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Article of the Week

Week of 2/27-3/3
Directions: Complete all steps below, which includes annotating, answering questions, and margin
notes. You should read this article multiple times before Friday. Be prepared to share your thoughts,
ideas, and opinions on Friday!

Step 1 : Read the article. Use the coding we practiced in class to annotate the article. You can use
the following options:
* important idea + you agree X you disagree

! surprising idea __ Underline a specific line that you Circle a word you dont know-try to
found interesting guess the meaning using context
clues

? you are wondering about that idea

Step 2: Read the article a second time. Number the paragraphs. Read the article carefully and
make notes in the margin. Notes should include:
The 5Ws:
Who is involved in the text?
What is the main subject of the text?
When is the event of the text happening?
Where is the event of the text taking place?
Why is this text written? What is the point?
Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main
idea of important sections may serve this purpose. You could also [bracket] the paragraph and
write the GIST.)
Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.
Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.
Make a connection (another event, another historical movement) with something you read (no
personal connections!)
Observations about how the writers strategies (organization, word choice, perspective,
evidence) and choices affect the article.

Step 3: Read the article again noting anything you might have missed during the other reads of the
text.
Step 4: Answer the questions that follow the article. Be sure to use evidence from the article when
necessary.
Notes on my
Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished? thoughts,
reactions and
The New York Times Upfront Magazine Feb. 20, 2017 questions as
I read:
In January, Dylann Roof, 22, received a death sentence for the 2015 hate crime killing
of nine African-Americans in a South Carolina church. Overall, however, the use of
capital punishment in the U.S. has declined in recent years as opposition to it has grown.
In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled (in Atkins v.Virginia) that the death penalty for mentally
disabled defendants violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
And in 2005, the justices barred the execution of those whod committed their crimes as
minors (in Roper v. Simmons).
Here, two experts argue whether the death penalty is too harsh a punishment for any
crime.

YES
When the United States was founded more than two centuries ago, capital punishment
was commonplace in the 13 colonies, as well as in England and across Europe. Today its
becoming increasingly rare.
More than two-thirds of the worlds countries, including virtually all of Europe, have
abolished the death penalty. This trend away from capital punishment can be seen in the
United States as well. New death sentences and executions in the U.S. continue to decline.
In 2016, there were approximately 30 new death sentencesdown from a record high of
315 in 1996. Twenty people were executed in 2016, compared with 98 in 1999. The
decline in death sentences and executions reflects a growing discomfort with capital
punishment.
Support for capital punishment is at a 40-year low. According to some polls, less than
half of Americans favor its use. Since 2007, the death penalty has been eliminated in six
states, bringing the number that have the death penalty down to 31. And actual use of the
death penalty is increasingly limited to a small geographic slice of the nation: Four
statesFlorida, Georgia, Missouri, and Texasare responsible for 90 percent of
Americas executions.
We all benefit from a criminal justice system that creates a safer society with less Notes on my
thoughts,
crime. Thats not what the death penalty is doing. Murder rates are lowest in the reactions and
Northeastthe region with the fewest executions. The South carries out the most questions as
I read:
executions and has high murder rates.
Finally, theres the fact that the system is prone to human error and discrimination.
Since 1976, at least 156 people have been freed from death row after evidence of their
innocence emerged. And death sentences are more likely to be given if the murder victim
is white or if the defendant is poor.
There are better ways to punish the guilty and keep our communities safe. Its time for
the U.S. to join the international community by abandoning this medieval form of
punishment.

DIANN RUST-TIERNEY,
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

NO
Capital punishment is an extreme sanction that is properly reserved for the worst of
the worst: terrorists like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and mass murderers
like Dylann Roof.
During the first decade of the 21st century, there were 26 percent more executions in
the U.S. than in the last decade of the 20th century. During the same time period, the U.S.
murder rate decreased by 24 percent. Several academic studies show a clear deterrent
effect from judicious use of the death penalty.
Opponents claim that there are innocent people on death row. While that may be true,
it has not been proven that even a single innocent person has actually been executed. The
reason is that in every state with capital punishment, convicted murderers automatically go
through a series of appeals that result in an average 12-year delay between sentence and
execution. Beyond that, DNA testing can now establish with virtual certainty in many
cases whether an individual is, in fact, the killer.
On the other hand, there are hundreds of innocent victims whove died because we Notes on my
thoughts,
allowed convicted murderers to get out of prison and kill again. reactions and
Some claim life without parole is an appropriate alternative to the death penalty. But questions as
I read:
the looming threat of a death sentence is a key reason many killers agree to accept
sentences of life without parole in plea deals.
According to Gallup polls, 60 percent of Americans support the death penalty for a
person convicted of murder. This continued support was on display in November: In
California, voters rejected
a ballot measure that would have abolished capital punishment in the state, and
Nebraska voters rejected the legislatures move to end the death penalty there.
If we can establish that a killer is absolutely guilty and has a track record that suggests
he will seriously hurt or kill again, what do we say to his future victims if we allow him to
live? We need capital punishment for those rare cases in which a killer is beyond
redemption.

JOSHUA MARQUIS,
District Attorney, Clatsop County, Oregon

By the Numbers: Capital Punishment

31: Number of states with the death penalty. The


federal courts can also use it.
20 Number of executions in the U.S. in 2016. Thats
down from 98 in 1999.
2,905 Number of inmates on death row in the U.S., as
of July 2016.
SOURCE: Death Penalty Information Center

Directions: Use the article to answer the questions below.

1. Define the following words using context clues from the text.
prone: judicious: looming:
2. What is the article mostly about?

3. Directions: Analyzing the authors claim Complete the chart below using evidence from the article
AUTHOR: Diann Rust-Tierney AUTHOR: Joshua Marquis
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty District Attorney, Clatsop County, Oregon

Authors main claim or argument in the debate: Authors main claim or argument in the debate:

REASON 1: REASON 1:
Name one reason the author gives for his claim. Name one reason the author gives for his claim.

List evidence the author gives to support Reason 1. List evidence the author gives to support Reason 1.

REASON 2: REASON 2:
Name one reason the author gives for his claim. Name one reason the author gives for his claim.

List evidence the author gives to support Reason 2. List evidence the author gives to support Reason 2.

REASON 3: REASON 3:
Name one reason the author gives for his claim. Name one reason the author gives for his claim.
List evidence the author gives to support Reason 3. List evidence the author gives to support Reason 3.

What persuasive devices does the author use? What persuasive devices does the author use?
___ Appeals to emotions ___ Appeals to emotions
___ Uses data or scholarly research ___ Uses data or scholarly research
___ Tells why the other sides argument is weak ___ Tells why the other sides argument is weak
___ Other: ___ Other:
EVALUATE: Which author do you think makes a more effective case? Do you spot any
weaknesseslike a bias or missing informationin either argument?

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Rubric

Discern

Outcome Target Not Yet Meets Standards Exceeds Standards

Selects textual evidence See below Student selects text Student cites multiple pieces of textual evidence that
that supports analysis on ways to evidence that connects to clearly connect to her ideas and support analysis of the
and inferences improve and supports her ideas. text.

Ways to improve this outcome: ___ use evidence that supports your ideas,____ when evaluating you thoroughly discuss your
evidence in more than one sentence, ___ other:

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