Quotes and other Stuff I'm going to use

Okay.... so as a preamble to this thing, I just want to say that I'm not a big fan of all this prewriting stuff. It really doesn't make a difference to me if I prewrite or not. My usual plan is just to have the ideas swim around in my head until I actually write it down. However, in the event of getting quotes it is usually better to pick them out beforehand, even though I despise the prewriting process.

My first article does not have any great quotes, but it does, in fact have some useful information about different methods of the death penalty, especially those used in the United States.

My next article Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment? has a basic list of arguments on both sides of the spectrum, a very useful source but not quotable.

Third article For the Death Penalty Yet Pro-life Really? has this quote "Of 50 European countries, only Belarus, notorious for its lack of respect for basic human rights, still executes criminals in peacetime." Its a good quote. This article also has specific death penalty cases as references - which will be useful.

Next article Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate. Pretty much demonstrates the uselessness of studying the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent. It also questions keeping a halfhearted execution system that produces little results.

Last article Murder Victims' Family Members. Has a great quote “To be meaningful, justice should be swift and sure. The death penalty is neither.” It also has a little personal story about family of the victims of a murder that may or may not make it in my paper, but I definitely will use that quote. Because it is awesome.

Research Paper Thesis

       The death penalty is still carried in the United States today, but not without contraversy, with well thought out arguments on both sides.

Murder Victims' Family Members

"Murder Victims' Family Members." South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death , 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

http://www.campaignwindow.com/sdadp/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Murder_Victims_&section=more_64378

    This article was about how the death penalty and the judicial process affects the family members of murder victims. It states that sense the process of convicting members is slow that it prolongs the pain rather than resolving it. It states that "Justice should be swift and sure and the death penalty is neither."
   This article was biased, since it was done by an institution against the death penalty. The audience is anyone interested in this issue, especially those who agree or are undecided. It gets its supports from interviews from family members whose family members have been murdered. It was a short article but contained good non-statistical information.

Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate

Liptak, Adam. "Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate." New York Times. New York Times Company, 18 Nov. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/us/18deter.html?pagewanted=all

  This article was about recent studies on the death penalty and how well it is a deterent for murder rates. Many studies point that the death penalty lowers the murder rate, but other studies question the validity of these reports, saying that the number of executed prisoners is too small to have a detectable effect on the death rate. The study concludes that the number of executed prisoners would have to go up for any conclusive evidence of the death penalty being a deterrent.
  The article was unbiased, but seemed biased at first since the majority of studies believe - even though some admit the evidence is lacking - that the death penalty deters the murder rate. However, after some time the article did give the other side, ending on a note of uncertainty - unsure if the death penalty is effective. The audience is anyone who is interested in this topic. Its supports came from numerous studies on opposing sides.
  This article, however, did contain a variety of facts that will prove useful in the future.

For the Death Penalty Yet Pro-life Really?

Singer, Peter. "For the Death Penalty Yet Pro-life Really?." cnn.com. Project Syndicate, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/12/for-the-death-penalty-yet-pro-life-really/

    This article was pointing out some problems with the death penalty. It used examples from recent death penalty cases to help support itself. It also attacks people who support capitol punishment, especially those from the south who are also pro-life supporters. This article was biased especially when they attacked those who support capitol punishment. I personally don't see a conflict between pro-life and death penalty, there is a difference between a human embryo and a murderer. The audience for this article is anyone who is against the death penalty or is undecided on the issue. It got its supports from various statistics and recent court cases. All in all it was a informative essay once you got past the bias.

Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment?

http://www.balancedpolitics.org/death_penalty.htm

Messerli, Joe. "Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment? ." balancedpolitics.org. N.p., 17 July 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.

    This article was about the pros and cons of banning the death penalty. It listed arguments of why we should keep the death penalty and why we should get rid of it. It explained each argument. It was unbiased and just gave both sides of the argument, not making its own decision. The audience was anyone who was undecided about the death penalty and wanted to see both sides. It had good supports but it didn't thoroughly argue both sides. It was informative, but by no means would it be the only article.

Reflection

 Reviewing my blog posts, I see that the two best articles for me are my first two posts - the Death penalty and Similarities between adult and embryonic cells. Since I feel abortion is going to be an overused topic that leaves the death penalty standing. The increase in autism is an issue, but it isn't contraversial enough to write about. Obviously the pro-life argument article falls under abortion which I've already ruled out. Although overpaid athletes is a contraversial issue, I really don't see enough information for this topic to write about, nor is it that interesting too me. The last article, illegal immigration, is also highly contraversial, but I feel its overused also - the same arguments are being recycled.
   So this leaves the death penalty. I haven't looked at many other people's blogs, but I haven't seen anyone else use the death penalty yet. I didn't initally have a strong opinion on the topic, so I'll be looking at it through unbiased eyes, though the arguments that I have read makes me lean towards use of the death penalty. It seems like an interesting topic with a lot of information, and its contraversial. All in all I think it has all the qualities of a good essay.

Illegal Immigration

Riccardi, Nicholas. "Illegal immigration in U.S. stabilizes." Los Angeles Times. N.p., 8 Feb. 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/02/nation/la-na-pew-immigration-20110202


    This article was about a study on the number of illegal immigrants. It goes on to say that the number of illegal immigrants has flat-lined. It offers speculation on why but gives nothing concrete, except saying that the number of babies born to illegal immigrants has increased. The author's intent is to simply inform. The audience is anyone interested in the topic. This article is unbiased. The author's supports comes for a number of studies.
     I personally wouldn't like this topic. I'm to undecided about illegal immigration to make a stand. However, this would make a great topic for those who have a stance. This article has some useful information for both sides but isn't the most useful out there.

Overpaid athletes

Lefebvre, Matt. "Professional Athletes are Overpaid and Selfish." The Quinnipiac Chronicle. N.p., 1 Apr. 2004. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.

http://www.quchronicle.com/2004/04/professional-athletes-are-overpaid-and-selfish/

    This article was about athletes being overpaid. It was most specifically about baseball players. It was pretty much attacking such athletes that are overpaid making weak points. The author's intent is to make people angry about overpaid athletes. The audience is anyone who disagrees with athletes' wages. This article is extremely biased. The author doesn't have good support for his information except for specific number of salaries.
      This would make a good topic for me, but this article would not be very helpful. It was way to biased and contained little facts. Anyone who disagrees with athletes wages would find this a good topic.

Pro life Arguments

Cain, Miriam. "PROLIFE: 10 Arguments Against Abortion." Christian Action. Africa Christian Action, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2011.
http://www.christianaction.org.za/articles/10rguments.htm
   
    This article contains ten arguments against abortion. Some of them are good arguments, others feel weak and construed. Yet it does a good job of making its point clear and contains a lot of information. The author's intent is to inform people of the wrongs of abortion and convince them into pro-life views. The audience is undecided people of abortion. The author uses many sources for its information. It is a biased article because it is written by a Christian author who is pro-life.
    This would be a good topic for me because I am against abortion and this contains a lot of usable information for a paper. It would be a good topic for anyone else with pro life views.
   

Autism Increase

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=autism-rise-driven-by-environment&page=2
Cone, Maria. "New Study: Autism Linked to Environment." ScientificAmerican.com. Scientific American, 9 Jan. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.


    This article is about the recent increase in autism and whats causing it. It's based on a study that shows that chemicals and pesticides in the environment could be causes of the increase in autism. The author's intent is to inform the readers of these new findings. The audience is anyone interested in this topic. It is supported by a scientific study. It wasn't biased at all because it was all based on study.
     This wouldn't be the most ideal topic for me, I'm not sure there is enough to write an essay for. It may be a good article for people writing a paper about the effects of chemicals to the environment and to humans, but it would only be useful as  a small support.

The Death Penalty

http://www.hoshuha.com/articles/deathpenalty.html


"The Death Penalty: Morally Defensible?". hoshuha.com. Casey Carmical. N.D. Web. Sep 15 2011.


     This article is about the death penalty. It defends it by thoroughly examining the reasoning behind the death penalty and opponents opposition to the penalty. The authors intent is to persuade the reader that the death penalty is just. He is writing to people who either support or are unsure about the death penalty. It's supports came from different statistics and a logical reasoning. It had no fallacies but was biased because the author obviously supported the death penalty.
     It would be a decent topic for me. I've never really talked about the death penalty but it seems interesting. It would make a good topic for others if they were going to support the death penalty. If they were to oppose the death penalty it may offer some insight on what the opposition is saying but it wouldn't be the best resource. However, it has good logic and statistics for anyone who supports the death penalty.

Similarities between adult and embryonic cells

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234339.php

Rattue, Grace. "Similarities Between Adult And Embryonic Stem Cells." medicalnewstoday.com. Medical New Today, 13 Sep 2011. Web. 14 Sep 2011.

   This article is about an alternative of embryonic stem cells- adult stem cells. It talks about the similarities and differences between the two, and what advantage each one has. Adult stem cells don't have any ethical quandaries to consider, and are of the own user. However, they don't have the same capabilities of embryonic stem cells. The author's intent is to inform people of the advantages and disadvantages of different stem cells, its audience is anyone interested in stem cell research. The evidence it gets is from scientific research and analysis. It has no fallacies or biases. It did a great job of giving unbiased information and just stating the facts.
    It really wouldn't be a great topic for myself because I'm not to interested in stem cell research. However it would be great for anyone interested in stem cell research - whether they were for or against it - because it tells the facts without bias.