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Systemic Corruption & Its Effects: Dead Man Walking Systems Assessment: Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking is a multi-faceted character and person. Her opinions on equality, racism, governmental and justice systems are cultivated and intellectual, truly brought forth in her writing. In this first chapter, Prejean begins her journey of understanding the corrupt systems of government, and their unjust practices such as the death penalty, through this she seeks to help those affected by the unjustness of the systems. Her use of logos, pathos, and ethos through strategies such as presenting statistics, descriptions of memories and explanations of religious ties help her opinion become prominent throughout the chapter. Within the first …show more content…
few pages of the chapter, Prejean states that she came to St. Thomas, New Orleans, “seeking to harness religious faith to social justice” with the church (Prejean 4.) Before fully understanding the unjustness of her new society, Prejean stood by the belief that she and her sisters “were nuns, not social workers, not political” (Prejean 5). Her conscience was clearer before moving to St. Thomas, and she had no interest in sparking any change. It is the events that she witness here, that change her mind. She is exposed to "the meaning of working poor" while helping teen mothers, who tell Prejean "the same familiar story that she wanted a baby so she could have 'something of my very own" (Prejean 8.) As she witnesses hardship after hardship, mistake after mistake, her stand point becomes clearer. She begins recalling her childhood, through this, reflecting on her world as a child and her world now, saying “It would take me a long time to understand how systems inflict pain and hardships in people’s lives and to learn that being kind in an unjust system is not enough.” (Prejean 7). This clarifies to the reader just how passionate Prejean feels about these “unjust systems” in the government as she continues her narrative. As the description of her memory comes to an end, Prejean starts to list statistics about St.
Thomas, stating “half the adult population has not completed high school… and the violent crime rate is 9th highest in the nation” (Prejean 7.) These descriptions evoke a picture of the desolation of the place she is living in, giving her character new perspective. Because, on page 5 she cites a quote from Dorothy Day, a Catholic social activist who says “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Prejean included such a quote to further explain her somewhat complex point of view on the systems in the government and the death penalty. She strives to be like Day in the religious aspect of her life, but her environment doesn’t make that lifestyle as simple as it may sound. Prejean herself says, “I didn’t want to struggle with politics and economics.” (Prejean 5). These differing views portray yet another side to Prejean and her reluctance to be in St. Thomas, though her experiences there are helping cultivate her views on systems and the death penalty. It is clear throughout the chapter that though she believes her role is in the church; under God, she still feels as if change is needed and she can aid in that
cause. At the end of the chapter, Prejean's standpoint is clear. She wants to change the unjust systems of government that affect so many people's lives and well-being. She struggles between her views as a nun, her views as a member of St. Thomas’s society, and her views inspired by her correspondence with death row inmate Eddie Sonnier. Sonnier gives Prejean somewhere where she can accept her views and truly experience life at it’s lowest point. In a letter to Prejean, Sonnier says that “The black dude [in the prison where he is] sees racism in everything. We argue” (Prejean 13). This simple comment further proves the corruption that exists in the justice system, and only encourages Prejean’s fight to change such unjustness. This system is what caused such views of prejudice and discrimination, Prejean believes. And even though Sonnier may be an awful criminal, Prejean “refused to meet hate with hate and violence with violence.” (Prejean 21) and still seeks to change the systems and end the death penalty. But in her search to bring about change, she will not sacrifice her honor and stoop to the level of the corrupt systems. At the end of the chapter, Prejean makes the important decision to visit Sonnier in prison. Her previous perspective has only strengthened at this point, and given her the ability to convince herself to visit Sonnier. It is unclear when or how Prejean will visit, but her purpose for going is clear. By taking this step, Prejean begins her journey to change the unjust systems, end the death penalty and make life for its victims somewhat brighter.
Throughout the ages, death penalty has always been a controversial topic and triggered numerous insightful discussion. In Kroll’s Unquiet Death of Robert Harris, the writer employs pathos as an appeal throughout the whole article in order to convince the audiences that death penalty is “something indescribably ugly” and “nakedly barbaric”. While Mencken makes use of ethos and logos and builds his arguments in a more constructive and effective way to prove that death penalty is necessary and should exist in the social system.
Media such as movies, video games and television, in general, are all created to support some form of social context. This helps with generating popularity because people are able to relate to the form of media. In Greg Smith’s book What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss, he describes 6 different representational strategies that justifies people’s way of thinking. The trope that I will be amplifying is the white savior tactic. In addition, I will connect this strategy to the movie The Blind Side. There are clear examples throughout the film where racism and low-income cultures exist in which the white family is there to help. The Tuohy family from the movie “The Blind Side” serves as the white savior for the progression of Michael
Throughout the course of this novel, Ishmael Beah keeps the readers on the edge of their seat by incorporating interchanging tones. At the beginning of the novel, the tone can be depicted as naïve, for Beah was unaware to what was actually occurring with the rebels. Eventually, the tone shifts to being very cynical and dark when he depicts the fighting he has endured both physically and mentally. However, the most game changing tone is towards the end of the novel in chapters nineteen and twenty. His tone can be understood as independent or prevailing. It can be portrayed as independent because Beah learns how to survive on his own and to take care of himself. At the same time, it is perceived as prevailing and uplifting because Beah was able to demonstrate that there is hope. Later in the novel, Beah travels to
The chapter, Church, has the troop hold up in a church for a few days. In the church, the monks take an immediately likely to the troop help with food and weapon cleaning. A few of the soldiers discuss what they wanted to do before the war. The troops learn more about each other and insight into what faith can be to them.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
Sister Helen Prejean purposes of writing this text is to create awareness about the cruel and moral of death penalty and the reality of the humanness of executing a human being in the form of Capital Punishment. The audiences of this text are from college students to older age group. Because of the text used mature language and requires a deep understanding of human rights and death penalty in order to view her point of views. She wants to expresses her thought about the morality of killing a human that were allowed by our society and government. She makes the audience think about death row inmate as a person and give you the truth about what is actually taking place within our society today. She allows us go deeper into her thought to see why and how she views the death penalty as immoral and she tries to helping the poor that struggle in the justice in our
In the music video titled “Numb,” directed by Joseph Hahn and sung by Linkin Park, a message of rebellion persuades a push for independence. Produced in 2003, the music video introduced a young girl who feels that she doesn’t fit in with everyone and is in an autopilot state to do what her mother thinks is right for her. The video alludes to her wanting to stand up to the pressure and fulfill her dreams of pursuing art. A dark theme towers over the music video to show that she is not happy and is trapped by her mother. This genre, alternative metal, voices rebellious young adults to take a stand and to get away from the pressures of life.
Anticipation is prevalent throughout The Road, which is set by the narrative pace, creating a tense and suspenseful feeling and tone.
In the essay “Death and Justice”, Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City, presents an argument defending the use of capital punishment in heinous murder cases. In advancing his viewpoint on the subject matter, Koch addresses the arguments made by those who oppose the death penalty. This novel approach to making an argument not only engages the reader more in the piece, but also immediately illustrates his balanced understanding of both sides of the argument. Rather than simply presenting a biased or one-sided argument regarding his opinion, Koch explores a full range of issues surrounding the incendiary issue and displays both balance and erudition in expression his opinion on the issue of capital punishment.
In Coretta Scott King’s essay, “The Death Penalty is a Step Back”, the readers are shown the author's view of the death penalty and how she supports this stance by using the three rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos, to draw the reader in to her paper.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
Employing pathos and logos, Baude gives an explanation for why the death penalty is flawed as he tells the tale of a man on death row. Baude claims “.Judgments, right or wrong. This concern with concepts such as finality, jurisdiction, and the balance of powers may sound technical, lawyerly, and highly abstract. But so is the criminal justice system. Law must provide simple answers: innocence or guilt, freedom or imprisonment, life or death.”
I was in complete and utter shock when I began to read Disposable People. The heart-wrenching tale of Seba, a newly freed slave, shook my understanding of people in today’s society, as well as their interactions with each other. I sat in silence as I read Seba’s story. “There they [Seba’s French mistress and husband] stripped me naked, tied my hands behind my back, and began to whip me with a wire attached to a broomstick (Bales 2).” I tried to grasp the magnitude of the situation.
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.