Sometimes recurring stories are hidden from view and remain beyond the reach of law until they are brought to light because of a change in social or legal context. And sometimes recurring stories are readily available to serve as analogies to a present controversy. My paper suggests both types of stories can be categorized as "exemplary" narratives-that is, narratives that are capable of moving the law or legal decisions. To show how and why certain narratives attain exemplary status, I trace a

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... series of self-defense cases involving women as defendants and the development of a closing argument in a famous trial. I conclude with a meditation on what "exemplarity" in law means and consider whether this is an aspect of the use of models in the social and life sciences.