Analysis Of The Long Goodbye: Mother's Day In Federal Prison

“The Long Goodbye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison”, written by Amanda Coyne depicts the struggles of parents and family members with the emotional trauma children go through due to the absence of their loved one. The story tugs the heart strings of readers with its descriptive account of Mother’s Day in a minimum security federal prison. Coyne describes the human emotions and truly gives an accurate account of what being in a visitation room is like. “The Long Goodbye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison” makes the reader question the criminal justice system and convinces him or her to adjust their way of thinking towards the definition of criminalization through the logos, pathos, and ethos demonstrated throughout the text. Throughout “The Long

Coyne uses paradigms within the text to describe the horrible situation in a maximum security federal prison. In “The Long Goodbye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison”, she describes maximum security as “Pit of fire…Pit of fire straight from Hell. Never seen anything like it. Like something out of an old movie about prisoners…Women die there.” (61). Using this paradigm draws the reader in and gives him or her a far fetched example of what maximum security federal prisons are like. Amanda Coyne backs up her claim with many examples of women in the federal prison who are there for sentences that seem frankly extreme and should not be so harsh. For example, in “The Long Goodbye” Mother’s Day in Federal Prison” we learn about a woman named Stephanie. The text states that Stephanie is a “twenty-four-year-old blonde with Dorothy Hamill hair

To begin, ethos is the appeal to credibility. Ethos use of persuasion to show the writer has a full knowledge of what is being said. Amanda Coyne displays this rhetorical device when she notes she has a family member is prison. This small amount of information credits her knowledge on the emotional effects and the experiences one may have inside a federal prison visitation room. Ethos also promotes the ethical appeal to the reader through the text. For example,“The Long Goodbye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison” tells the tale of a woman in jail for conspiracy. “Ten years. That boyfriend talked and got three years. She didn 't know anything. Had nothing to tell them. They gave her ten years. And they called it conspiracy. Conspiracy? Aren 't there real criminals out there?” (62). This pulls the reader to start to question the ethics of the justice system and if the system truly beneficial to all who fall under and are held accountable to its standards. Amanda Coyne puts this litotes into this essay to make you question if this woman is a criminal or someone who was caught up in the wrong place and couldn 't get