Dead Man Walking Rhetorical Analysis

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Systemic Corruption & Its Effects: Dead Man Walking Systems Assessment:
Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking is a multi-faceted character and person. Her opinions on equality, racism, governmental and justice systems are cultivated and intellectual, truly brought forth in her writing. In this first chapter, Prejean begins her journey of understanding the corrupt systems of government, and their unjust practices such as the death penalty, through this she seeks to help those affected by the unjustness of the systems. Her use of logos, pathos, and ethos through strategies such as presenting statistics, descriptions of memories and explanations of religious ties help her opinion become prominent throughout the chapter.
Within the first …show more content…

Thomas, stating “half the adult population has not completed high school… and the violent crime rate is 9th highest in the nation” (Prejean 7.) These descriptions evoke a picture of the desolation of the place she is living in, giving her character new perspective. Because, on page 5 she cites a quote from Dorothy Day, a Catholic social activist who says “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Prejean included such a quote to further explain her somewhat complex point of view on the systems in the government and the death penalty. She strives to be like Day in the religious aspect of her life, but her environment doesn’t make that lifestyle as simple as it may sound. Prejean herself says, “I didn’t want to struggle with politics and economics.” (Prejean 5). These differing views portray yet another side to Prejean and her reluctance to be in St. Thomas, though her experiences there are helping cultivate her views on systems and the death penalty. It is clear throughout the chapter that though she believes her role is in the church; under God, she still feels as if change is needed and she can aid in that

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