flush with the bottom corner of the page (see the green post-it in the photos).
Dr. Bria Gaines Chapter List
Place a green post-it note flush with the bottom corner of the page at the start of all these chapters.
- Ch 1
- Ch 11
- Ch 22
- Ch 24
- Ch 34
- Ch 35
- Ch 59
- Ch 60
Judge Mary Stone Chapter List
Place a yellow post-it note on the bottom corner of all the pages where these chapters start. Since Judge Stone is the main character and the primary POV of this novel, remember to align all the yellow post-it notes where the text ends and the margin starts (instead of flush with the corner.) This placement visually differentiates her from the other POVs, allowing you to observe patterns in the way her voice appears and is clustered.
- Ch 2
- Ch 3
- Ch 4
- Ch 5
- Ch 6
- Ch 7
- Ch 8
- Ch 9
- Ch 12
- Ch 13
- Ch 14
- Ch 15
- Ch 16
- Ch 17
- Ch 18
- Ch 19
- Ch 20
- Ch 23
- Ch 25
- Ch 26
- Ch 27
- Ch 28
- Ch 29
- Ch 31
- Ch 32
- Ch 33
- Ch 36
- Ch 37
- Ch 40
- Ch 41
- Ch 42
- Ch 43
- Ch 46
- Ch 47
- Ch 48
- Ch 49
- Ch 50
- Ch 52
- Ch 53
- Ch 54
- Ch 55
- Ch 56
- Ch 57
- Ch 61
- Ch 62
- Ch 63
- Ch 65
- Ch 66
- Ch 67
- Ch 68
- Ch 69
- Ch 70
- Ch 71
- Ch 72
- Ch 73
- Ch 74
- Ch 75
- Ch 76
- Ch 77
- Ch 78
- Ch 79
- Ch 80
- Ch 81
- Ch 82
- Ch 83
Nova Jones Chapter List
Place a blue post-it note flush with the bottom corner of the page at the start of all these chapters.
- Ch 10
- Ch 30
- Ch 40
- Ch 51
- Ch 58
- Ch 64
Cocheta Bass Chapter List
Place a purple post-it note flush with the bottom corner of the page at the start of this chapter.
- Ch 38
Benjamin Meyers Chapter List
Place an orange post-it note flush with the bottom corner of the page at the start of all these chapters.
- Ch 39
- Ch 45
Annotate With Sara 