Argument and Persuasion

Koch is in favor of capital punishment it. Life is indeed precious, and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm this fact" (Koch 320). He believes that having the death penalty will help keep the idea of life being precious. He does this by providing the main idea of the possibility that the death penalty will decrease the amount of crimes, especially murders. If the death penalty is not used the amount of murders will not reduce. He provides examples of murderers continuing to murder even during incarceration. Koch wants his readers to agree with this so he provides many different types of evidence to prove his point.
The second half of Koch’s argument deals with the debate of the death penalty being a deterrent to murder. Koch provides many statistics and examples of the positive and negative effects the death penalty would have on the society. He brings up situations that have happened with murderers that are sentenced to life in prison yet they still kill. Koch examines the justice in his decision in the beginning of his argument. He used examples like calling it “barbaric,” and talked about the instance of an innocent man being executed.
It does not seem that Koch’s purpose is aiming for votes. It seems to be this way because although this is a persuasive argument, many people are turned away from touchy subjects like this. He seems to just be telling everyone how he personally feels about this subject. If the purpose was for votes he may have done himself an injustice because there will be people, potential voters, that will not vote for him because of his beliefs. Some people think that it is immoral to take the life of someone else, especially the death penalty.
Koch seems to expect his audience to agree with him in the end. He seems to bring up valid reasoning for his thoughts and belief but in the end it is a persuasive essay. The opening paragraphs provide imagery for the audience, the reaction that is seemed to be expected might be sorrow or sympathy mixed with possible anger. The audience might feel the slightest bit sad depending on their views because another life is about to be lost, but another reader might feel anger towards the murderer because he took another life and now will pay the price of loosing his own life.
Koch places the responsibility of following the law on the reader. He provides comparison of the state and individuals. The state may be allowed to do certain things but the individuals would not be permitted to do the same thing, and that is considered justice. The example of taxation and extortion are perfect examples of this difference. The example of the women calling for help and no one came to help her, puts the responsibility of consideration on the reader. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Emotional: “Consider the tragic death of Rosa Velez, who happened to be home when a man named Luis Vera burglarized her apartment in Brooklyn. “Yeah, I shot her, she knew me, and I knew I wouldn’t go to the chair.” (Koch 320) Ethical: “During my 22 years in public service, I have heard the pros and cons of capital punishment expressed with special intensity” (Koch 320).
Rational: “However, one does not have to like the death penalty in order to support if any more than one must like radical surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy in order to find necessary these attempts at curing cancer” (Koch 321). Emotional appeal is very effective, it shows that the author cares and isn’t just repeating lots of facts to the reader. Appealing emotionally to the reader allows the author and the audience to connect on personal levels which would have more of a positive effect on the position of the reader, because it would have more of an impact on them and they won’t forget about it.
The major premise is that before death murderers admit they were wrong. The minor premise is murderers eventually realize that they were wrong. The conclusion is that all murderers admit they were wrong and realize what they did right before they die. Koch denies the validity of this in paragraph 13 because this is not necessarily true for all murderers. All people that do wrong do not realized what they have done, so the fact that Shaw and Willie seemed to have realized something not all convicts do, some just continue to do harm.
Koch’s strategy in explaining the barbaric ness of the death penalty does not seem to be too effective with getting his point across. He describes things that would prove the point of the idea of the death penalty being barbaric. He creates images of “lethal injection, ropes, voltage, bullets, and gas. This does make the death penalty seem very barbaric. Koch claims that doing nothing will be more barbaric than the act of the death penalty itself. I do not find the method of the argument in this section to be convincing. It jus proves the opposite point, that the death penalty is barbaric and cruel.
Koch provides many different examples to explain his points. Willie and Shaw represented the realization that some people have after they realized what it is that they have done, as they come back to reality. The Rosa Velez example represented just how some of the murderers think, the murderer admits to shooting the victim and claims that she even knew him, yet he still took her life. The cure for cancer example shows that you do not have to support certain ideas to believe that they might actually help better the world. Lemuel Smith is an example of murderers that continue to murder, this is one pro to the death penalty. If Smith was given the death penalty, instead of just being in prison he would not have had the chance to lure the guard and kill her. The neighbors who did not help the screaming victim represent the world and how we pretend not to see crime until it directly effects our lives.
Koch seems determined and very passionate about this topic. He really seems to want to get people to feel the same way that he does about the death penalty. He is determined to show people that the death penalty is the only way to rightfully make justice from murders. The example of the women screaming for help and no one came to her assistance infers that there is a lack of want to help others and deter the great number of crime and murders. This tone and example grabs and holds onto the reader’s attention. He mixes sympathy and facts to educate as well as relate with his reader.
Koch sounds as though he believes that other people and opponents or anyone who disagrees is inadequate. He makes the opinion of anyone who thinks differently seem as though have no clue about what they are talking about. Paragraph 4, Koch flaunts his experience and all the knowledge and experience that he has with this situation. Though this may be a good creditability tactic. Koch uses examples that make it seem as though absolutely no one wants to deter murders and decrease murder rates.

Writing Topic
The death penalty confuses me. I personally do not know what to think about the penalty. I understand the logic of a person who have had someone close to them unjustly murdered, but is there a thing as a just murder? I feel that the death penalty is flawed. Koch used examples about the state doing the same illegal acts as individuals but calling it another name. The state can do certain things and it is considered just, but individuals of lesser power do the same thing, call it something else, and they are in the wrong, taxation and extortion.
The death penalty makes no perfect sense to me. If someone kills another person are they not now considered a murderer? So murderer 1 kills a victim, then if the death penalty comes into play, would it not be the continuous cycle because murderer one must now be put to death, but the person who kills him is now technically a killer himself and should be put to death as well. This is where Koch’s example of taxation and extortion comes in to play. The people with higher power can get away with things that technically are unjust and immoral.