In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
If you are not taking an exam but need ideas on whether capital punishment should be abolished, then read on and note down what you deem useful. If you intend to use this essay as part of an assignment, remember to paraphrase so as not to plagiarize.
The topic is similar to what candidates would expect in any other C2 level examination in that examiners want to see a well-organized, coherent and cohesive discussion of the issue with arguments, explanations and examples.
Capital punishment is in some societies a fact of everyday life. In your opinion should it be abolished or not?
It is an undeniable fact that the legal system of each country brings
out the best and worst in us, as centuries of revision of statutes has shown.
One such fact, which also happens to be the most controversial to date, is the
existence of the penalty of capital punishment imposed around the world in a
number of countries. Many are those who would be relieved to see it abolished
while others advocate it is a cornerstone upon which a country’s law and order
rests.
The latter group of people, firstly, base their reasoning on two fundamental arguments. The first of these lies in
the simple fact that the families of victims, who in other instances being the
legal survivors to the victim’s estate and rights as a whole, have the privilege
to make decisions as to whether to donate organs, money, and the like in the
event of there not being a will. If they have these rights, why can they not have
the right to vindicate the death of their loved ones? Why is it that they
cannot ask for the justice that the victims themselves would certainly have
asked for had they the chance? In short, supporters of the death penalty demand
that the families of victims deserve the relief of knowing that justice has
indeed been done, that the death of one person is balanced out with the death
of another.
The second argument concerns the decrease of the crime rate in countries where the death penalty exists. This is quite clear in countries such as Saudi Arabia where public executions are, according to some people who live in the country, an effective preventive measure that up until now seems to be working.
The second argument concerns the decrease of the crime rate in countries where the death penalty exists. This is quite clear in countries such as Saudi Arabia where public executions are, according to some people who live in the country, an effective preventive measure that up until now seems to be working.
On the opposite side of the spectrum there are those who maintain that
capital punishment is a blasphemy to what mankind has come to name
civilization. If we consider ourselves to be civilized, it would be
hypocritical of us to take away someone’s life merely because a judge and jury
find them unworthy of living, incapable of repenting, unable to become part of
society again. Everyone should have the basic right to life, regardless of how
that life is to be lived. The strongest point in favor of the abolition of the
death penalty is the multitude of cases that only through dedicated investigation
proved that inmates on death row were in fact not guilty of the crime they
purportedly committed. One dares not hint at the thought of the number of cases where capital punishment
was wrongly imposed.
This last point leads to the inevitable conclusion that if we weigh the
probable decrease of crime in a country alongside the prospective death of an
innocent human being, we will be led to do away with the death penalty once and
for all. Courts are not in the business of executing people, but of meting out
justice, and in this case, it would be a far worse penalty to enforce life
imprisonment on a criminal than to have him pass away quickly.
Find us on Facebook! Click on the image.
Find more essay questions in the lists published here and here.