Research how many escapes there have been from United States prisons in the past year, and write a report on the most common methods used to break out of prison in the twenty-first century.

In The Desperate Hours, Dan Hilliard loses his son's respect by refusing to resist the criminals, then wins it back by facing down an armed convict. Write an essay about someone you know who you first found unimpressive and then later came to see as brave.

Watch both the 1955 film version of The Desperate Hours, which stars Humphrey Bogart as Glenn Griffin, and the 1990 film version, which stars Mickey Rourke as Glenn Griffin. How do the two film versions differ from each other and from the play version? Why do you think the director of the 1990 version chose to alter the character names and the plot line? Do...