Vocabulary du jour:
- analogy: comparing the similarity between two things
- recidivism: leaving prison, recommitting crime, and being sent back
- indeterminate sentence: no specific time of release, but a range (e.g. 5-10 years)
- determinate sentence: fixed time of release (became popular in 1980s and 1990s as part of the �get tough on crime� movement
- prison: where felons are sent after conviction (state or federal level)
- jail: where accused go before conviction or people convicted of less serious crimes serve a short sentence (county)
1. Prison Statistics
� Opening graphs: Rate of imprisonment 1960 � 2000 and Crime rate 1960 � 2000
� Writing from statistics (grounding): Numbers don�t tell the whole story � you have to interpret what they
mean.
- Interpret the �paradox� of opening graphs
- Choose random statistics from �Prison Statistics� handout. Look for different interpretations of the
same statistic.
2. Review of Warrants
� Synonyms for warrants:
- things everyone knows
- basic assumptions
- commonsense notions
- fundamental beliefs
- universal truths
� When discussing warrants in papers:
- Often (not always) hidden below the surface of the argument. Why? Because they seem so obvious that
the author doesn�t need to talk about them.
- Like an onion; you peel away one warrant, and there�s usually a deeper, more general warrant beneath
(avoid sticking with a discussion of superficial warrants in your writing).
- Change according to situational and historical context.
- When discussing warrants in your writing, evaluate according to strength or weakness:
� Is the warrant appropriate for the context in which it�s used?
� Can you think of significant �exceptions to the rule�?
3. Discussion of Burger/Chinlund
� Have students fill out index cards with their name. On one side, write Burger�s main claim; on the other,
write Chindlund�s main claim.
� Burger:
- main claim: The current prison philosophy of �warehousing� (utilitarian) is ineffective because it costs
taxpayers too much money and doesn�t reduce recidivism rates. Therefore, we should turn prisons into
factories where prisoners can pay for their own imprisonment and learn skills and values that will help
turn them into productive citizens. (evaluative/advocative claim�notice how this argument is set up as
�problem/solution��many of the reader articles do the same thing).
- grounding: statistics (18-19), analogy (20, 21-22)
� What types of analogies does Burger use (prisoners are like recalled automobile, college students)?
Are these analogies appropriate?
- warrants:
� government serves the primary purpose of protecting people (19, explicit).
� most prisoners are �illiterate� or �unskilled� (20, explicit) or suffer from poor parenting/education (20).
� working teaches �moral values� and �self esteem� (21, explicit.
� working makes people feel responsible to the community (22).
4. Preview homework
� Read Newman�s �Pain and Punishment� (two chapters, 30-37)
� Assignment 1B
- Must mention warrants.
- Summarize one of the readings from today plus Newman.
- Any discussion of grounding should serve a purpose. Evaluate, analyze, or interpret what the grounding
does for the overall argument. Don�t get caught up in reporting minor details of the grounding, but shoot
for larger categorizations instead.