Adult Crime Adult Time
06 August 2013
Juvenile Crime
In “Adult Crimes, Adult Time,” published in the Washington Post on March 29, 1998, Linda J. Collier argues about the juvenile laws and her principal argument shows that children should serve the same time as adults when they commit adult crimes. Collier provides some statistics and examples (Jonesboro shooting, Daily City shooting, and her experience with a particular girl) that support her position regarding the information of the article. The diversity of laws among states made the situation much harder because they cannot come up with a specific solution for the problem. According to Collier, the solution is to create the same set of rules for every state, in order to punish the juvenile who commits adult crimes. However, the lack of participation of the federal government or Congress creates an environment of inconsistency in state laws that control the decision of prosecution of young society.
Collier's article is not a good example of an essay that combines all three appeals. The essay contains appeal to logos, but suffers from lack of reliable information of the topic and does not provides a decent amount of evidence that clearly supports her reasons. Also, the refutation of different opinions is unclear along the essay, and does not appear to be made correctly. However, Collier's ability to build common ground, use sensory language and her appeal to pathos determines the good effectiveness of the argument.
The article seems to contain a large amount of information persuading the reader to support the more severe and strict punishment for juveniles committing adult crimes. However, Collier’s overall argument seems weak due to the lack of logical, statistical, and supportive facts making it sound more like a complain instead of an argument. She does not provides statistical facts to support a change in the juvenile justice system, on the other hand, she just advises to change the set of rules without any reliable or factual
Juvenile Crime
In “Adult Crimes, Adult Time,” published in the Washington Post on March 29, 1998, Linda J. Collier argues about the juvenile laws and her principal argument shows that children should serve the same time as adults when they commit adult crimes. Collier provides some statistics and examples (Jonesboro shooting, Daily City shooting, and her experience with a particular girl) that support her position regarding the information of the article. The diversity of laws among states made the situation much harder because they cannot come up with a specific solution for the problem. According to Collier, the solution is to create the same set of rules for every state, in order to punish the juvenile who commits adult crimes. However, the lack of participation of the federal government or Congress creates an environment of inconsistency in state laws that control the decision of prosecution of young society.
Collier's article is not a good example of an essay that combines all three appeals. The essay contains appeal to logos, but suffers from lack of reliable information of the topic and does not provides a decent amount of evidence that clearly supports her reasons. Also, the refutation of different opinions is unclear along the essay, and does not appear to be made correctly. However, Collier's ability to build common ground, use sensory language and her appeal to pathos determines the good effectiveness of the argument.
The article seems to contain a large amount of information persuading the reader to support the more severe and strict punishment for juveniles committing adult crimes. However, Collier’s overall argument seems weak due to the lack of logical, statistical, and supportive facts making it sound more like a complain instead of an argument. She does not provides statistical facts to support a change in the juvenile justice system, on the other hand, she just advises to change the set of rules without any reliable or factual
Cited: Collier, Linda J. “Adult Crime, Adult Time.” The Washington Post Company, Page C01. Web. Sunday, March 29, 1998.