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1、In-Favor-of-Capital-In-Favor-of-Capital-PunishmentPunishmentBackground KnowledgevOrigin of the Death PenaltyvA brief introduction to the author, Jacques BarzunvPublic OpinionvThe Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment vCapital punishment, has been used as a method of crime deterrence(威慑威慑) since the ve
2、ry earliest societies. A life for a life has been one of the most basic concepts for dealing with crime since the start of recorded history.vAs humankind created its own self-governed republics, capital punishment became a common response to a variety of crimes. Written rules were created to notify
3、the people about the penalties they would face for participating in any of these misdeeds. vOne of the earliest written documents that supported the death penalty was the Code of Hammurabi, which was written on stone tablets around 1760 BC. It contained 282 laws that were collected by the Babylonian
4、 King Hammurabi, including the theory of an eye for an eye. vEarly forms of capital punishment were designed to be slow, painful, and torturous, such as stoning, being burned at the stake, and even slowly being crushed by elephants.vLater societies found these methods to be cruel and unusual forms o
5、f punishment, and sought out more humane practices. Faster and less painful approaches to the death penalty, includes hanging and beheading with the guillotine（断头台）（断头台）. vIn the United States, capital punishment has existed since the founding of the original colonies. Law makers in the U.S. began t
6、o revise policies behind the death penalty around the time of the American Revolution. In 1791, the Constitution was amended for the eighth time, to prohibit any form of punishment considered “cruel and unusual.” By the late 1800s, employees of Thomas Edison introduced the electric chair to accompli
7、sh this goal. Later, in the 1970s, lethal injections entered the foray as another option. vNow, several states in the U.S. no longer support the death penalty, and many countries have abolished the practice completely.Barzun was born in Crteil. He spent his childhood in Paris and Grenoble. Barzun ev
8、er studied in Columbia University,where he obtained a broad liberal education.He obtained his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1932 and taught history there from 1928 to 1955, becoming the Seth Low Professor of History and a founder of the discipline of cultural history. Barzun died peacefully at his home in
9、San Antonio, Texas on October 25, 2012, aged 104. The New York Times, which compared him with such scholars Sidney Hook, Daniel Bell, and Lionel Trilling, called him a distinguished historian, essayist, cultural gadfly and educator who helped establish the modern discipline of cultural history. Achi
10、evements&MasterpiecesOver seven decades, Barzun wrote and edited more than forty books touching on an unusually broad range of subjects, including science and medicine, psychiatry from Robert Burton through William James to modern methods, and art, and classical music; he was one of the all-time aut
11、horities on Hector Berlioz.Teacher in America The House of IntellectFolletts Modern American UsageA Catalogue of CrimeFrom Dawn to DecadenceSupport for death penalty at its lowest in 40 yearsGallups release noted that the decline in support may be linked to the issue of innocence, The current era of
12、 lower support may be tied to death penalty moratoriums in several states beginning around 2000 after several death-row inmates were later proven innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted. In the past 10 years, the percentage of Americans who believe the death penalty is applied fairly has
13、 dropped from 60% to 52%.This poll measured the publics support for capital punishment in theory, without any comparison to other punishments. When Gallup and other polls have offered respondents a choice of the proper punishment for murder - the death penalty or life in prison without parole - resp
14、ondents are about evenly split, with less than 50% supporting the death penalty. Reasons For Capital Punishment1.Prison: prison separates criminals for the safety of the general population and it is a form of punishment. Finally, the punishment of prison is expected to rehabilitate prisoners.2.Cost
15、of Prison:Typically,the cost of imprisoning someone for life is much more expensive than executing that same person.3.Safety: Criminals who receive the death penalty are typically violent individuals.4.Deters Crime: There is no scientific proof that nations with capital punishment have a lower rate
16、of crime, therefore the risk of the death penalty does not seem to deter crime.5.Extreme Punishment: The logic is that the more severe the crime, then the more severe the punishment is necessary. 6.Appropriate Punishment: It is commonly believed that the punishment of a crime should equal the crime,
17、 if possible. This is also known as an eye for eye justice. 7.Vengeance: Some crimes are so horrific that some people think that revenge or retribution is the only option. Reasons Against Capital Punishment1.Prison: It is often believe that prison is a viable alternative to executing a person.2.Not
18、Humane: Killing a person is not humane, even if the criminal is not humane3.Fairness: The life of the criminal can not compensate for the crime committed. Basically, two wrongs do not make a right.4.Pain of Death: Executing a person can be quick and painless, or executing a person can be slow and pa
19、inful. 5.Violates Human Rights: Some groups of people deem death a violation of the persons right to live. Other groups of people disagree that the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment.6.Amends: Executing someone decreases the time and likelihood for the criminal to repair any damage from
20、 the crime.7.Family Hardship: It is often said that the family members of the executed needlessly suffer too, yet the crime itself has victims and family members too. Passage AnalysesvStructure AnalysesvOrganization PatternvStyle and Language FeaturesvSpecial DifficultiesStructure Analyses Para.1-2
21、Introduction and admitting that many people of much talent and enlightened goodwill are abolitionists. Para.3 The author states the conditions that he could be convinced to abolish capital punishment. Para.4 The author states that he himself considers the present way of implementing capital punishme
22、nt is revolting but this cannot be an excuse for the abolitionist to against capital punishment. Para. 5: The four main arguments advanced against the death penalty . Para. 6-7 Explanation of writers agreement on the first pair of propositions. Para.8-11 The absolute sanctity of human life is, for t
23、he abolitionists, a slogan rather than a considered proposition Para.12 -14 The fallacies of the abolitionists should be disposed of. Para.15-19 The frivolities of the abolitionists should be disposed of. Para.20 Our society is far from civilized institutions. Para.21-24 Both capital punishment and
24、imprisonment are irrevocable sentence.Para.25-28The fault in the present system is not the sentence but the fallible procedure.Para.29To abolish capital punishment is to violate the sanctity of human life.Organization Patternn1)Thethesisstatedinthetitleoftheessay:Infavorofcapitalpunishmentn2) In thi
25、s piece the writer does not appealmainlytotheemotionsofthereader.n3) The writer tries to convince his readerthrough facts and logical reasoning and byrefutingthefallaciesofhisopponents.n4)Weakness:Manyabstracttermsinessayremainundefinedandvague.Style and Language Features1)Smoothandpolish2)Convincin
26、gandformal 3)Useofmanylearned,andspecializedterms4)RhetoricalDevicesmetaphorsimileellipsis(省略)metonymyeuphemism（委婉语）transferredepithet（移就）：“Theletters,sadandreproachful,offermethechoiceofpleadingignorance”“Theassemblageofsomuchtalentandenlightenedgoodwillbehindasingleproposal”Parallelism：“Iamasked”“
27、Iamtold”“Iaminvited”Sarcasm：“itistoobad.”Cvekaloneseemsinstructive,”“Failingasecondbirthlesshypocritical?Exemplification:WildesDefundisCharlesBurneysSolitaryConfinementJohnofArcMr.LeslieHale,M.P.sHangedinErrorPersonification：“Noanger,vindictivenessormoralconceitneedpresideovertheremovalofsuchdangers
28、.”Special difficultiesIdentifying and understanding technical terms in this essayncapitalimprisonment:死刑nExecution：执行死刑njudicialhomicide：按法律处死nEuthanasia：安乐死nPenitentiary（美）监狱nmiscarriageofjustice：误判nAcquittal：无罪释放nParole：假释nDeathpenalty：死刑nSeemlysuicide：适宜的自杀nJurist：法律学家nCriminology：犯罪学nLawofficer：司法官，检察长nThejurysystem：陪审制度nThesupremecourt：最高法院nProsecution：起诉，检举nThelaw-abiding：守法的 参考资料：参考资料：http:/ 制作：周瑜，秦娟，王晓玲制作：周瑜，秦娟，王晓玲结束结束
