ENG 111

J_2028

ENG111tenweekmodule7argumentpaperoutline.docx

Suggested argument paper outline and example paper.

An example paper from a previous ENG 111 student has been added on at the end of the outline for you to look over. The paper was formatted correctly, had a good thesis statement, made critical arguments, critically refuted opposing/different arguments, had critical quotes, integrated quotes into the paper nicely, had credible and academic sources, and had a proper Works Cited page. There were some little issues here and there, so you may find an error here or there when looking it over, but, for the most part, it was a well written paper.

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

HOOK / OPENING SENTENCE / INTRODUCE GENERAL TOPIC ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE SPECIFIC SENTENCE 1 / DEFINE TOPIC IF NOT OBVIOUS ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE SPECIFIC SENTENCE 2 / TOPIC DEVELOPMENT ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE SPECIFIC SENTENCE 3 / TOPIC DEVELOPMENT ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THESIS STATEMENT __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SUPPORTING BODY PARAGRAPHS

( Use as many supporting paragraphs as needed to argue for the position)

TOPIC SENTENCE – Key topic of paragraph ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DEVELOPMENT – The main idea / Topic more detailed ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Proper MLA QUOTE - Supports or provides evidence of the point being made

Critical introduction, “quotation marks” (in-text citation).

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF QUOTE ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PROPER MLA QUOTE #2 OF PARAGRAPH - Supports or provides evidence of the point being made ( OPTIONAL ) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF QUOTE #2 OF PARAGRAPH ( OPTIONAL ) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY – Summarize main point ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REBUTTAL BODY PARAGRAPHS

( Use as many rebuttal paragraphs as needed to refute opposing/different positions)

TOPIC SENTENCE – BEST COUNTER-ARGUMENT OF A POINT IN THE THESIS ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DEVELOPMENT – The main idea / Counter-argument more detailed ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PROPER MLA QUOTE - Supports or provides evidence of Counter-argument

Critical introduction, “quotation marks” (in-text citation).

REBUTTAL OF COUNTER-ARGUMENT ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PROPER MLA QUOTE SUPPORTING REBUTTAL ( OPTIONAL)

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF QUOTE SUPPORTING REBUTTAL ( OPTIONAL)

SUMMARY – Summarize why rebuttal defeats the counterargument ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

SUMMARIZE THE MAIN POINTS MADE/ RESTATEMENT OF THESIS IN A DFFERENT WAY ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE SPECIFIC SENTENCE ABOUT 1ST POINT OF THESIS ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE SPECIFIC SENTENCE ABOUT 2ND POINT OF THESIS ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE SPECIFIC SENTENCE ABOUT 3RD POINT OF THESIS ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RECOMMENDATION AND/OR REAFFIRMATION OF THE POSITION OF THE THESIS STATEMENT ( Do not repeat the thesis word for word)

Example paper (Note: The paper below has no page numbers because it was copied and pasted into this document. The paper you turn in must have proper page numbers.)

John Smith

Professor Baran

English 111, Section O12P

10 November 2022

Executing the Death Penalty

The death penalty has been a continuous debate for decades on whether it should be abolished or not. In 1970s, the Supreme Court decided to ban the death penalty because it went against the eighth amendment, which protects against any cruel or unusual punishment. However, during the ban, many states worked to fix the issues of cruel punishments that occurred with the death penalty, and the death penalty became legal again. Even though the Supreme Court made attempts to make the death penalty more humane, the topic has become more active as other problems still occur with the death penalty. Although some disagree, the death penalty should be abolished in all fifty states because of botched executions, it is unconstitutional, and it is not a deterrent.

Executions that were cruelly administered, whether intended or not, are inevitable, but it is not fair to criminals put on capital punishment. According to Julia Eaton, author of “Warning: Use May Result in Cruel and Unusual Punishment: How Administrative Law and Adequate Warning Labels Can Bring About the Demise of Lethal Injection,” “highly trained medical professionals generally do not participate in executions, leaving the fairly complex execution procedures to lesser-trained personnel” (364). Furthermore, because medically trained professionals are not involved in the execution process, there will be instances of cruelty, like multiple stabbings of the needle or wrong dosages of the medication that could cause seizures and heart attacks. On the contrary, Stephen E. Smith, author of “Going Through all These Things Twice: A Brief History of Botched Executions,” stated, “in such circumstances, the infliction of pain cannot be described as a flaw in the process, for pain was anything but unanticipated and unintended” (782). Pain from botched executions might be unintentional, but it still happens and because of this, it is unconstitutional.

Every citizen of the United States deserves to be protected against cruel and unusual punishment, as stated in the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. However, this is not always the case. Whether the guilty person is sentenced to death or not is dependent on the judge, lawyers, and the trial state. Nathan Goetting, author of “Furman Filtration Problem: Why the Death Penalty will Always be Cruel and Unusual Punishment mentioned,” said, “No system we put in place has ever, or will ever, effectively channel only the worst offenders onto death row. Inevitably, some who deserve it less will find their way to a gurney, gallows, gas chamber, or firing squad while those who deserve it more escape with their lives” (409). The system makes it unconstitutional because it is not effective unless all states abolish capital punishment. In opposition, the Constitution can be interpreted differently and the author of The Death Penalty and the Fifth Amendment, Joseph Blocher, states that, “capital punishment must be constitutionally permissible because the text of the Fifth Amendment refers to it” (279). The Fifth Amendment refers to due process and the right to life, so Blocker believes it is constitutional. Even though one amendment says a person cannot lose their life without due process, another amendment is allowing a person’s life to be taken away as long as it is not cruel, but even cruel and unusual punishment cannot be seen.

Capital punishment is one way the United States tries to deter away from other possible crimes and homicide. However, there are other ways, without execution, that can deter crimes. According to Michael L. Radelet and Marian J. Borg, authors of “The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates,” “85% of the experts agreed that the empirical research on deterrence has shown that the death penalty never has been, is not, and never could be superior to long prison sentences as a deterrent to criminal violence” (45). Life in prison can just as much deter crime as executing a criminal and it is a more frequent punishment that can be used as a reminder to other criminals, and it does not take away someone’s right to life. Although this may be true, as stated by Michael L. Radelet and Traci L. Lacock, authors of “Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates: The Views of Leading Criminologists,” “91% of the states had higher homicide rates after they suspended the death penalty. Conversely, 70% of the states saw homicides decrease after the death penalty was reinstated” (497). The actuality of deterrence of capital punishment is hard to consider because so many factors go into research to make the study as factual as possible, so there is no probable fact that the current quote is true or not.

Even though it is a never-ending conversation and there are many factors to consider, capital punishment should be abolished in the United States because of wrongful executions, it is unconstitutional, and it does not steer away crime. Botched executions are mistakes that happen, but they inflict pain and suffering on prisoners in their last moments of life. Capital punishment is a cruel and unusual punishment that affects the guilty and innocent. Also, the death penalty is not an effective deterrent as there are not many facts to prove that crime rates go down because of it. All states should ban the death penalty, so it prevents cruel and unusual punishments.

Works Cited

Blocher, Joseph. “The Death Penalty.” Northwestern University Law Review, vol. 111, no.1, 2016, pp. 275- 93. Academic Search Complete, https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol111/iss1/6/.

Eaton, Julia. “Warning: Use May Result in Cruel and Unusual Punishment: How Administrative Law and Adequate Warning Labels Can Bring About the Demise of Lethal Injection.” Boston College Law Review, vol. 59, no. 1, 2018, pp. 355-88. Academic Search Complete, https://lira.bc.edu/work/ns/daeff4f3-7b18-4d72-a623-302f651a5244.

Goetting, Nathan. “The Furman Filtration Problem: Why the Death Penalty Will Always be Cruel and Unusual Punishment.” University of Toledo Law Review, vol. 53, no. 3, 2022, pp. 407- 16. Academic Search Complete, https://www.academia.edu/80560886/The_Furman_Filtration_Problem_Why_the_Death_Penalty_Will_Always_be_a_Cruel_and_Unusual_Punishment.

Radelet, Michael L., and Traci L. Lacock. “Do executions Lower Homicide Rates: The Views of Leading Criminologists.” Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, vol. 99, no. 2, 2009, pp. 489- 508. Academic Search Complete, https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7323&context=jclc.

Radelet, Michael L., and Marian J. Borg. “The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 26, no. 1, 2000 pp. 43-61. Academic Search Complete, doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.43.

Smith, Stephen E. “Going Through all these Things Twice: A Brief History of Botched Executions.” Otago Law Review, vol. 12, no. 4, 2012, pp. 777- 827. Academic Search Complete, https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/9139.

Please send me your topic and thesis statement for approval.