Mumia Abu-Jamal's Live From Death Thesis

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The first sentence of the piece could well be seen as the thesis, with the information after this statement making up the support. In fact, signal phrases such as "as in," "for the most part," and "it is also true," allow the reader to easily grasp that this passage is written in a scholarly tone. In direct opposition to what one would expect, Jamal does not include a call to action or a biased viewpoint, which would color the tone much differently. Instead, Jamal formats his tone to speak directly about the conditions in the prison, allowing readers to understand that his purpose is to inform instead of persuade. By using this scholarly tone, Jamal accomplishes several goals. First, he acknowledges the reader's intelligence and sovereignty, implying that he knows that the reader will make his or her own decisions with the facts, and does not need to be insulted with persuasive language. Second, Jamal appeals to a wider audience than he would have with an impassioned piece advocating an end to the death penalty. By using the scholarly tone, Jamal appeals to academics, those with an opinion on the subject, those who want to learn more about the subject, and those who are just interested in reading good literature. Finally, Jamal's choice in tone includes rather than alienates the reader. This choice of tone allows readers to shape their own perceptions about death row inmates and rely on their own intellect to challenge their view of the death penalty. Because Jamal creates an environment for this shaping and changing to be done internally, it becomes the most convicting kind of shaping and changing, the kind that one brings upon one's self.

In addition accomplishing these goals, Jamal's choice of tone allows the language and images of the passage to speak for themselves.

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Like a movie running with a commentary, a rich tone is often frustrating super scribed across moving images. In Jamal's piece, images play a key role, and are only underscored by an unbiased tone. In "Live From Death Row," Jamal offers two images, that of the prison and that of the prisoners. His images of the prison are contradictory as well as complimentary. The prison is at first "a quasi-military organization," where life is shaped 'by rule and regulation," and is, on second mention, "a cage with double-edge razor wire." These two images help shape readers' perceptions of death row prisoners. Instead of envisioning men and women who get to watch TV and play games all day, funded by the public's tax dollars, the reader is suddenly confronted with Jamal's image of a human being in a cage. This image is developed further through Jamal's description of the prisoners as the "best behaved and least disruptive of all inmates," who have "little opportunity to be otherwise," because their "human personality" is caged in a "dog pen.'" in addition to shaping the reader's view of death row inmates, these descriptions also challenge that reader's perception of the death penalty. Here, Jamal uses images of caged humans to evoke the sympathy of others, who can imagine themselves being tortured in the same situation.

Thus, Mumia-Abu Jamal's "Live From Death Row" joins the ranks of other convicting literature on a controversial topic. Through excellent use of language, tone, and style, Jamal both shapes his readers' opinions of death row prisoners, and challenges' their views on the death penalty.

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"Mumia Abu-Jamal's Live From Death" (2008, November 27) Retrieved May 14, 2025, from
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