Prep
for the Departmental Exam
- Read through the following complete text
speech; note where there are outlining indications.
- At the bottom of the print-out à Complete a main point and sub point outline
prior to answering the questions.
- Go back and circle the best answer: Find the best choice for the entire selection or the
underlined portion.
Capital
Punishment
Lee
Hawkins, Jr.
|
1 Imagine being ready to die. On |
a)
Focus on Target audience b)
Attention getter c)
Using evidence d)
Example of comparative advantages order e)
None of the above |
|
2 I stand before you today to
discuss the issue of capital punishment. Should the death penalty be
administered to those who are deemed guilty of murder in a court of law?
Based upon your answers to my class survey, if this decision were left up to this
class, 75 percent of you would sentence the guilty defendant to death by way
of lethal gas, lethal injection, hanging, or electrocution. |
a)
Attention getter b)
Previewing Main Points and Thesis c)
Using audience analysis d)
Informative speech e)
Featuring small groups |
|
3 In my speech, I want to persuade
you to reassess your view of capital punishment. My arguments will address
the following issues relative to capital punishment: the injustice of capital
punishment, the immorality of capital punishment, and capital punishment as a
deterrent to crime. First of all, allow me to discuss the injustice of
capital punishment. |
a)
A main point b)
Red herring fallacy c)
Preview statement d)
Evidence e)
None of the above |
|
4 Evidence shows that capital
punishment is a discriminatory means of punishment. Some refer to capital
punishment as the poor man’s justice. In other words, those without the
capital get the punishment. As criminologist Hugo Adam Bedeau
has stated, often people are sentenced to death and executed not because they
have been found to be uncontrollably violent, but because they are too poor
to purchase a first-rate lawyer to defend them. To quote Bedeau,
“People who have been executed for capital crimes have historically been the
losers in an arbitrary lottery, the victims of the disadvantages that almost
always come with poverty.” |
a)
Revealing the
need
b)
Revealing the
plan
c)
Revealing the
practicality
d)
Using Expert
testimony
e)
All of the
above
|
|
5 This discrimination is not only
economic, but it is also racial. As Supreme Court Justice William Brennan has stated,
“Race casts a lot of shadows on the capital sentencing process.” The most
compelling evidence of this comes from a study conducted by Professor David Baldus of the |
a)
Main
point b)
sub
point c)
sub
sub point d)
Thesis e)
Central
Idea |
|
6 In addition to being
discriminatory, capital punishment is also immoral. In fact, one reason why capital
punishment is immoral is because it is discriminatory. This was stated
especially well by Daniel Hoye, General Secretary
of the United States Catholic Conference. “The system under which criminals
are sentenced,” he says, “is such that race often plays a prominent role in
determining whether they will live or die. The fact that capital punishment
is applied in a racially discriminatory way has been one of the reasons for
our continued opposition on moral grounds to the application of the death
penalty.” |
a)
Transition
between main points b)
Establishing
credilbilty c)
Using
imagery d)
A
hasty generalization e)
Focusing
on the reason |
|
7 The immorality of capital
punishment is not a matter of statistics or hard scientific fact. Instead, it
is a matter of belief. The Bible says, “Thou shalt
not kill.” The Bible does not say, “Thou shalt not
kill except in cases of murder, treason or capital crimes.” It simply says,
“Thou shalt not kill.” |
a)
Using
Logos b)
Using
Evidence c)
Using
a standard d)
Using
ethos e)
Using
all of the above |
|
8 Proponents of the death penalty
maintain that anyone who is lowly enough to commit murder deserves to die.
But I ask you, how can we show that killing is wrong by killing someone
ourselves? When we execute people, we are telling the rest of the world, and
our children, that murder is acceptable. How can we maintain that murder is
wrong if we are committing the same act that we allegedly denounce? In other
words, two wrongs don't constitute a right. I agree with Dr. Rupert Theobald, a criminologist and statistician from the Wisconsin
Legislative Reference Bureau, who stated that the message that capital
punishment sends is that vengeance is acceptable.
Morality? I think not. |
a)
Reasoning
from Principle b)
Reasoning
from specific instance c)
Analogical
reasoning d)
Using
either-or fallacious reasoning e)
Using
slippery slope reasoning |
|
9 But there is yet a third issue
that we must confront, and that is whether capital punishment is an effective
deterrent to crime.
And this is a very controversial point with strong opinions on both sides. In
truth, the small number of executions in the |
a)
Second
main point b)
Third
sub point c)
First
sub sub point of the second main point d)
Third
main point e)
None
of the above |
|
10 Indeed, there is at least one
strong reason to believe that capital punishment does not work as a
deterrent. As the |
a)
Sub
point b)
Sub
Sub point c)
Main
point d)
Hasty
generalization e)
First
and Fourth answer. |
|
11 In
conclusion, we must realize that capital punishment is discriminatory. We
must realize that capital punishment is immoral. And finally, we must realize
that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent to crime. I would urge
all of you who support capital punishment to reassess your views and to see
its injustice, its immorality, and its ineffectiveness as a deterrent to
crime. |
a)
Conclusion
for a persuasive speech that calls for action b)
Conclusion
for a speech that asks for passive acceptance |