The Story Spine- Once Upon a Time…

Topic:  Story Spine

Expectation:  The “backbone” of how to tell a story.   Assignment:  Remember the seven writing prompts for Friday- 9/5

Creativity Warm Up:   Story Spine- Write the Story Spine Prompts on a flashcards.   Create two groups.   The two groups have to make up short stories from the format. Handing out one card at a time.  Each group will have 2 minutes between cards to fill in the information.      

Story Spine-Create a Story Line:  Here is a Basic Story Plot Line.   This can help you spark creativity and make storytelling genius.    Remember these steps…

 

Once upon a time there was ___.  Every day, ___.  One day ___.   Because of that, ___.  Because of that, ___.  Until finally ___.   Ever since that day_____.

 

An Filmatic Example: Stranger than Fiction:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwTQ57YyzI

 

• Where does this clip end in the story spine?   
• What effect do the animations have on magnifying Harold’s character?
• What do you think happens next?   
• What is the story trying to tell us about Harold?  
• Why is the watch such an important character in the story?     

 

Here is a Description of the Story Spine:  

This is an idea/tool about the spine of any story. The whole point of the tool is to provide a model for a well-constructed story with a beginning that establishes a routine, an event that breaks the routine, a middle that shows the consequences of having broken the routine, a climax that sets the resolution to the story in motion, and the resolution. It goes like:

• Once upon a time…
• Every day…
• But, one day…
• Because of that…
• Because of that…
• Because of that… n
• Until, finally…
• And, ever since then..

 

Story Spine Graphic Organizer:  

Our Second Group Story Prompt:

A Rock Star wakes up to find that he has aged 20 years overnight.   Create a story spine for this situation.  

 

Today’s Reading:  

Today’s Reading:   Storytelling is the Ultimate Weapon:  Fast Company http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680581/why-storytelling-is-the-ultimate-weapon

Today’s Multimedia Storytelling Example:   

 

The Cronulla Riots The Day that Shocked the Nation

 

 

Collin Dodge

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-82HQA9Opw

      The Stranger was written by Albert Camus 1942. It is based on an Algerian character named Meursault who commits a murder. Camus used existentialist themes throughout the novel. Existentialism is when people believe that they are a stranger in their own life, they begin to realize that life has no meaning and their personal definition is essential to their life. The same philosophy is used in the song “Suicidal Thoughts” by Christopher Wallace. In the song, Christopher describes that his life has no meaning and he would rather be dead than alive, exemplifying true existentialism. The song “Suicidal Thoughts” by Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G) and the book The Stranger by Albert Camus both exemplify existentialism through the principles of Individuality, Anxiety, and Alienation.

Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known by his stage names “Biggie Smalls” or “The Notorious B.I.G” emerged from the streets of Brooklyn as the newest up and coming “King of New York”. Having a rough childhood life, the son of a preschool teacher was missing a father figure in his life. Biggie was always surrounded by drug dealers, soon becoming one himself. As biggie always put music as his 2^nd choice, he found himself be-friending the famous Sean Combs, otherwise known as P. Diddy. Biggie’s first album “Ready to die” which described his life story from becoming drug dealer to rapper, was released in 1994 and went platinum, giving him the names “Lyricist of the Year” “Best New Artist”. Although Biggie quickly rose to fame and is still one of the most famous and lyrically recognized rappers, he got caught up in the “East Side/ West Side” dilemma, turning his friends into enemies, such as Tupac Shakur. Biggie was blamed for shooting and robbing Pac as he entered “Bad Boy Record Label” in which biggie was signed under.  Soon after the East and West coast became enemies resulting in Pac releasing the song “Hit ‘Em Up”, one of the most recognized rap disses ever released, this song was directed towards Biggie. Biggie came back at Pac with a song called “Who Shot Ya?”claiming that Pac was out of his mind for thinking Biggie would ever set Pac up to get shot. The East Coast West Coast ordeal resulted in both Pac and Biggie being shot and killed in a 6 month span, Pac went first and soon after Biggie visited California for a Music Industry Party. As he was leaving, on the night of March 9^th 1997, Biggie and his crew were at a red light and a car pulled up next to them, and opened fire on Biggie. Biggie was shot and killed at the scene, the shooters have still not been found. In Biggie’s 24 year life span, Biggie turned his life from a drug dealer into one of the most lyrically recognized rappers ever known.

Albert Camus is a representative of non-metropolitan French Literature born in 1913, Camus used his experiences in Algeria during the 30’s to influence his writing. Camus is actually Algerian, but has won the French Nobel Prize, and is a contributor to the philosophy of “Absurdism”. One of his most famous writings The Stranger (translated from French to English) tells the story of a young man named Meursault who murders an Arab on a beach. The Stranger is actually widely known as one of the most existentialist books ever written.

Individuality defines that your personal definition as an individual is essential to your life. In the song, the best example of individuality Biggie portrays is on lines 1 and 2 when he states “When I die f*** it I wanna go to hell, cause I’m a piece of s*** it ain’t hard to f****** tell”. Biggie’s thoughts about himself show that he lacks the confidence necessary to pursue any of his goals. He believes he is a bum and he simply just doesn’t care about what happens to him, affecting his view on the world and the meaning of life. This is just like Meursault, perceiving himself as a worthless murderer shown on page 123 when Meursault states “I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate”. Meursualts individuality is shown through what he wants to happen at his execution, he wants people to hate him he wants a riot at his execution. Meursault not only thinks he should die and just disappear, but he actually wants a crowd at his execution filled with hatred. Meursault and Biggie both perceive themselves as worthless and better off dead, showing that their personal definitions have a major affect on how they view the world as a whole.

Anxiety is defined as a sensation that consumes one when they begin to realize that life is absurd and has no meaning. Meursault shows anxiety on countless occasions throughout the book, but one that really stands out is on page 24 when Meursault comes to the realization that life has no meaning and states “It occurred to me anyway that one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed”. Meursault’s mom just died, he feels no remorse or has any sad feelings regarding the loss of a loved one. Meursault believes that nothing has changed and nothing will ever change which is why he believes life has no meaning. Life doesn’t make any sense to Meursault, which is why he isn’t affected by the death of his mother, just like how it doesn’t make sense to Biggie as to why in life everybody strives to be the same. This is shown on lines 7 and 8 when Biggie writes “Hanging with the goodie-goodies lounging in paradise, f*** that s*** I wanna tote guns and shoot dice”. Biggie doesn’t understand the point in living if everybody wants to be the same, everybody wants to be successful and be a “goodie-goodie”, but to do that you have to work extremely hard, which is where it doesn’t make sense to him. Why be alive if you’re just going to work really hard, get really stressed all the time, and grow up to be like everybody else when in his mind he just wants to do whatever he wants. Biggie believes that unless you aspire to be different, you’re not actually living. Meursault believes that if nothing ever changes what’s the point in being alive. Both of them believe that life is meaningless and isn’t all it’s worked up to be and just don’t care if they’re alive or dead.

Alienation is defined as someone being a stranger in their own life, other people simply don’t understand them because each person’s meaning of life differs.  Biggie’s stellar portrayal of this principle is on lines 3 and 4 when he recites “It don’t make sense going to heaven with the goodie-goodies, dressed in white, I like black Timbs and black hoodies.” Biggie doesn’t want to go to heaven because that’s not who he is, he doesn’t want to be a good kid, he wants to do his own thing. Obviously it’s weird that someone would rather go to hell than heaven, which is why nobody understands him. Nobody understands him and his meaning of life because nobody else wants his life. Nobody else wants to go to hell rather than heaven, and nobody else wants to dress up in all black. Biggie portraying that he has a dark personality shows that his meaning of life is more violent than others. Not necessarily in a violent sense but definitely not fully understood, is Meursault. On page 41 Marie asks Meursault if he wants to marry her, he avoids the question and then Marie asks him if he loves her and he replies “ I answered the same way I had last time, that it didn’t mean anything but I probably didn’t love her”. Meursault doesn’t love Marie because he has no feelings towards anything, he never has and he never will. Meursault not caring about anything separates him from everybody else and not only does nobody understand Meursault, but he doesn’t understand himself. Meursault is an emotionless body just waiting for the day that he is taken away to arrive. Nobody understanding who Biggie and Meursault really are affect the way they treat others, and are both astounding examples of alienation.

The song “Suicidal Thoughts” by Biggie Smalls and the book The Stranger by Albert Camus both exemplify the principles of individuality, anxiety, and alienation through the notions of emotion, life, the world as they perceive it, and the belief that nothing will ever change. Albert Camus and Biggie Smalls connect all these principles together to form into the theory of existentialism as a whole.

 

Wils Ezequelle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJmnvhAOIBo

Ghost! By Kid Cudi

                The song Ghost! By Kid Cudi is an existentialist song because it contains absolute systems, alienation, forlornness and individuality. The individuality in the song is found by one repeating sound that extends throughout the song and the rest of these traits are found in the lyrics sung by Kid Cudi. This song relates to the book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus because they both exhibit existentialist traits.

References to absolute systems are present in the song “Ghost!” by Kid Cudi. The line “down the road with no lights on” in this song exemplifies Kudi’s choice to stray away from where everyone else is going and be an individual. Cudi is breaking free from the absolute system to become who he wants to be, not what society wants him to be. He followed the path of his destiny and this was a path of darkness. This quote relates to when Meursault, from ”The Stranger” by Albert Camus, says “He wanted to talk to me about God again, but I went up to him and made one last attempt to explain to him that I had only a little time left and I didn’t want to waste it on God.” This is when Meursault is being spoken to about his beliefs and the man is confused as to how Meursault is blind to God. The father is trying to push belief in God upon him but Meursault is not listening to what he has to say. This shows that Meursault is not conforming to the absolute system of the belief in any religion. Meursault has decided not to connect with anything that he can’t physically see or feel; therefore he is not conforming to the absolute system of religion. In both of these instances the character being focused on isn’t obeying a specific absolute system or in Cudi’s case just absolute systems in general. Nearly everything in life is an absolute system of which one is expected to follow the rules of, however the choice can always be made to become the person one wants to be, not the person that they are expected to be.

The trait of alienation is also present in the song “Ghost!” by Kid Cudi and the book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. When Cudi says “I hope they understand that I really understand that… they don’t understand,” he exemplifies alienation. Cudi is saying that he accepts the fact that no one understands him. He believes that no one will ever be able to completely understand him because of the idea that everybody’s meaning of life is different and that his belief of happiness may be very different than other peoples. His life is very complex with many different decisions that he has made that he doesn’t expect anyone to be able to relate to and understand. Meursault in “The Stanger” also experiences alienation in his life. He shows this in his conversation with Maria when he says “Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had last time, that it didn’t mean anything but I probably didn’t love her.” This is saying that Meursault doesn’t think that love means anything and that he doesn’t know if he loves her. He says that he probably doesn’t which implies that he doesn’t know what it is like to love someone. No one can understand him because no one knows what it is like to have never loved anyone. The fact that he has never loved before means that his meaning of life is much different than someone’s meaning of life that has loved, which makes it so that no one can fully understand him. Both of these characters exhibit the feeling that no one can ever understand their life but themselves.

Kid Cudi also speaks of experiencing forlornness in his song “Ghost!” When he says in his song “But I want to know one thing, when did I become a ghost” he is speaking of forlornness. Cudi is experiencing the realization that he has to make his own meaning of life. He is realizing that he has become a ghost of himself and has lost his originality and now has to recreate his meaning of life. This all causes him to have a sense of isolation because it is up to him to decide who he is. This isolation and lack of positivity in his life causes him to be depressed. The realization that he must create a meaning for his life is a large and complex idea that is very intimidating to think about. Meursault also experiences a feeling of forlornness but not to the same extent as Cudi does in his song. Meursault never really reaches the point of realization that he has to define his own meaning of life, but he does suffer through the feeling of isolation and he has no meaning of life. Meursault has never thought about what the meaning of his life is and therefore has no personal idea of his meaning of life. Both Cudi and Meursault experience of forlornness, however Cudi experiences it much more drastically than Meursault does in their lives.

In Kid Cudi’s song “Ghost!” individuality is expressed, however this trait is expressed through the music of the song rather than the lyrics. The general sound of the music in the song is low and repeating with the same noise. This trend of low sounds carries throughout the entire song. Also in the song is one higher pitched ringing noise that is much higher than the rest of the music. This sound is present throughout the whole song with a certain rhythm that repeats itself. This sound is representing individuality because is unique from the rest of the music that goes along with the song. The other music sets an absolute system of a lower beat and this sound is showing how to be an individual one must break out of their shell and not let absolute systems define who they are. One must make their own personal idea of themselves as an individual and what that looks like to them. Meursault states that he had “pretty much lost the habit of analyzing himself,” he is claiming his sense of individuality. Meursault is becoming his own person by not analyzing himself because he isn’t being limited as much by absolute systems if he isn’t constantly analyzing himself to see how well he is fitting in with other people. He has given up on the idea of self evaluation and become a more individual person. Cudi and Meursault experience great amounts of individuality in their lives and they embrace it as individuals.

The song “Ghost!” by Kid Cudi is existentialist because it contains individuality, forlornness, alienation and absolute systems. These traits are not all found in the lyrics of the song, individuality is found in the music used in the song. Existentialist traits don’t always have to be found in the lyrics of a song, they can be hidden in underneath layers of the music. All four of these traits are found in the book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus in the character Meursault. Because of these traits, Meursault is comparable and similar to Kid Cudi. Both individuals experience very similar feelings in their lives

Brendan Sileo

 

Brendan Sileo’s Thoughts on the Death Penalty

 

The death penalty should not be used as a punishment for criminals. Not because it is too harsh, but because it is inadequate. Punishments such as life in prison are more effective. It also has the advantage of being much cheaper than the death penalty. There are no reasons to use the death penalty other than because of old traditions from our countries inception.

The death penalty  has been used as a way to punish criminals who have committed terrible crimes such as murder and rape. It is seen as the highest form of punishment, with the next step down being life in prison. However, no matter how effective the death penalty seems as a punishment, it has some very glaring flaws. The death penalty should not be used as a punishment because there are worse punishments for the worst of criminals, there are no societal gains from using the death penalty, it is the most expensive form of punishment, and there is the ever present possibility of killing an innocent man or woman.

To most people, death is the worst thing that could happen to a person. You lose your life, your chance to experience the world and everything in it. According to some people, death is not actually the pinnacle of punishment. According to William Blake, a prisoner for 26 years, this is not true. He told a reporter that “If I try to imagine what kind of death, even a slow one, would be worse than twenty-five years in the box — and I have tried to imagine it — I can come up with nothing.” William didn’t even have a life sentence, and he was wishing for death during his sentence. Why would a someone with a life sentence want something different? Compared to the life of confinement suffered by prisoners for life, death would be like releasing them from their punishment. Suicide is the 5th most common cause of death in all state prisoners, and the leading cause for inmates under 35. The amount of prisoners that prefer to kill themselves instead of spending any more time confined shows how much better a punishment life in jail is compared to the death penalty. In The Stranger, the main characters Meursault is in jail for a murder and says that he “felt […] that [his] life was coming to a standstill there” and that he was often “gripping the bars, [his] face straining toward the light.” This shows the torture that prisoners go through while in jail, forced to deal with that fact that as the world goes on, their life is reduced to only a small box of cement and metal bars. It is similar to how death robs you of the rest of your life, except life in prison makes sure that you stay alive so that you know it. The death penalty, if anything, allows these criminals to escape their punishment, while prison makes them live it for the rest of their life.

One of the largest arguments in favor of the death penalty is that the possibility of death for their crimes is a much better deterrent than the threat of imprisonment. Although this may be a viable claim, it is not as true as it seems. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), there are many reasons why the death penalty is not a good deterrent. One of them is that “a punishment can be an effective deterrent only if it is consistently and promptly”. Very few of first-degree murderers are given the death penalty, and even fewer of them are actually executed, with most of them being changed to life in prison. With such a small group of people actually being sentenced to death, a criminal allowing that to control their actions would be similar to a skydiver not skydiving to avoid the possibility of being hit by a falling meteor. The ACLU also says that “most capital crimes are committed in the heat of the moment”. In such a situation that would make a person commit a crime such as murder (an extremely heated argument, drugs, alcohol, etc) they are not thinking in a way that allows them to understand the consequences. In The Stranger,  Meursault kills the Arab at a time when he is experiencing great emotional stress, which can be seen when he says “That’s when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky had split open from one end to the other to rain down fire. My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver.” Meursault was obviously not thinking about the possibility of any punishment, let alone the death penalty. In some cases, the threat of the death penalty actually increases the amount of murders that occur in an area. This is because “a return to the exercise of the death penalty weakens socially based inhibitions against the use of lethal force to settle disputes” meaning that when the government uses death as a punishment, it makes the idea of using lethal force to resolve arguments and disputes much easier to reach.

A common opinion about the death penalty is that it is much cheaper than life in prison, so it makes sense to use the death penalty to waste less money, however, the death penalty is more expensive than one would think. It costs millions more than life in prison. For example, the Death Penalty Information Center says that “Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole.” This is because since the death penalty is permanent, and punishing the wrong person can not be taken back, there are many more trials and appeals before the actual punishment is given. This to more jail time, with some inmates on death row spending “well over 20 years” waiting for their punishment. While that is not as long as life in prison, the amount of trials that happen during this time are much higher, costing the state millions of dollars per inmate. In addition to these costs, many of them later end up either released or sentenced with life in prison anyway. Since 2000, 59 death row inmates have been exonerated in the United States alone. That’s almost 10 percent of the inmates who have actually been executed.

Human judgement is not infallible. The advantage of most criminal punishments is that it can always be reversed by releasing them from prison. The death penalty is different in that it is the only punishment that is irreversible. If the government executes and innocent man there is no taking it back. According to the ACLU, “ there have been on the average more than four cases each year in which an entirely innocent person was convicted of murder.” Many of these individuals were not found innocent until after they died. The fact that innocent people have the chance to die makes the death penalty a very difficult idea to support. Until our societies ability to determine who actually committed a murder or other crime is improved to be 100% correct, it is not ethically permissible to continue issuing the death penalty.

The death penalty is not a viable option for punishing criminals. There are too many variables to consider. With the possibility of ending the life of an innocent person combined with the incredible costs of this form of punishment, life in prison is a much better option for punishing the harshest of criminals.

Paul Stacy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjbRampe4qE&app=desktop

Existential

The Stranger and “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” share existential themes including absurdity and anxiety. The jovial chorus of the song contrasts wells with the anxious tone, while the absurd lyrics connect well with the absurdity of The Stranger. Both Meursault’s existential behaviors and emotions, as well as Geto Boys lyrics, demonstrate anxious and absurd trends that compare well. Camus writes about a young man who views things in a negative way because he is unable to express his emotions. While Geto Boys writes about Scarface’s unease with his life and his paranoia of everything from being stuck in the drug game; Camus writes about not having the ability to express joy or any other emotion towards anything. The two people, for different reasons, are unable to display any positive emotions.

The song “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” has an optimistic chorus that contrasts well with the anxious tone and lyrics of the song. The focus of the song is of Scarface trying to escape the drug game because he’s so paranoid that everyone is out to kill him. At night Scarface can’t sleep because every time he closes his eyes, he sees someone, who later disappears when he awakes. He’s paranoid of every sound, “I’m popping in my clip when the wind blows, every twenty seconds got me peeping out my window.” No matter what the sound is, he feels as though he needs to protect himself because it could be someone who’s after him. Likewise, in The Stranger Meursault is asked by his boss if he would like to go to Paris to work there as well as travel for part of the year. After Meursault told him that it “was all the same” to him, his boss asked if he was interested in a change of life. Meursault responded by saying, “that people never change their lives, that in any case one life is as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfiedwith mine here at all.” Meursault is demonstrating anxious actions by stating that life has no meaning because everyone’s life is pre-determined. Similar to Meursault’s thoughts on people never changing their lives, Scarface isn’t getting out of the drug game, even though his life is in danger due to him staying in it. Similar to his anxious tones throughout the song, Scarface also writes about the absurdity he was going through.

Scarface went through many absurd moments when his mind was playing tricks on him, as did Meursault throughout the book. Almost every line in “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” refers to something absurd happening, but the final verse of the song really summarizes what Scarface was feeling. The final verse, rapped by Bushwick Bill, tells a story of the Geto Boys trick-or-treating. While robbing little kids for bags, an officer caught them and began chasing them. Bushwick decides to fight the officer. After punching him in the mouth, the other Geto Boys joined him on beating up the man. All of a sudden everyone disappears and Bushwick Bill is by himself, punching the concrete. This scene displays absurdity beautifully in that Bushwickimagines that it’s Halloween and he and Geto Boys are triple-teaming on an officer, when in reality he was punching concrete and “it wasn’t even close to Halloween”. Scarface’s paranoia of being killed is very similar to Meursault’s physical actions brought upon by inability to express emotions. On page 9 in The Stranger Meursault dozes off while attending his mother’s wake. When he awakens, it was his eyes that hurt rather than his heart. Rather than emotionally mourning the loss of his mother, the lighting in the room caused his eyes to hurt. In both cases, the narrator has problems coping with reality. In “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” Scarface is paranoid that someone is out to kill him causing him to hallucinate things. While in The Stranger, Meursault is unable to feel emotions causing him to physically display how he feels.

Scarface writes a song explaining his difficulties of living a normal life because of the need to peep out his window every twenty seconds. His decision to stay in the game causes him to live an anxious-filled life. Albert Camus creates an existential character who is unable to express any emotions he feels, but rather physically expresses them. Because of this, both men live existential lives in which they are separate from society, making their own decision. Their lives are filled with both anxious and absurd moments that are caused by their actions and behavior, which ultimately make it impossible for the two to deal with other people in a habitual manner.

Jonathan Kempf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUX9IcSzHX0

Kate Ede

The song L’Étranger tells the story of The Stranger by Albert Camus and also represents the themes alienation and the rejection of absolute systems in existentialism. In the song it tells the story of the book with a couple of references almost directly to the text. The references in this song to alienation and the general rejection of absolute systems are very clear and accurately represent the theme. This song lyrically tells a story and also represents a theme presented in many other creative works.

The song L’Étranger quite literally connects to the book The Stranger by Albert Camus in how the title of the song is the original title of the book, which is the stranger in French the language it was originally written in. To succinctly evaluate the meaning of the song a line or two from each verse will be taken. In the first verse the first two lines are “She died, she kissed me. Not sure I missed she.” These lines are references to the book in how on page one of The Stranger the first line is “Maman died today” so the she that died was the mother of the main character, Meursault. Then later the day after his mother died Meursault sees Marie, a young woman who used to work at his office, they end up going on a date and spending the night together which is the she who he kissed. Lines from the next verse that help tell the story are “Back on, daily grind.” And “Whys he know my name? Haven’t spoken much”. The first line is about when Meursault returns home after his mother’s funeral and is more concerned by the dampness of hand towels than the recent death of his mother, so he’s back, in his monotonous routine. The lines “Whys he know my name” and “Haven’t spoken much” are both talking about how one day Meursault gets home and a man, Raymond, who lives in his building that he hardly has ever talked to approaches him and treats him like an old friend which is strange behavior considering the so few amount of interactions they’ve had. From the third verse these two lines in particular help tell the story best, “I’ll give him a shot” and “I’ll decide what’s in store”. The line about giving him a shot is about a weekend trip Meursault takes with Raymond where they run into two Arab men whom are rivals of Raymond, they fight once, and then later Meursault shoots one of the men. Deciding what’s in store means he is deciding his fate by shooting this man he is deciding that he will go to jail that he will no longer be a free man. And lines from the last verse that specifically stand out are “Only wish to see a crowd. Eyes filled with anger now”. And “Fast as 1 2 3”. These lines are both very direct and literal references to the text, Meursault says on the last page of the book when thinking of his death “I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate” (123) which directly and pretty obviously connects to the lines “Only wish to see a crowd. Eyes filled with anger now.” And the fast as 1 2 3 is more of a literal reference as in the copy of the book that was studied from the last page number was 123, so this line is sort of an homage to that.

This song not only tells a stranger story than most, it tells of the themes of existentialism that are portrayed in the book. Granted, these themes are not portrayed as prominently as the story of Meursault and his untimely demise, but they are very much still there. Alienation is one of the 11 themes of existentialism and means that one is extremely alone, more than one thought, this is due to how no one can ever fully understand someone because people are inwardly infinite. Alienation is mainly represented by the second line in the first chorus which is “I’m so alone”. This line is repeated in the song and it is in the chorus which is what most people considered the main part of the song or the part that has the most emphasis put onto it because of the overarching meaning of it to the song as a whole. The idea behind this song is mainly that while Meursault was in prison he thought about his life and evaluated all of the times where something he said was taken the wrong way or the times he was misunderstood, since he was in prison for around a year or so he had plenty of time to reflect. The next theme is the general rejection of absolute systems, an absolute system is a code of law or code of conscience, it is in basic terms a set of rules for living. The first line of the first chorus is also more about the theme of the rejection of absolute systems it is “Don’t have a home”. In this line Meursault is not only talking about how he generally rejects absolute systems such as religion and family but he is reflecting on how he once had a home like he once loved his mother but with both, he doesn’t anymore. This song subtly depicts themes of existentialism while also telling the general story of an existentialist.

The song L’Étranger showcases the story of Meursault in a different medium, song, where mainly lines can mean nothing or one line could be an entire theme. The song, as previously discussed, tells the story of a man, a short period of his life, and his demise. It makes one wonder about how a medium typically filled with so much emotion, is about an emotionless man, who fell asleep at his own mother’s funeral, but some things work together, sometimes if only by a slight chance. It portrays themes of existentialism, which could also make one wonder on the same principle as the song, how could someone possibly remain nearly emotionless in a world so full of emotion. We must remind ourselves not to be like Meursault because it will eventually lead to our destruction and demise.

Brian Mitchell

If someone told you that the government is killing people to show others that killing is wrong would you believe it? The death penalty practiced by the United States government has killed many people, some being innocent, and is very wrong and should be abolished. The death penalty seems like a good idea up front but it comes with many flaws.

The Death Penalty

The death penalty has ended the lives of about 1,330 American citizens since 1976 and I believe this process should stop being practiced in the United States. This is because of the many flaws that this sentence contains, including wrongful execution, being unconstitutional, and its ineffectiveness at being a deterrent to other criminals. The book The Stranger by Albert Camus displays the practice of the death penalty and how it affects the mind.

Thirty-nine… that’s how many people that should be alive today but are unfortunately not due to wrongful execution. Wrongful execution is when a person is convicted and sentenced with the death penalty and then executed then later evidence proved that they were actually innocent. This occurs because of many different factors including inadequate legal representation. Many defendants who are convicted and may be facing the death penalty are usually poor and cannot afford proper legal representation so they take whatever is given to them which may not be adequate at all. Many lawyers of these individuals are very incompetent by being asleep, drunk or asleep in court which will cause the defendant to be convicted. An example of this is from a case of a man named Jimmy Ray Bromgard. Bromgard, arrested when he was 18 and he spent 15 years in prison accused for the  rape of an eight-year-old girl, a crime post-conviction DNA testing proved he did not commit. Bromgard’s trial attorney performed no investigation, filed no pre-trial motions, gave no opening statement, did not prepare for closing arguments, failed to file an appeal, and provided no expert to refute the fraudulent testimony of the state’s hair microscopy expert. Other than the forensic testimony and the tentative identification, there was no evidence against Bromgard. With any adequate legal representation Bromgard would have been easily proved innocent and not wrongfully convicted. This is shown in The Stranger during Meursault’s trial when Muersault says “In fact, there seemed to be a conspiracy to exclude me from the proceedings; I wasn’t to have any say and my fate was to be decided out of hand.” (Camus, 98). This shows the inadequate legal representation from Muersault’s lawyer because his lawyer is not letting Meursault to do anything and is basically deciding is fate for him. A second factor that could cause wrongful conviction is police and prosecutor misconduct and error. This is when the prosecutor illegally withholds vital evidence from the defendants causing them to lose and giving the false outcome of the case.  According to the University of Missouri-Kansas, police misconduct was a factor in 50% of the DNA exonerations and prosecutorial misconduct was a factor in 45%. With these factors and many others, wrongful conviction and execution are surprisingly more common than most think and shows that the death penalty should be abolished.

Another reason that the death penalty should stop being practiced in the United States is that it is unconstitutional because it violates many amendments. One of the amendments that the death penalty violates is the 8^th amendment where it states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” As William J. Brennan, Justice of the US Supreme Court stated, “Death is not only an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality, and in its enormity, but it serves no penal purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment… The fatal constitutional infirmity in the punishment of death is that it treats ‘members of the human race as nonhumans, as objects to be toyed with and discarded.” What Brennan is saying is that the death penalty is inhumane and very cruel and unusual because the government is not treating the people like citizens they’re treating them like objects to do with however they want and that is truly wrong and unconstitutional. Another way the death penalty violates the 8^th amendment is from what is called botched executions where something goes wrong while attempting to execute a person, causing extreme pain and discomfort. An example of this is during the execution of Romell Broom by lethal injection in 2009. What had happened was according to Death Penalty Information Center, “Efforts to find a suitable vein and to execute Mr. Broom were terminated after more than two hours when the executioners were unable to find a useable vein in Mr. Broom’s arms or legs. During the failed efforts, Mr. Broom winced and grimaced with pain. After the first hour’s lack of success, on several occasions Broom tried to help the executioners find a good vein. “At one point, he covered his face with both hands and appeared to be sobbing, his stomach heaving.” This is very cruel and unusual, no matter how rare these occurrences are, happening once should be enough to realize that something needs to be done.  Another amendment that the death penalty violates is the 14^th amendment where it states that all persons will have equal protection under the law. In 2001, the New Jersey Supreme Court released a report stating that the death penalty law is more likely to proceed against defendants who kill white victims. Also, in 1997 there was a study among death eligible defendants in Philadelphia and it concluded that there was a 38% increased chanced to receive the death penalty if the accused was black.

Even with all the criminals being executed today, the death penalty is not a very good deterrent to other criminals.  A recent study by Professor Michael Radelet and Traci Lacock of the University of Colorado found that 88% of the nation’s leading criminologists do not believe the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime. This is a surprisingly large number and shows that the death penalty really is not as effective as most people think. Along with the same study, Radelet and Lacock discovered that nearly 78% of those surveyed said that having the death penalty in a state does not lower the murder rate. In addition, 91% of respondents said politicians support the death penalty in order to appear tough on crime. Both of these statistics strongly show that the death penalty is not the best thing for the United States. Politicians use it to become more favorable among the people and may not even personally believe in it and that most of the leading criminologists think that the death penalty does not deter other criminals from committing crimes. The ineffectiveness of the death penalty at deterring criminals can also be seen in The Stranger. In part one, chapter six when Muersault kills the Arab he does not think about being punished and sentenced to the death penalty showing that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent. These examples from real life statistics and from The Stranger show how ineffective of a deterrent the death penalty is and should be removed from the United States as a punishment.

People who are in favor of the death penalty will say that the death penalty gives the victim’s family closure and peace. This is true but, being locked up for life gives just as much closure and peace, knowing that the criminal is eternally stuck inside a prison cell. Also, to most people it is more of a punishment to be locked in a cell for life than to be killed and put out of the pain of sitting in a cell for life. Also, People who are for the death penalty will say that it works very well at keeping other criminals from committing crimes because it will scare them from doing anything illegal. But, most criminologists say that the death penalty is not a very good deterrent. Another point that pro death penalty people might say is that race has no influence but this is not true, as said earlier, just by being a minority there is a drastic increase in chance that you will be convicted.

The death penalty should be removed from the United States because of its many flaws. The three main flaws that the death penalty has is wrongful conviction and execution, to many people are dying wrongful deaths. Also, it is unconstitutional; the death penalty violates many amendments of the constitution. Lastly, it has very little effect on other criminals as a deterrent; criminals will still commit crimes even if the death penalty may be their demise. The death penalty has little benefits when put up against all the faults that it has and needs to be abolished from the United States.

Matt Coppola

The Death Penalty is an acceptable form of punishment for perpetrators of especially heinous or diabolical crimes. It acts as a deterrent, gives the victim a sense of closure and is more cost effective than sentencing someone to life in prison without possibility of parole. The essay focuses on these three key points and then explains how opposition of the Death Penalty is misinformed on the actual facts.

The Death Penalty is an Appropriate Punishment

 

The legality and ethics of the death penalty has been questioned since the conception of organized society. The death penalty is a form of punishment in which a person who has been convicted of a serious crime is executed under the precept of the criminal justice system. The death penalty has been in existence for thousands of years and is currently used in 21 countries, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia executed the most inmates in 2012. In the US, it is legal punishment for capital offenders in 32 states. A capital offender is someone who commits one of the 41 Federal capital offenses, the 41 offenses are somewhat consistent between all users of the death penalty. Some examples of capital offenses include 1st degree murder, treason, and terrorism. The Death Penalty is an appropriate punishment for perpetrators of especially heinous and diabolical crimes. It effectively deters crime, victims gain well deserved closure, and it is far more cost effective to execute than it is to house in prison for life.

Death is a far more severe punishment than imprisonment for life. Death is a common trepidation between humans and even the most hardened criminals fear it. As Ernest Van Den Haag Late Professor of Jurisprudence at Fordham University stated, “Murderers clearly prefer it to execution — otherwise, they would not try to be sentenced to life in prison instead of death.” Earlier this year, Ohio man Ariel Castro was accused of the rape, kidnapping and 10 year imprisonment of 3 other Ohioan women. In order to avoid the Death Penalty, Castro agreed to plead guilty to 937 counts of his 977 count indictment. The plea bargain stated Castro would spend his life in prison without parole plus spend an additional 1,000 years and in turn, he would avoid the Death Penalty. In another instance, Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes also accepted a plea deal in which he would spend the rest of his life inside a mental institution rather than be put to death, James Holmes, killer of 25, accepted the guilty plea after submitting it to prosecutors. New Mexico shooter, Jared Loughner pleaded guilty to 19 counts at his court hearing, which ultimately spared him the death penalty. The sentence could not include the death penalty, because the guilty plea bargain was made with an assurance that it would not be sought. Felons who commit heinous crimes will do anything to get out of a Death Penalty conviction. This shows that felons are not at all willing to die for their crimes. This correlates with a statement made by Michael Summers, PhD and author of the book “Capital Punishment Works”. He stated “recent research … conducted by the FBI… shows that each execution carried out is correlated with about 74 fewer murders the following year… The study examined the relationship between the number of executions and the number of murders in the U.S. for the 26-year period from 1979 to 2004.” There is an obvious negative trend of murders when executions increase. Based on Justice Bureau statistics, when the Death Penalty was reinstated in the US after continued debate in the late 1970’s there was a drop in the number of murders committed. When the numbers of executions began to diminish, the murder rate began to increase. Since 2001, there has been a decline in executions and a rise in murders. These cold hard facts and statistics are proof that the Death Penalty effectively deters criminals from committing crime.

 

Secondly, the Death Penalty ensures that the victims of these especially heinous crimes get the appropriate closure they deserve. It’s unfortunate that the emphasis of criminal justice systems worldwide are focused on protecting the criminal rather than the victim. When a criminal gets life in prison he is indiscriminately cared for during his entire sentence while victims are left out to dry, usually without any state support. In Albert Camus’s “The Stranger” the main character Meursault is suspected in the shooting death of an unnamed Arab man. He is provided for and even gains an audience with a priest while the victims family aren’t provided with any support. Judicial systems worldwide have consistently favored the offenders over the victims. The Death Penalty does not only provide retribution for the Victim, it also returns order to society. When a serious crime is committed the order of society is tragically disrupted. As J. Budziszewski, PhD Professor of Government and Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin stated “Society is justly ordered when each person receives what is due to him. Crime disturbs this just order, for the criminal takes from people their lives, peace, liberties, and worldly goods in order to give himself undeserved benefits. Deserved punishment protects society morally by restoring this just order, making the wrongdoer pay a price equivalent to the harm he has done. This is retribution.” Deserved punishment protects society morally by restoring order and making the criminal pay the price of his crime. Society will return to normal after the criminal has been dealt what he deserves. Life without possibility of parole does not meet the expectation of the crime committed, therefore society will not return to normal. Once the criminal has been awarded an equal and fair punishment for what he has committed, then the victim get well deserved retribution and closure from a dramatic and life changing moment.

Lastly, the Death Penalty is economically superior to life without possibility of parole. As Dudley Sharp, director of the JFA (Justice for All Foundation) stated “Many opponents present, as fact, that the cost of the death penalty is so expensive at least $2 million per case, that we must choose life without parole at a cost of $1 million for 50 years. Predictably, these pronouncements may be entirely false. JFA estimates that LWOP cases will cost $1.2 million, $3.6 million more than equivalent death penalty cases.” It is fact that LWOP cases cost substantially more to process than Death Penalty cases. It is also fact that it costs $69,000 dollars per year to house a prisoner. The Death Penalty is a substantial omission from these great life sentence costs. It costs a fraction of that to execute an offender than to pay $69,000 per year to house, feed and support them. Overall, It costs far less to execute prisoners than it is to provide for them for the rest of their lives.

 

Many people believe that the death penalty is a barbaric and inappropriate form of punishment around the world. They are misinformed and incorrect. In the 1970’s the Death Penalty was subject to evaluation by the US Supreme Court. Justice John G. Roberts stated that “whenever a method of execution has been challenged in this Court as cruel and unusual, the Court has rejected the challenge. Our society has nonetheless steadily moved to more humane methods of carrying out capital punishment.” The courts have consistently ruled that the Death Penalty is completely constitutional. It does not violate any constitutional amendments. People who oppose the Death Penalty also argue that It destroys and does not protect. This is false, the Death Penalty protects other people from crimes that the criminal may commit if he is left alive. Many Death Row inmates are career criminals who have previous records. The Death Penalty prevents these criminals from going on to commit even more crime. Opposition of the Death Penalty are most commonly misinformed about the cost. They believe that the cost of a Death Penalty trial is more than the costs of housing the prisoner for the rest of their life, which is also incorrect.

 

The Death Penalty is a strong and effective punishment for perpetrators of especially heinous and diabolical crimes.  It effectively deters crime, victims gain well deserved closure, and it is far more cost effective to execute than it is to house in prison for life. Once these perpetrators have been executed, order will return to society. People who unfortunately oppose the Death Penalty are usually very misinformed. The controversy and legality should be put to rest as the Death Penalty is superior to Life in prison without possibility of parole.
Matt Coppola

Jae Clarke-Randolph

The death penalty is a good thing for society today, it is able to keep people safe, save money, and it deters people from committing serious crimes.  In the essay it persuades the ready to agree with the death penalty.  The readers will end up agreeing with the death penalty due to the valid points made that people against it will end up changing sides.  The overall writing of this is a very persuasive essay that convinces the reader to agree with the death penalty.

 

Jae Clarke-Randolph

10/28/13

 

Death Penalty should be Applied in Serious Cases

The death penalty, questioned by most due to how immoral and unethical it is. But I see the death penalty as a positive for society.  I see that if somebody commits a very serious they should be given the death penalty as an option so they cannot harm anyone again because if somebody goes to prison they can get out somehow and continue to keep murdering.  In no way the death penalty should be questioned because if somebody commits a serious crime that involve murder, rape, etc. then the death penalty should be applied in that case.  The death penalty should be used because it can save lives, it can also deter criminals, and is also a lot more cost effective. I am on the side of having the death penalty because it helps gets rid of the dangerous criminals off the streets.

 

The death penalty is able to save innocent peoples lives and it can also help save prisoners lives as well.  It is able to save lives in prison because then the criminal can still kill the prisoners in the prison.   It is a better protector than a life sentence without bail or a life sentence in general, because the criminal can somehow get out of prison and can start killing people again, because you don’t know if he is crazy in the head still.  If the murder is living in prison they will always find someway to escape the prison and go on another rampage again.  For each inmate that is put to death, there is three to 18 murders are prevented.  Dudley Sharp said, “Executed murderers never murder again.”  I agree with him because if the murder is gone there is no need to worry about being killed by a murderer finding you because he is gone.  There is no way to tell if criminals are still prone to being violent if they are taken into prison.  With criminals being executed by the death penalty it helps saves people’s lives.

 

What most people fear the most is to be dead, so what should deter criminals is the death penalty and that will deter murder.  Deterrence is a way that the death penalty is a good idea to keep in mind. By making a criminal an example of what could happen to others who try to commit very serious crimes.  Death will deter the criminals because most people do not want to die for their consequences if the law apprehends them.  With criminals knowing their consequences they will be more hesitant to pursue that crime because the risk of the death penalty.  A life in prison is less feared and not as much of a deterrent because murders/criminals know it is possible to escape prison, and go back to a life of crime.  The risk of apprehension and a much bigger risk of dying deter the criminals from committing crimes due to the fact they could be killed.  Therefore, we have to continuously to execute these murderers to ensure that people do not try to commit these crimes.  If murderers were executed for what their crimes they wouldn’t do it, but since they are sent to prison, murderers do not even care so they continue to commit these crimes.  Deterrence is a good reason to have the death penalty because it can stop harsh crimes, but also people will think before they act.

 

People say that the cost of putting a criminal in prison is a lot cheaper than having them die from the death penalty, but overtime the cost of a life in prison without bail is costs more than a death sentence in the long run.  The death penalty also makes the taxpayers dollars; no longer support the criminals in jail.  Upfront the death penalty is more money, but as years go on the death penalty becomes cheaper than a LWOP (Life without parole).  A criminal will always appeal their sentence and it will end costing the same as it would if they received the death penalty.  Criminals will appeal no matter what, and in that process is where the cost of the death penalty becomes less money than a life sentence because of the money that is put in the appeal process.  The price of keeping a person in prison, for life is a lot more money, than having them be executed. The cost efficiency of the death penalty is questioned by most, but studies do show that the death penalty is cost efficient and is a good choice for instead of a life sentence for these criminals.

People will say that my facts are completely wrong and that I shouldn’t think that the death penalty should be a good idea and it isn’t moral but I believe the morality of the death penalty is completely reasonable because in the cases of murder, rape, torture, etc. it is in reason to have the death penalty.  I am right about the death penalty because of my reasoning’s.  There is no doubt that the death penalty does save lives because you’re keeping a possible murderer out of the prison where they could kill the prisoners, or they could escape the prison and start killing people again.  The cost of death will deter the criminals because no one wants to die, but criminals will deal with being in prison and could possibly escape prison.  People will argue that the cost of the death penalty is a lot more than having somebody put in prison but in the long run the cost of the death penalty will be less in the long run.  It is very obvious that the death penalty is something that should not be questioned and should be used more often.

 

The death penalty should be used when the cases are very serious because then the criminal should be punished to the fullest extent.  The points made earlier have persuaded you to agree with me especially on the case of how the death penalty can save lives.  How the death penalty saves lives is because if you put them into prison they can still be hostile and kill the other prisoners, also the murderer can escape the prison.  The fact that a person can do that makes the death penalty a completely reasonable thing and should be used because of that possibility.  The cost of the death penalty is a reasonable choice when compared overtime with a life sentence without bail because of the appeal process that a prisoner will make which then will add up to the same amount.  Deterrence is a good way to have the death penalty due to the fact that nobody likes to die, so by making the death penalty the highest means of punishment criminals will think before they act.  The death penalty is by far a very reasonable way to convict criminals and by no means not moral.  Hopefully in the future more states will opt in for the death penalty because they see how good it can be.