Summary Exercise

Summary Exercise Sample 2

First Name Last Name               

Composition 1

Summary Exercise

16 November 2015

When Death Is Considered the Solution:

 Elizabeth Bruenig’s Thoughts on the Right to Die

            The debate over assisted suicide has brought with it many concerns. In the article “How to Think About Your Right to Die” in The Medical Review Journal, Elizabeth Bruenig explains that death does not have the same rights as life, assisted suicide may evolve into a casual choice, and elective suicides continue to increase in number.  This article relates both the pros and cons of assisted suicide. Unfortunately, as in any debate, one cannot be entirely neutral. Elizabeth Bruenig gives many enlightening reasons against the legalization of assisted suicide. This article sheds light on the difficulties associated with a law of this magnitude. One statement that rings truer than any other in this article is this, “The value of human life precedes all rights.”  

            In her article, “How to Think About Your Right to Die,” Elizabeth Bruenig describes  how she feels that death does not have the same rights as life. Mrs. Bruenig refers to the fact that people are concerned with the inhumane treatment of children and prisoners. In addition, Mrs. Bruening makes reference to the argument that when children are held for long periods of time or are subject to capital punishment, many individuals consider this inhumane. In Belgium where children are not permitted to suffer life in prison, children are allowed to choose elective suicide with their parents’ consent. Mrs. Bruenig brings up this point to make this statement, “It doesn’t seem to make much sense to declare death the kind of right that life is: Death does not share the same inherent value.” The author of this article explains that the implications of assisted suicide affect more than just the people who feel they have the right to make such an extreme choice. For people to concern themselves with the quality of a person’s life, they need to understand the value of life. Mrs. Bruening makes a very penitent point when she asks people to consider if a person’s life should really be ended. The author of this article reminds readers that no one can accurately predict the course of a patient’s illness. We may very well be ending a life that has many more valuable years left to live.

According to Elizabeth Bruening, assisted suicide may evolve into a casual choice. One way assisted suicide could become a casual choice is by encouraging loved ones to accept this decision as a feasible choice. Family members who may have become stressed financially or emotionally by caring for their dying loved one may strongly encourage this decision. Mrs. Bruening also suggests that assisted suicide could become a blasé solution for non-life-threatening problems such as depression, pain, or simply old age.

            The final point this article brings to the reader’s attention is that elective suicides are rapidly increasing in number in countries that have legalized it. In Belgium, assisted suicide was legalized in 2002. The rate of assisted suicides has grown immensely. Documentation has shown that from 2012 to 2014 elective suicide has increased by 27 percent. This article gives a small glimpse into the potentially staggering number of potential assisted suicides in the near future if laws allow further legalization of assisted suicides.

This article was extremely informative as well as enlightening. In a world where depression runs ramped, cancer is more common, and people are living longer, will the leading cause of death now be assisted suicide? What effect will assisted suicide have on our society’s value for life? Finally, what will the law define as an acceptable reason to permit assisted suicide?  These may be hypothetic questions at this time; however, according to this article, it may not be long before we are required to give an answer for them.

Works Cited

Bruenig, Elizabeth. " How to Think About Your Right to Die." The Medical Review Journal 10

5.7 (2000): 1-20. 1 Jan. 2000. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

           

 Thesis includes the article title and periodical source name. It also touches upon the subtopics in the three body paragraphs.

 

Be sure to choose a credible article from a periodical for this assignment. Note, just because an article appears in a periodical does not necessarily mean it is credible. In addition, don't be fooled by articles on websites that are run by periodical publishing organizations. Your chosen article from a periodical should be contained within a greater publication/collection of works (the periodical) and not be a stand-alone article on the periodical publishing company's website. A good indicator that an article fits this description is a part that says, "A version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2015, on page A18 of the New York edition." Finally, you should make adequate effort at MLA parenthetical citation and works cited page formats for this assignment and all those moving forward.

 

 Literary present works well in this essay.

 These should be statements that synthesize what the student learned from the source.

 

In the conclusion, in addition to summarizing the subtopics in your essay, synthesize the information you gathered from your source. To synthesize just means you should consider all of the information you gathered from the source and draw conclusions. What did you learn beyond the information from the source? How did you draw these conclusions? Other sources or experiences? What were you surprised to learn that you did not know previously? How will the source help you develop the research essay?

 

Avoid using questions in academic essays.

Last modified: Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 11:03 AM