Primary Tasks
For this assignment, write and essay on why the death penalty is unjust and should not be used, conduct pre-research to understand the academic debate around the topic, then compose a paper that puts your sources in conversation with one another and responds to those authors’ claims with your own perspective.
Your audience should be thought as an interested but skeptical reader who must be persuaded that you have a valid claim. Your tools for persuading that reader are facts, quotes, statistics, explanation, examples, and/or debunked counterarguments.
Other requirements
You must use MLA formatting, a minimum of three library or library database sources to support your argument, and a minimum of three quotes total. Dictionary definitions will not count as library sources. You will need a works cited page. Your works cited page does not count toward the page minimum.
Use these three sources:
https://library.search.tulane.edu/permalink/01TUL_INST/165shvu/cdi_openaire_primary_doi_46770ff3522b28a574d808e2dd0d1963Links to an external site.
This article discusses the debate surrounding the death penalty in America, including the role of race, context, and citizens’ willingness to execute.
https://library.search.tulane.edu/permalink/01TUL_INST/165shvu/cdi_gale_infotracmisc_A515383467Links to an external site.
This article seeks to understand when, how, and where the framing of arguments against capital punishment has changed. It explores the framing of abolitionist arguments in three American states: Connecticut, Kansas, and Texas. They found that the rhetorical reframing of the campaign against capital punishment that has occurred at the national level has had deep resonance at the state level.
https://library.search.tulane.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_gale_infotracmisc_A515383467&context=PC&vid=01TUL_INST:Tulane&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,death%20penalty&offset=10Links to an external site.
This article systematically examines the role of race in the context of offense-related attributes. The results show offense-related factors play a significant role in who the public deems deserving of the death penalty, while the offender’s race matters only for citizens holding prejudicial opin- ions towards Blacks or Latinos. Instrumental considerations typ- ically outweigh racial considerations in death penalty judgments, although perceptions of those factors might be racialized as well. The results point to a potential disjuncture between the desires of citizens and the implementation of the death penalty.
Failing to include a works cited page will result in five points deducted from the final grade. Failing to use the required number of library sources will result in five points deducted from the final grade. Falling short of the page minimum will result in one point deducted per page. Using information from unreliable sources such as wikis, forums, discussion boards, blogs, or other places where information is unfiltered and unedited will result in one point deducted per instance.
The biggest pitfalls for this assignment are weak theses that don’t make an arguable claim, unclear or invalid criteria, and limited or unreliable research to support the argument. Therefore, you’ll want to use our online resources to make sure you’re establishing a strong argument using valid criteria and choosing a topic for which there are library articles available.
