Outline for essay

Charlottesville May Put the Brakes on Campus Free Speech Laws

Name of Student

Institution affiliation

First Amendment to the United States Constitution grants individuals or groups, freedom to air their views regarding social, political, and economic issues affecting the people. First, the amendment allows five freedoms which include freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of Assembly and Freedom to Petition the Government ( Hemesath, 2017). It is done by individuals, social groups, businesses or human rights activities to champion for law reforms when crises arise. For instance, campus students enjoy the freedom of speech. However, some students misuse this freedom resulting to violence and even death. Recently, a protester named Heather Heyer lost his life during a rally in downtown Charlottesville. This took place after a protest by white supremacists took place, a day before in the University of Virginia. After the incident, Sophie Quinton wrote an article entitled “Charlottesville May Put the Brakes on Campus Free Speech Laws” to elaborate how freedom of speech permits hate speech, a key factor that encourages violence. She explains the need to reexamine the law on freedom of speech to campus students as it brings more harm than good. The law grants citizens with the freedom of expression and speech. Some individuals or groups express themselves through protests and demonstration just as students at the University of Virginia did in response to Jewish immigrants in their city. It is, however, alarming to note that in recent past, cases of protesters getting killed or injured during protests have increased significantly. It is the responsibility of the legislators to come up with an amicable solution to address this issue. Quinton noted that it is also the duty of university administrators to lay down strategies to ensure that freedoms granted to students are used correctly to avoid incidences of violence (Batchis, 2016).

Sophie Quinton used many literary devices to make article easily understandable. Examples of literary devices are alliteration, imagery, personification, and metaphors. Imagery refers to the use of words in poetry, articles, or narratives to give the reader a sense of touch, taste, or smell. It makes an article realistic and exciting to the reader. Sophie author begins the article with imagery by highlighting the marching of the white supremacist around the university with Tiki torches. This helps the reader get an image of the students marching thus making the article interesting and easy to understand. There is the use of allusion in the article. The allusion is where an author refers to incidences of another story o bringing out the meaning of a particular issue in his or her story. Republicans response to speech laws in university campuses is referenced to a 1984 novel by George Orwell which talks about how schools deny students the freedom to speech. This is an excellent example of allusion used in the article. Quinton uses foreshadowing in the article. Foreshadowing involves giving a hint to the readers to enable predict the outcome of an incident. The article predicts that universities may end up regulating speech rights of students to a particular level. This is to help in eradicating hate speech in campuses thus avoiding violence. However, responses by various leaders predict that the amendment cannot be reinforced by the legislators as freedom of expression will be denied. All the above literary devices used by Sophie Quinton have enhanced the readability to her audience thus reaching many people all over the world (Mitchel, 2016).

Sophie Quinton article portrays her strengths in expressing issues through creativity. Her choice of words and expression of the main points is remarkable. The author is non-partisan as she represents both sides of view of the subject matter. For instance, she explains the importance of regulating the use of freedom of speech by students as she points out that it has encouraged hate speech which triggers violence. She goes ahead to elaborate the demerits of regulating freedom of expression for campus students by use of opinions by various leaders such as legislators and party members. They say that restricting freedom of speech will be denying them their constitutional right. Moreover, the author uses various literary devices to enhance the structure of the article which helps readers get a clear understanding of the subject matter (Batchis, 2016). The use of devices such as allusion, imagery, and foreshadowing make the flow of the story more appealing to the reader. Another factor that shows the strength of Sophie’s article is brought out by the use of direct speech. Instances where various people shared their views regarding the Charlottesville incident, the author quoted their statement in the article. Use of direct speech brings out the truth of the issue being discussed. It also helped readers understand the subject matter of the article with ease. The author also gave comparative examples of states that have adopted the legislation of regulating free speech in university campuses. Such states include North Carolina, Colorado, and Arizona. Although Sophie explains the harmful effects of hate speech resulting from freedom of speech on university campuses, it is evident that the first amendment may not make it to legislation due to criticism from various leaders and organizations.

References

Hemesath, M. (2017). Education, free speech and Benedictine Values.

Batchis, W. (2016). The Right’s First Amendment: The Politics of Free Speech & the Return of Conservative Libertarianism. Stanford University Press.

Mitchell, D. (2016). The liberalization of free speech: Or, how protest in public space is silenced. Spaces of Contention: Spatialities and Social Movements, 47.