Tasks to the article "Last Words"

·         Which of these last words made most of an impression on you? Why? What do you think this person was feeling at that moment?

·         “I deserve this.” The person sentenced to death admits and regrets what he did, he is sorry and he acknowledges that he deserves to die to. He regrets what he did so much that he actually wants to take the death penalty, and In some way make up for what he did.

·         Death penalty – pros and cons. Make a list. Are you for or against the death penalty, personally? Explain.

·         Pros:

-         “An eye for an eye”: The murderer is killed to make up for what he did, so maybe the family feel like the murder has been justified in some sort of way.

-         The government don’t have to use any resources to keep the sentenced people in prison for a lifetime.

-         Some people might actually think it’s better to die than to take a life sentence.

·         Cons:

-         It creates more victims, because the families of the death sentenced also lose a family member, it’s unnecessary to hurt more people than those who are already hurt.

-         It’s too easy to kill innocent persons, and a lot of juries are prejudiced, especially against black people. If they find out that people are innocent after they are killed, it’s too late to change their sentence.

-         Some people claim that it actually cost more to give a death sentence than a life sentence, because of all the extra rounds in the court that often follows a death sentence.

·         Read this article: http://ndla.no/nb/node/55468. Answer the questions at the bottom of the page.

1. What is another word (synonym) used in the text for the death penalty? Capital punishment
2. How many states in the US have a law permitting the death penalty and what percentage of the total number of US states does this represent? 35 states allow the death penalty, half of them practice it.
3. Which method is used as the primary form of execution? Lethal injection.
4. What are some of the arguments mentioned that support capital punishment? They don’t have to use resources to keep them in jail for years, and the families of the victims get their justice.
5. What are the arguments expressing opposition? There are a lot of prejudiced courts, especially prejudice of black people, and innocent people might get killed. It also cost more to give someone a death sentence than a life sentence.
6. Why are many of the prisoners on death row black? Because there are a lot more prejudice against black people, for many people it’s easier to believe that a black man is a murderer than a white man.