Analyzing "Death and Justice"
If your own flesh and blood were brutally murdered, would you want the culprit to live the rest of their life in a cell, or be forced to meet the same fate your innocent loved one did? This is the question that former New York City mayor, Edward I. Koch, addresses in his 1985 article, "Death and Justice", which was printed in The New Republic, a magazine that generally publishes articles dealing with controversial political issues. Koch claims the death penalty is just and defends his statement by using his former public service as ethos, strong language and concrete examples as pathos, and by disproving capital punishment rebuttals as a means of developing logos. Because the readers of this magazine are usually actively involved in political issues, Koch does not have to "soften up his paper." He is aiming to prove a point, and the politically sound readers are not going to be scared away by concrete examples and strong language. Appealing to pathos, this article is very upfront and immediately reveals the authors standing on the matter. In the first paragraph, he gives rather absurd examples of convicted murderers pleading for their lives. Robert Lee Willie (who raped and murdered an 18 year old woman) said that, "Killing pe
Logos is developed further in the seventh paragraph. Capital punishment doubters claim: "No other major democracy uses the death penalty." Koch proceeds to emphasize the fact that no other countries have a murder rate close to the United States. Additionally, the M.I.T. study that revealed a person living in a major U.S. city in 1970 ran a greater risk of being killed than a combat soldier in WWII. This shows that our need for capital punishment is greater than other countries. Therefore, the stated reason for opposition is not exactly accurate. Koch continues with the method of stating opposition then disproving those claims throughout the main section of the body (where italicized opposing claims appear at the beginnings of the paragraphs). By Koch being the mayor of New York City when this was written, he already has an established base of ethos. As a mayor, one weighs objections more frequently and in a more meticulous manner than almost anyone. Additionally, before he was mayor, Koch spent 22 years in public service as a district leader, councilman and congressman. This type of longevity in politics gives an individual a tremendous amount of credibility, especially when dealing with political issues. Also, Koch has the skills of public speaking, knowledge, and the power to persuade others that go hand-in-hand with being a politician. Yet, contrary to usual political gibberish that pleases everyone, Koch takes a side. In conclusion, it takes a knowledgeable individual to write a paper that holds such weight and packs as much punch as "Death and Justice." Edward I. Koch balances ethos, pathos, and logos in correlation with a strong tone and a non-offensive, yet straightforward style. The result is an argument that reaches even the most die-hard anti-capital punishment fanatic and strikes a nerve of reason within their brain. This culminates i
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Approximate Word count = 1255
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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