Alex Miles Final Rhet and Comp Portfolio

ALEX The Final Portfolio

Vol. 1 Issue 12 ES €5.50 IT €5.00 FR €8.00 GB €5.00 USA $10.99

TABLE OF CONTENTS The Acknowledgment 3 The Self Assessment 4 The Rhetorical Analysis 5 "The Electric Chair:

Grotesquely, Physically, and Morally Wrong" The Final Paper 8 "Capital Punishment: It Isn't Black and White"

THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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From slaving over a Word document at 2am to using Uncle Jose as an example for everything, this issue celebrates the times experienced in Rhetoric & Comp II.

36 Miss Suada Redzematovic

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Beth's Angels (Sans the Guys) First of all, my roommate is my rock.

I mean that in the strongest possible way. When the muses would take me at 12:30 am while writing my essay, Suada (pronounced "Swada," she demanded I made that clear) would insist that she stay up with me. She'd print things for me, crack numerous jokes to keep me from stressing out, and even take me out for food afterwards. In short, she's contributed to my writing this semester. Plus, she demanded I acknowledge her here, she's good at that: demanding things.

Second, my Rhetoric and Comp class was fantastic. It's not every day that a college English class s fun and truly educational. It's either one or the other.

But in this class, there was a feeling almost like a small family in the room. We had input on subjects, we all worried about the Freedom and Rights quizzes, and we all struggled to have patience in the line at Joe's. This family feeling made it easy to ask questions and really get engaged in whatever project we would be working on. That feeling extends to our lovely professor, Beth. She was like the mom of the family who just so happened to grade us on essays.

But Beth kept the class interesting with her metaphors, stories about her actual children, and her savvy clothing choices. She was a wonderful professor and for that, I say thank you.

Beth and Her Man

ALEXANDRA MILES Head Honcho ALEX THE MAG | 3

www.thisisntreal.com

DEC 2015 &

St. Edward's University

RHETORIC COMPOSITION

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SELF ASSESSMENT

By Alex Miles

Our group met twice to work on our multimodal project. Both times we met on the third floor of Ragsdale in front of Mabee Ballrooms. During this time, the jobs of the project were split among the group members. The subject information (statistics, laws, etc.) was found by Jack.

Norma found the website to make the video and made about half of our video.

Kelly put all of the information into pictures, which were then uploaded into the video. Alexa helped with the design. I wrote out all the sentences that were used in the presentation.

In terms of ideas, everyone contributed equally to the success of the project. It was originally Norma's idea to do the style of video that we ended up going with. This was as close to kinetic type as we could get. It was Jack's idea to use the mental health subject, since it's a lesser known subject than racism. It was Kelly's idea to put pictures between some of the text.

And it was my idea to make the colors dark to convey the overall sadness of the subject we were covering.

If there’s one thing I learned from this project, it would be that rhetoric can actually be fun. Rhetoric isn’t always a boring essay in a strict format, because rhetoric is everywhere. We are exposed to rhetoric every day. Whether it be in commercials, magazines, video games, or even just plain conversation, there is no way to escape rhetoric in life.

I've also learned that rhetoric doesn't have be hard. It's an art. When you look at it from the perspective that you experience rhetoric every single day of your life, it suddenly becomes much easier to do it yourself. In the written form, it can indeed be difficult, and that's okay, because it's a process. In other forms, rhetoric can suddenly become second nature. And when you learn to master the art of rhetoric, so many doors open for you.

Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, freecontent encyclopedia project. | wikipedia.com

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RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

THE ELECTRIC CHAIR GROTESQUELY, PHYSICALLY, AND MORALLY WRONG ALEXANDRA MILES In his book, Just Mercy, Attorney Bryan Stevenson asserts that there are many issues with the death penalty. Throughout the book, Stevenson supports his assertions through the use of statistics, emotional appeals and anecdotes. Perhaps the most interesting of his assertions was that the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment.

Early on in the book, Stevenson recounts the description of the execution of John Evans, which was by the electric chair. The description noted that Evans had to be electrocuted 3 times because the electrodes weren’t working properly. During the first 30 second round, “sparks and flames erupted from the electrode tied to Mr. Evans’s left leg.” (Pg. 54) In addition to this, the description noted that “a large puff of greyish smoke and sparks poured out from under the hood that covered Mr. Evans’s face,” (Pg. 54) along with “an overpowering stench of burnt flesh and clothing.” (Pg. 54) Right off the bat, this description is using a more grotesque and blunt language to describe the process of the execution.

The language in itself already inspires a fear of disgust in the reader, and it works in tandem with the overall atmosphere of the situation to also inspire other negative emotional responses (sadness, anger, etc.) During the second round of electrocution, it was noted that “the stench of burning flesh was nauseating. More smoke emanated from his leg and head.” (Pg. 54) The second round’s language doesn’t necessarily add to the emotional appeal of the situation.

However, it does serve to heighten the appeals already laid out through the description of the first round of electrocution. During the time between the second and third rounds of electrocution, the writer of the description, Russ Canan, had asked the prison commissioner to grant clemency, a disposition to be merciful to moderate the severity of punishment due, on the grounds that Mr. Evans was being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. The clemency request was denied.

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Finally, the third round of electrocution took Mr. Evans’s life. The description said that “the execution of John Evans took fourteen minutes.” While it does not explicitly state it, that last line of the report regarding the total time spent in the chair is meant to imply that the execution of John Evans took an excessive amount of time to be performed. The longer than usual process along with the nauseating stench and burning flesh are all used as evidence by Stevenson to promote the overall idea that the electric chair is a cruel and unusual mode of execution. Furthermore, the fact that Evans was not granted clemency only furthers this claim, because the idea of cruel and unusual punishment was explicitly stated during the execution process, yet clemency was denied. Overall, John Evans’ execution was put to good use as both an ethical and emotional appeal to Stevenson’s audience, the readers.

Later on in the book, Horace Dunkins, who was mentally ill, was also subjected to a cruel and unusual execution in the electric chair. Stevenson explained that “correctional officials had plugged the electrodes into the chair incorrectly, so only a partial charge was delivered to Mr. Dunkins’ body when the electric chair was activated.” (Pg. 71) The first problem Stevenson points out in this case is the neglect by the prison officers to ensure a truly humane execution. The execution was made even more inhumane by the fact that, as expected, the initial charge did not kill Mr. Dunkins, it only knocked him unconscious. The mistake was discovered after the officials decided to wait “for the body to cool,” in the words of the officials themselves. (Pg. 71) After making alterations, they electrocuted Dunkins once more, this time with success. Stevenson ends the paragraph by pointing out that “following this cruelly mishandled execution, the state performed an autopsy – against the family’s repeated requests.” (Pg. 72.)

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

Stevenson wanted to make it clear to his audience that not only was the execution handled poorly, but the body itself was mistreated after death.

Stevenson ended this paragraph with that angering piece of information, because he wanted it to resonate within the mind of the reader; therefore, he placed it in the stress position of the paragraph.

Horace Dunkins’ “botched execution” (Pg. 71) served Stevenson’s purpose by further building on the emotional appeal he had laid out earlier in the book with John Evans’ case.

Herbert Richardson, a mentally ill Vietnam War veteran, was on death row for the murder of a young girl. Stevenson had already touched on how unethical it was to send a mentally ill person to death row. Herbert’s case is made all the more troubling by the fact that he’s mentally ill from his service in the military, a situation that is all too common. Stevenson recounts that on the day of Herbert’s scheduled execution, Herbert spoke of what it was like that entire day. He said that “All day long people have been asking me, ‘What can I do to help you?’ When I woke up this morning, they kept coming to me, ‘Can we get you some breakfast?’…All day long, ‘What can we do to help you?’…’how can we help you?” (Pg. 89) Herbert’s entire last day experience was centered on him being helped. This entire situation is ironic, and Stevenson points it out: “Where were these people when he really need him? … Where were they when he returned from Vietnam traumatized and disabled?” (Pg. 89 – 90) These questions are all based on the even bigger question: where were these people when this mentally ill war veteran was sentenced to death? The irony in Herbert’s words help Stevenson by showing that the entire execution system is rather backwards, and Stevenson tells his audience without ever telling his audience.

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RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

He leaves it to the readers to discover, making the idea resonate even more within their minds.

Stevenson then went on to describe the atmosphere around Herbert’s execution, by pointing out the composure of the prison officials: “The prison officials had pumped themselves up to carry out the execution with determination and resolve, but even they revealed extreme discomfort and some measure of shame.” (Pg. 90) Stevenson’s pointing out the lack of ethicality in the death of Herbert.

Everyone, even the ones in charge of executing him, knew that this – the systematic killing of a mentally ill man – was wrong.

Through the use of the stories of the electric chair – both about the process and about the feeling surrounding it – Stevenson asserts how the electrocution of a man isn’t right. By giving his audience a rather grotesque description, an example of how the electrocution method can go wrong, and an image of how the prison officials feel about execution, Stevenson is appealing both ethically and morally to his readers. While the electric chair is a problematic method of systematic killing, its concept is only a building block in Stevenson’s overall purpose: to show his readers that there is a serious issue in the criminal justice system with regards to the death penalty. Stevenson wrote, “we were comfortable killing people who kill, in part because we think we can do it in a manner that doesn’t implicate our own humanity, the way that raping or abusing someone would.” (Pg. 90-91) Through these examples, however, Stevenson’s showing that we are not comfortable killing those who kill. The issue isn’t that we’re comfortable with it, the issue is that we have no gratifying alternative.

Bryan Stevenson Author of 'Just Mercy'

RACISM IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IT ISN'T BLACK AND WHITE

By Alexandra Miles

The United States criminal justice system that includes the use of capital punishment for violent crimes. However, the capital punishment system is plagued with many problems that contribute to its lack of effectiveness. The United States capital punishment system is defective because there is a tendency for the judgements to be racist. It is a racist system not just towards the defendants but towards the victims as well.

Racial discrimination in the capital punishment system has been around for a long time – 100’s of years. While laws about racial discrimination in general have evolved over time, racial discrimination, too, has evolved to always survive. In the beginning, racial discrimination in the capital punishment system was blatant.

Black men weren’t socially allowed to associate themselves with White women.

Any colored man found associating with – or worse, accused of associating with a Caucasian woman was immediately punished. Punishment usually consisted of torture –hanging, dragging, beating, etc.

Of course, said torture almost always ended in death, and that was the intention. This practice continued well into the 1900’s.

On August 24, 1955, fourteen year-old Emmett Till was reportedly flirting with a White cashier at a grocery store while visiting family in Money, Mississippi. On August 28, four days after the alleged altercation, two White men kidnapped Till, beat him, and then shot him in the head. While the two men were tried for murder, an all-white, all-male jury acquitted them both.

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“the

This practice is not really considered a capital punishment

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) found that

system, so much as a barbaric routine of killing colored men for

raw data of death sentences in Philadelphia between 1983 and

associating with White women. Black men had been entitled to

1993 provide the first piece of disturbing evidence that race

the right to trial by jury through the 14th Amendment back in

discrimination may be operating

1868, yet they were being

“sentenced” to death with no legal

…the rate at which eligible

Black defendants were sentenced to death was nearly 40% higher

action whatsoever. In the present, these hate crimes are almost

than the rate for other eligible defendants. (Dieter)” In short,

completely nonexistent, yet the racism and end result remain;

throughout the United States, an eligible defendant is more likely

just in a different form.

to be put to death if he is Black than if he is of any other race. In an article in The Atlantic, writer Matt Ford found that

“the

The most well-known form of racism in the capital punishment

national death-row population is roughly 42 percent black, while

system is when the case involves a Black defendant. Andre

the U.S. population overall is only 13.6 percent black.” (Ford 3)

Thomas, a Black man with a history of mental illness, was sentenced by an entirely white jury to death for murdering his

The racism in such cases often stems from racially bias juries. In

wife (who happened to be White) and her two children (one of

1989, Gary Sterling was sentenced to death for murdering a

which was his). To obtain said monochromatic jury, the two

white minor during a robbery. Sterling’s attorney, Robert Dunn,

prosecutors, Kerye Ashmore and Joe Brown, used a procedure

had known Victor Walther, one of the 12 white jurors for

referred to as a

“shuffle” - a procedure that only exists in Texas.

decades before the case. Dunn even knew that Walther was

The shuffle got rid of any potential Black jurors from being

“probably a racist.” Things took a turn for the worse when

considered. Not only were all of the jurors White, some of them

Walther provided a testimony during Sterling’s post-conviction

were openly against interracial marriage. In a jury questionnaire,

that confirmed Dunn’s feelings:

one prospective juror pointed out that he

“vigorously” opposed

two people of different races marrying and/or having children together. He even went on to say

“I don’t believe God intended

“There are some niggers who live [a] couple blocks over. They deal crack over there. Sometimes those niggers will start

for this.” Thomas’ court-appointed defender, who had the

hollering and cursing. And pretty soon they’ll start shooting. One

questionnaire responses in front of him, never bothered to

of them stays in jail all the time. He’ll be in jail a few days and

question these blatantly racist jurors, and all of them went on to

then he’ll be right back out. A couple of ‘em shot each other last

be on the jury. Andre Thomas remains on death row to this day.

Juneteenth over a card game.”

(Bookman 1) Regardless of his feelings, Dunn never asked the jurors about Andre Thomas’ story is a classic example of a racist system. He was failed by the jury selection process, the supposed

“jury of his

their racial views because he didn’t think they’d answer honestly.

This comes after Dunn was faulted in another case where he

“wetback” in front of the jury.

peers”, and by his attorney; all because of his race. Some could

called his Salvadoran client a

make the argument that an all-White jury doesn’t necessarily

Gary Sterling was executed in 2005. Racist jurors played a large

equate to a racist jury, and they’d be correct. The failure is that

role in Sterling’s conviction, but Dunn’s neglect left him with no

bluntly racist individuals were allowed to serve on the jury, even

hope. Unfortunately, situations like this happen all too frequently

though their social views left them extremely biased on all points

when it comes to Black defendants. Like in Sterling’s case, laws

of the case. Furthermore, the prosecutors directly used racism to

involving court procedure are often manipulated to produce a

help them win the case. They eliminated any Black potential

jury that automatically disadvantages the defendant due to his

juror almost immediately because they knew an all-white jury

race. What’s more, because these actions are all technically legal,

would rule in their favor.

racism like this is often overlooked or ignored entirely.

Thomas’ case is seen frequently in the United States capital punishment system.

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The United States capital punishment system is ineffective for a multitude of reasons. However, racism is and always has been a major reason for such ineffectiveness. Racism in the United States capital punishment system has been around for decades, and has only grown in size and aggressiveness over time.

Furthermore, in an overwhelming amount of cases in which the defendants were Black, the defendants were convicted and sentenced to death. Because of vague court procedures, the cases of many defendants are subject to racist juries, attorneys, and even judges.

Whether it be through the rewriting of capital punishment case procedures, what mandates capital punishment, or how each criminal case is looked at, action must be taken. Racism within the capital punishment system has been a problem for decades, and it’s time for it to be diminished.

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ST EDS