TAKE A STAND

Capital Punishment: For or Against?

                                    

You have read 'Eyewitness', a story in which someone has committed a murder. Many people think that the death penalty is the right punishment for this type of crime.

When you take a stand, you adopt a firm position about an issue, and this is what you will need to do once you have completed the activities proposed for today’s session.

You will start by watching a clip which was made to support Amnesty International's campaign against death penalty. 

 (a) Take down notes on actor Jeremy Iron's arguments about the topic.

 (b) Write  a summary. 

                                  

                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVMho2cP1NE

                                       

                    Read this information: 

           Most Chileans Approve of Death Penalty

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Chile are in favour of applying the death penalty in their country, according to a poll by Ipsos. 62.5 per cent of respondents agree with capital punishment in Chile, while 36.7 per cent oppose it.

The death penalty was abolished in Chile in 2001, under the presidency of Ricardo Lagos.

Source: Ipsos 
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,522 Chilean adults, conducted from Sept. 16 to Oct. 6, 2009. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

            

          Now go over some  arguments in favour of capital punishment:

v  The death penalty can prevent crimes and deter potential murderers.

v  Using the death penalty is a way to protect citizens' lives.

v  Capital punishment does not rehabilitate the prisoner and return them to society.

v  Killing convicted murderers will satisfy people’s needs for justice and/or vengeance.

v  guilty people deserve to be punished in proportion to the severity of their crime.

Reference:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/for_1.shtml

           

                       Are you for or against the death penalty?

                                                         

Your Turn: 

Write an opinion paragraph supporting your arguments (about 15 lines). Decide on a topic sentence and develop your paragraph using appropriate supporting sentences, a concluding sentence and linking words. Follow the outline below to help you.