Sample Essay Capital Punishment

SAMPLE ESSAY

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|WHAT IS AN ESSAY? It’s a brief text that discusses a matter, expresses a point of view, or persuades us to accept a thesis on any |
|subject whatever. |
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|WHAT’S A THESIS? A thesis statement is a statement of what your essay is about. |
|i.e. ‘Capital punishment should not be reintroduced in Australia’ |
|‘Strategies for eradicating starvation in Third World countries’ |
|‘Why Australind needs a purpose built track for trail bikes’ |

SAMPLE ESSAY – Capital Punishment Must Not Be Reintroduced in Australia

|INTRODUCTION: | |
|General statement |In the USA, thousands of prisoners spend many years living in tiny cells on |
|Specific statement |‘death row’ awaiting execution. In Australia, people wonder if we too should be |
| |reintroduced. |
|Thesis statement |In this essay I will demonstrate why capital punishment must never be |
| |re-introduced. |
|BODY – Paragraph 1: | |
|Topic sentence |My first argument against the death penalty is that not all people who commit the|
| |same crime will receive the death penalty and this is unfair. There are very few |
|Developing sentence 1 |wealthy people on death row. This is because wealthy people can afford the very |
|Supporting sentence 1 |best lawyers to defend themselves and are therefore likely to escape the death |
| |penalty. Most death row inmates come from economically poor backgrounds. This is |
| |because poor people can’t afford to hire lawyers. They are usually represented by|
|Developing sentence 2 |court appointed lawyers have many other people to represent. They don’t always |
|Supporting sentence 2 |have the time to prepare all their cases properly, so their clients are more |
| |likely to be poorly represented and therefore be given the death penalty. |
| |Clearly, it is unjust that a person should lose his life simple because he cannot|
| |afford a reasonable defense lawyer, while another man goes free for the same |
| |crime merely because he can. |
| | |
|Concluding sentence | |
|BODY – Paragraph 2: | |
|Topic sentence |My second point against capital punishment is that all human life is valuable and|
| |taking a life causes great suffering whether the perpetrator is a person or the |
| |state. |
|Developing sentence 1 |If our society truly respects and values life, it should value and respect |
| |everyone’s life. An example of the danger of valuing one life above another can |
| |be found in Germany in the Second World War. Hitler’s government valued some |
|Supporting sentence 1 |lives above others and justified the murder of more than fifteen million Slavs, |
| |Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gypsies, mentally impaired people, and other people |
| |whose lives the government didn’t value. In addition to this point, when we |
| |decide if a perpetrator’s life is valuable or expendable, we should think of the |
| |condemned person’s family. While a court may find a murderer’s life to be |
|Developing sentence 2 |expendable, the family of that person probably wouldn’t. When a person is |
| |executed, their sentence is over, but for their family, the true suffering is |
| |just beginning. In fact, capital punishment punishes the innocent family of the |
|Supporting sentence 2 |condemned more that it punishes the person who committed the crime. Without |
| |question then, all life is valuable and when we deny this simple fact we extend |
| |suffering rather than heal it. Surely our justice system should not seek |
| |vengeance over healing. |
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|Concluding sentence | |
|BODY – Paragraph 3: | |
|Topic sentence – stating a strong opposing argument |Some people may argue that capital punishment is fair after all because the |
| |sentence isn’t carried out immediately and the condemned may appeal against his |
|Introducing the rebuttal |execution and even win a reprieve from execution. In fact, these apparent mercies|
| |are in reality a form of psychological and emotional torture for the condemned. |
| |People who are sentenced to die can appeal their sentence but the process of |
|Developing sentence 1 |waiting for the courts to hear their appeal that takes a very long time– in some |
| |cases, decades. This causes prolonged, cruel and unreasonable suffering. |
|Supporting sentence 1 |Supporters of capital punishment point out that even up to the very hour of |
| |execution, the condemned may be given a reprieve by the Governor. This may seem |
|Developing sentence 2 |an act of mercy, but in reality this thin hope prevents the condemned and his |
| |family from reconciling themselves to the death sentence and thus denies them the|
| |opportunity to fully prepare themselves to face the event with peace. |
|Supporting sentence 2 |The justice system is cruel and unjust to condemn a person to death, and the |
| |appeal system, which is essential, is also harrowing and causes indefensible |
| |suffering to the condemned. |
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|Concluding sentence | |
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|CONCLUSION: | |
|Sum up the main ideas of your essay |In conclusion, sentences of capital punishment punish only the economically |
| |disadvantaged, bring deeper grief and longer suffering to the families of the |
| |condemned and cause unjustifiable despair and anxiety to the condemned. |
| |Clearly, the death penalty is not acceptable to a civilized society and should |
|Restate your thesis statement |not be reintroduced in Australia.If we allow governments to take lives, our |
| |society is in danger of being dehumanized. We should therefore heed the terrible |
|Powerful finish: |lesson taught in Germany in World War Two, and value no life above another. |
|gives an opinion, prediction, quote, call to action, rhetorical | |
|question, or powerful statement | |

Notice the use of LINKING (CONNECTIVE) words and phrases like clearly, in conclusion, furthermore.
There are many other connective words and phrases. Their purpose is to connect or link your ideas so they form a logical argument, moving smoothly from one point to the next. They are underlined in this sample essay so you can see them easily. In ordinary essays, they are not underlined.

Look at your Linking Words handout to find more connective words.

Ms B Hopkins Australind SHS English 2012