In Favor of Capital Punishment

Book 2 Lesson 13

Lecturer: Meng Fanyan

Teaching Aims 1)Improving students’ ability to read between lines and und

erstand the text properly; 2)Cultivating students’ ability to make a creative reading; 3)Enhancing students’ ability to appreciate the text from diff

erent perspectives; 4) Helping students to understand some difficult words and

expressions; 5) Helping students to understanding rhetorical devices; 6)Encouraging students to voice their own viewpoint fluentl

y and accurately

Teaching Contents

1)Background Knowledge About the Author and His Works

2)Literature Type: Argument 3)Detailed Study of the Essay 4)Organization Pattern 5)Style and Language Features 6)Special Difficulties 7)Debate

Time allocation

　　 1)Background knowledge (15 min.)　　 2)Detailed study of the text (180 min.)　　 3)Structure analysis (15 min.)　　 4)Language appreciation (15 min.)　　 5)Free talk (30 min)

Background Knowledge

About the Author and His Works 1) A brief introduction to the author, Jacques

Barzun Connect to www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/

Jpriestley.htm

Jacques Barzun university teacher and administrator since the 1920s, Jacq

ues Barzun (1907-- ) has been dean of faculties and provost at Columbia University. Not only is he a distinguished author but a person of wide interests. His books, for example, include The House of Intellect; Berlioz and Romantic Century; Darwin, Marx, Wagner; and, with Wendell H. Tyler, A Catalogue of Crime. This well-organized essay is marked by its concern for the victim instead of the criminal.

2) Capital punishment & life imprisonmentArgumentType of literature: a piece of argumenthttp://teachnet-lab.org/santab/jeff/sbargue_index.htm

http://homepages.iol.ie/~laoistec/LENGLISH/lpers.html

Victor Gollancz: English writer. Publications include: The Betrayal

of the Left ; What Burchenwald Really Means ; Leaving Them to Their Fate ; Our Threatened Values, etc.3. Koestler: Arthur Koestler (1905--), Hungarian-American author. Publications include: Spanish Testament ; Gladiators ; Darkness at Noon ; Scum of the Earth, etc.

Shaw: George Bernard Shaw (1856--1950), Irish playwri

ght and critic, widely considered the greatest British dramatist since Shakespeare.

He revolutionized the Victorian stage, then dominated by artificial melodramas, by presenting vigorous dramas of ideas. The lengthy prefaces to Shaw' s plays reveal his mastery of English prose. His music and theater criticism is among the finest ever written.

In 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. Shaw was an ardent socialist, a member of the Fabian Society, and a popular public speaker actively propagating the socialist theories of the Fabians. The Fabians were opposed to the revolutionary theory of Marxism and repudiated the necessity of violent class struggle.

Although Shaw' s plays focus on ideas and issues, they are vital and absorbing, enlivened by memorable characterizations, a brilliant command of language, and dazzling wit.

In addition to being produced, his early plays were published as Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant (2 vols. ,1898).

The "unpleasant" plays were Widower's Houses (1892), on slum landlordism; 7"he Philanderer (written in 1893, produced in 1905), and

Mrs Warren's Profession (written in 1893, produced in 1902), a jibe at the Victorian attitude toward prostitution.

The "pleasant " plays were Arms and the Man (1894), satirizing romantic attitudes toward love and war;

Candida (1893); and You Never Can Tell (1895). In 1897, The Devil's Disciple, a play on the American Revol

ution, was produced with great success in New York City. It was published in the volume Three Plays for Puritans (1901) along with Caesar and Cleopatra (1899), notable for its realistic, humorous portraits of historical figures, and Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1900).

During the early 20th century Shaw wrote his greatest and most popular plays.

Man and Superman (1905), in which an idealistic, cerebral man succumbs to marriage (the play contains an explicit articulation of a major Shavian theme -- that man is the spiritual creator, whereas woman is the biological "life force" that must always triumph over him);

Major Barbara (1905), which postulates that poverty is the cause of all evil; Androcles and the Lion (1912~ a short play), a charming satire of Christianity; and Pygmalion (1913), which satirizes the English class system through the story of a cockney girl's transformation into a lady at the hands of a speech professor.

The latter has proved to be Shaw' s most successful work -- as a play, as a motion picture, and as the basis for the musical My Fair Lady (1956).

Of Shaw's later plays, Saint Joan (1923)is the most memorable; it argues that Joan of Arc, a harbinger of Protestantism and nationalism, had to be killed because the world was not yet ready for her.

Among Shaw' s other plays are John Bull's Other Island (1904), The Doctor's Dilemma (1906), Fanny's First Play (1911), Heartbreak House (1921), Back to Methuselah (1922), The Apple Cart (1928), Too True to Be Good (1923), etc.

Nietzsche: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 -- 1900), German philos

opher, born in Roekew, Prussia. The son of a clergyman, Nietzsche studied Greek and Latin

at Bonn and Leipzig and was appointed to the chair of classical philology at Basel in 1869. Nervous disturbances and eye trouble forced Nietzsche to leave Basel in 1879;

he moved from place to place in a vain effort to improve his health until 1889, when he became hopelessly insane. Nietzsche was not a systematic philosopher but rather a moralist who passionately rejected Western bourgeois civilization.

He regarded Christian civilization as decadent, and in place of its "slave morality" he looked to the super-man, the creator of a new heroic morality that would consciously affirm life and the life values. That superman would represent the highest passion and creativity and would live at a level of experience beyond the conventional standards of good and evil.

His creative "will to power" would set him off from "the herd" of inferior humanity. Nietzsche' s thought had widespread influence but was of particular importance in Germany.

Apologists for Nazism seized on much of his writhing as a philosophical justification for their doctrines of national and racial superiority and their despisal of political democracy and equality. Most scholars regard this as a perversion of Nietzsche' s thought, pointing to his strong individualism and his contempt for the state, especially the German state. Among his most famous works are The Birth of Tragedy (1872) ; Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883--1891), and Beyond Good and Evil (1886).

John of Arc: French, Jeanne d' Arc (14127-- 1431), French saint and nat

ional heroine, called the Maid of Or- leans: daughter of a farmer of Domremy on the border between Champagne and Lorraine.

At a young age she began to hear "voices those of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. When she was about 16, the voices exhorted her to bear aid to the dauphin, later King Charles , then kept from the throne by the English in Ⅶthe Hundred Years War.

She made the journey in male at- tire and meeting the dauphin at Chinon Castle. She conquered his skepticism as to her divine mission and was furnished with troops by Charles.

In May, 1429, she sueceeded in raising the siege of Orleans, and in June she took other English posts on the Loire and defeated the English at Patay. After considerable persuasion the dauphin agreed to be crowned at Rheims~ Joan stood near him at his coronation. This was the pinnacle of her for- tunes.

In September 1429, Joan unsuccessfully besieged Paris. The following spring she went to relieve Compiegne, but she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English, who were eager to destroy her influence by putting her to death. Charles ~ made no attempt to secure her freedom.

In order to escape responsibility, the English turned her over to the ecclesiastical court at Rouen. She was tried for heresy and witchcraft and was finally burned at the stake (May 30, 1431) in Rouen.

Joan was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Her career lent itself to numerous legends, and she has been rep- resented in many paintings and statues. In literature and music she appears notably, though not always accurately, in works by many eminent writers and composers.

Organization Pattern 1) The thesis stated in the title of the essay: In fav

or of capital punishment 2) In this piece the writer does not appeal mainly t

o the emotions of the reader. 3) The writer tries to convince his reader through f

acts and logical reasoning and by refuting the fallacies of his opponents.

4) Weakness: Many abstract terms in essay remain undefined and vague.

Style and Language Features

1) Smooth and polish2) Convincing and formal 3) Use of many learned, and specialized terms 4) Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical Devices metaphor

simile ellipsis transferred epithet metonymy euphemism Connect to http://www.megabrands.com/carroll/faq3.htmlto get specific information on rhetorical devices

Detailed study of In Favor of Capital Punishment

Para.1-2 Introduction and admitting that many people of much talent

and enlightened goodwill are abolitionists. Transferred epithet

“ The letters, sad and reproachful, offer me the choice of pleading ignorance…”“ The assemblage of so much talent and enlightened good will behind a single proposal …”Parallelism “ I am asked…”“ I am told…” “ I am invited…”

Para.3 The author states that he could be convinced to ab

olish capital punishment on the condition that:1) Some fallacies and frivolities in the abolitionist argument are disposed of;2) The difficulties should be overcome instead of being ignored;3) The safeguards could be found to really meet the difficulties;

Para.4The author states that he himself considers the present way of implementing capital punishment is revolting but this cannot be an excuse for the abolitionist to against capital punishment.Question: Whether capital punishment is justifiable if there is a painless, sudden and dignified death?

Para 5: The four main arguments advanced against the death pena

lty are:1) punishment for crime is a primitive idea rooted in revenge; 2) capital punishment does not deter; 3) judicial error being possible, taking life is an appalling risk; 4) a civilized state, to deserve its name, must uphold, not violate, the sanctity of human life.

Para 6-7 Explanation of writer’s agreement on the first pair of propo

sitions.Question: 1) Why does the writer agree with the first pair of propositions?2) What does Barzun mean by “the moral basis of civilization”?Personification“ No anger, vindictiveness or moral conceit need preside over the removal of such dangers.”

Para 8-11 Both Barzun and the abolitionists base their arguments on

a brief in the sanctity of human life.Abolitionists: capital punishment violates the sanctity of human life.Barzun: capital punishment protects the sanctity of human life.1) If capital punishment violates the sanctity of human life, how about the war, the perfect means of killing, launched and supported by these abolitionists?

2) If capital punishment violates the sanctity of human life, how about the bystanders killed by the police who are so excited that he misses the target?3) If capital punishment violates the sanctity of human life, how about the sanctity of the victims lives?

Conclusion: The absolute sanctity of human life is, for the abolitionists, a slogan rather than a considered proposition.

Para12 -14: The fallacies of the abolitionists should be disposed of.

Fallacy: The victims of violence are easy to forgetQuestion: Who forgets the victims of violence?1) Social science: forgetting the victim and paying greater attention to and showing more concern for the criminal who is supposed to be mentally troubled, abnormal or a problem case.2) Psychiatry and moral liberalism: believe that criminals are sick people who should be cured rather than punished.

3) Modern literature: only interested in people who are mentally and spiritually troubled.4) The determinism of natural science: strengthens the assumption that all evils in a society have been brought abut by the existing conditions and circumstances of that society.5) French jurist: It is society alone that should be held responsible for the criminal and his crimeSarcasm

“ it is too bad.” Cvek alone seems instructive,…” Determinism: the doctrine that everything, especially one’s choice of action, is determined by a sequence of causes independent of one’s willThe author’s argument: Since so many ordinary people’s lives are deprived by the criminals, where does the sanctity of life begin?

Para15-19: The frivolities of the abolitionists should be disposed of.

Question: What are the frivolities the abolitionists cling to?Hypotheses: the criminals’ misdeed is “the fault of society”, Can criminal be cured?1) The “scientific” means of cure are more than uncertain.2) Imprisonment only increases the killer’s antisocial feelings.

3) Reformatories and mental hospitals are too full to hold the criminals and these institutions are inclined to release their inmates.4) Once be released, they will be killer again.Conclusion: Society has failed twice to protect the victims when convicted murderers are released to commit violent crimes a second time.

Author’s standpoint uttered in Para.16 is: ________________.

Irrationally taking the life of another ↓ crimes passionnels 　　 maniac bank robbe

r ( forgiven) 　　　　　 ( sentenced to death)

“ This confused echo of modern literature and modern science defines the choice before us….”—The psychology of this killer is a confused representation of the influence of modern literature and science. This psychology of the killer describes exactly the choice that lies before us.

Question: What is the choice? — capital punishment — abolition of capital punishment— treating the killer as a sick person who is to be cure.

“ …but also a re-education of the mind, so as to throw into correct perspective the garbled ideas of … of our times.” — to cure this type of killer one must also change his way of thinking so that he can judge and interpret correctly the ideas of Freud, Nietzsche, Gide and Dostoevski which he distorted or misunderstood. This killer, with a mania for power, and people of his sort got their garbled ideas from the culture and mood of our times.“ if psychiatry were sure … the shooting start.” Sarcasm“ Failing a second birth …less hypocritical?”

Para. 20: Our society is far from civilized institutions.

Assumption: Establish a law sentencing to death the people who violate the sanctity of orderly discourse in arriving at justice, …The suggestion of a such a law sounds ludicrous.

Para21-23: Imprisonment is worse than death.

Exemplification:1) Wilde’s Defundis2) Charles Burney’s Solitary Confinement3) John of Arc4) Mr. Leslie Hale, M. P.’s Hanged in ErrorConclusion: Both capital punishment and imprisonment are irrevocable sentence.

Question: 1) Pick out the words and phrases used to describe how terrible the imprisonment is.2) How do you understand of the “ I shall believe in the abolitionist’s present view only after he has emerged from twelve months in a convict cell.3) Barzun states a “model prisoner (is) first a contradiction in terms, and second, an exemplar of what a free society should not want.” Why?

Para.25-28 The fault in the present system is not the sentence

but the fallible procedure.Question:1) What are the specifics of the Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard, Jr. case? Why was he freed?2) What reforms in judicial procedures does Barzun suggest?

Para.29 Conclusion: To abolish capital punishment is to violate the sanctity of human life.

Oral practice: Talking about the following questions:

1. Does the writer try to appeal to the readers’ emotions or does he try to convince with logical facts? Cite example.2. What does the vocabulary of this essay tell you about the audience to whom this essay is addressed?3. What paragraph organizes the essay? Using this paragraph as a guide, divide the essay into its component parts.4. What is the unifying theme of the essay?

5. What kind of detail is primarily used to develop the following paragraphs:21,23, and 25?6. How is transition accomplished between the following paragraphs: 7 and 8, 14 and 15, 22 and 23?7. Is it fair to say that this essay is largely a seconding of the author’s personal views?8. Have you found any fallacy in the writer’s arguments?

Words and expressions

capital (adj.) : involving or punishable by death (originally by decapitation)( 罪恶等可处 )死刑的 ( 原指可斩首的 )

sheaf (n.) : a collection of things gathered together ； bundle ， as of papers( 书等的 ) 一捆

reproachful (adj.) : full of or expressing reproach ， or blame ， censure ， etc ．责备的；应受斥责的；可耻的

rapist (n.) : a person who has committed rape 强奸犯

psychiatry (n.) : the branch of medicine concerned with the study, treatment ， and prevention of disorders of the mind ， including psychoses and neuroses ， emotional and social maladjustments ， etc ．精神病学

assemblage (n.) : bringing or coming together ； assembly 集合，会合

conviction (n.) : firm or assured belief 深信，确信；信服

airtight (adj.) : giving no opening for attack ；invulnerable 无懈可击的；天衣无缝的

frivolity (n.) : the quality or condition of being frivolous 轻率；轻浮；无聊

sanguinary (adj.) : eager for bloodshed ； bloodthirsty 嗜血成性的；好杀戮的

concede (v.) : admit as true or valid ； acknowledge 承认；认以为真

outset (n.) : setting out ； beginning ； start开端；开始，起初

harrowing (adj.) : which causes mental distress to ； agonizingly painful to the feelings精神痛苦的；烦恼的

barbarity (n.) : cruel or brutal behavior ； inhumanity 残暴，野蛮

homicide (n.) : any killing of one human being by another 杀人

threshold (n.) : the entrance or beginning point of something 入门；开始，开端

deter (v.) : keep or discourage (a person) from doing something by instilling fear ， anxiety ， doubt ，etc ．阻拦；制止；吓住

sanctity (n.) : saintliness or holiness ； the fact or being sacred or inviolable 神圣，圣洁；不可侵犯性

proposition (n.) : the act of proposing ； something proposed ； proposal 提议，建议；提案；计划

vindictive (adj.) : revengeful in sprat ； inclined to seek vengeance ； characterized by vengeance 有报复心的；志在复仇的；复仇的

presumptive (adj.) : giving reasonable ground for ；belief ； based on probability 可据以推定的；假定的

obsessive (adj.) : of causing an obsession or obsessions 分神的；被…缠住的

egotist (n.) : a person characterized by egotism 自我中心主义者；利己主义者

infallible (adj.) : incapable of error ； dependable ；reliable ； sure 不会犯错误的；可信赖的；确实可靠的

qualm (n.) : a sudden feeling of uneasiness 0r doubt ； misgiving 疑虑；不安

invoke (v.) : ask solemnly for ； beg for ； implore ； entreat 恳求，乞求，请求

notwithstanding (prep.) : in spite of 尽管

cutthroat (n.) : a person who cuts throat ；murderer 凶手；谋杀者

poker (n.) : a bar ． usually of iron ， for stirring a fire 拨火棒；火钳

marksman (n.) : a person who shoots ， esp. one who shoots well 射手 ( 尤指神枪手 )

euthanasia (n.) : an easy and painless death 安乐死

forfeit (v.) : lose ， give up ， or be deprived of as a forfeit for some crime ， fault ， etc ． ( 因犯罪、过失、失职等而 ) 丧失；被迫放弃，被剥夺

delinquency (n.) : failure or neglect to do what duty or law requires ； a fault ； misdeed 失职，玩忽职守；过失；犯罪

prelude (n.) : anything serving as the introduction to a principal event ， action ， performance ， etc ．； preliminary part ； preface ； opening 序言；序幕

rear (v.) : bring to maturity by educating ， nourishing ， etc. 抚养；培养

criminology (n.) : the scientific study and investigation of crime and criminals 犯罪学；刑事学

virility (n.) : masculine strength and vigor 男子气概 villainy (n.) : the fact or state of being villainous ；

a wicked ， criminal deed 邪恶；邪恶行径；罪行 specter (n.) : a ghost ； apparition 鬼怪，幽灵

disclose (v.) : reveal ； make known 透露，泄露；披露；使知道

conjecture (n.) : an inferring ， theorizing ， or predicting from incomplete or uncertain evidence ； guesswork 猜测，推测，猜想；推理

sterile (adj.) : incapable of producing others of its kind ； barren ； unfruitful 不生育的；贫瘠的；无成效的

ken (n.) : range of vision or sight ； mental perception or recognition ； range of knowledge 视野；认识；理解；了解和知识范围

strangle (v.) : kill by squeezing the throat as with the hands ， a noose ， etc ．， so as to cut off circulation of the blood 扼死；勒死；绞死

maniac (n.) : a wildly or violently insane person ；madman ； lunatic 疯子；躁狂者；狂人

boatload (n.) : all the freight or passengers that a boat can carry or contain 一船货；一船旅客

skipper (n.) : the captain of a ship ， esp. of a small ship or boat( 小船的 ) 船长

apparatus (n.) : the means or system by which something is kept in action or a desired result is obtained ： organization 组织；团体；机构；机关

detention (n.) : a detaining or being detained ； specifically a keeping in custody ， confinement 拘留；扣留；监禁

animus (n.) : a feeling of strong i11 will or hatred ；animosity 仇恨，憎恶；敌意；恶意

discharge (v.) : release (a prisoner) from jail ， (a defendant) from suspicion ， (a patient) as cured ，etc ．释放 ( 囚犯 ) ；解除 ( 对被告的 ) 怀疑；允许( 病人 )出院

inmate (n.) : a person living with others in the same building ， now esp. one confined with others in a prison or institution同住者 (现尤指同狱犯人，同院病人等 )

automation (n.) : the act or practice of using machines that need little or no human control ， esp. in place of workers 自动，自动化

passionnel (adj.) : (French)of passion[法语 ]激怒的

condone (v.) : forgive ， pardon。 or overlook (an offence) 原谅，饶恕；宽恕；赦免

blackmailer (n.) : a person who gets or tries to get blackmail from敲诈者，勒索者

retribution (n.) : deserved punishment for evil done ， or ， sometimes ， reward for good done ； merited requital惩罚；报答

provocation (n.) : an act or instance provoking挑衅；激怒；刺激

nag (v.) : annoy by continual scolding ， faultfinding ， complaining ， urging ， etc ． ( 不断责骂、挑剔、抱怨、催促而 ) 使人烦恼

excoriate (v.) : denounce harshly严厉谴责，痛斥，痛骂

score (n.) : a grievance or wrong one seeks to settle or get even for宿怨，旧仇

seclusion (n.) : a secluding or being secluded ； retirement ； isolation ； privacy隔离，隔绝；孤立；隐退

penitentiary n : a prison 监狱；拘留所

mania (n.) : an excessive ， persistent enthusiasm ，liking ， craving ， or interest ； obsession ； craze 狂热；热衷

presuppose (v.) : require or imply as a preceding condition 以…为先决条件；作为前提

garble (v.) : select ， suppress ， improperly emphasize ， or distort parts of(a story ， etc ． )in telling ， so as to mislead or misrepresent( 对小说等 )断章取义；歪曲；篡改

tenacious (adj.) : stubborn ； persistent固执的；坚持的，持久的

advocacy (n.) : the act of advocating ， or speaking or writing in support拥护；提倡；辩护

revulsion (n.) : extreme disgust ， shock ， or repugnance ； feeling of great loathing厌恶，反感

hypnotize (v.) : affect or influence as if by hypnotism ； spell blind 使着迷，迷住

prophylactic (adj.) : preventive or protective ， esp. ， preventing against disease预防性的 ( 尤指预防疾病 )

dwarf (v.) : make small or insignificant 使矮小；使无足轻重

deem (v.) : think ， consider ， believe 想；认为；相信

deliberative adj. : of or for deliberating审议的；评论的；讨论的

diet (n.) : a national or local legislative assembly in some countries(某些国家的 )国会，议会；地方议会

inkwell (n.) : a container for holding ink ， usually set in the top of a desk ， inkstand ， etc ． (镶在桌上或墨水台上的 )墨水池

ludicrous (n.) : causing laughter because absurd or ridiculous ； laughably absurd荒唐得滑稽的；荒谬可笑的

mitigate (v.) : make or become milder ， less severe ， less rigorous or Less painful ； moderate( 使 )缓和； ( 使 )镇静；减轻

vicarious (adj.) : shared in or experienced by imagined participation in another’s experience( 假想身临其境而 )感受的

shed (v.) : cause to flow in a stream or fall in drops流出；流下

infamy (n.) : very bad reputation ； notoriety ； disgrace ； dishonor臭名昭著；丢脸；不光彩；不名誉

detached (adj.) : not involved by emotion ， interests ， etc ．； aloof ； impartial公正的，超然的，不偏袒的

arbiter (n.) : a person selected to judge a dispute ；umpire ； arbitrator公断人，仲裁人

fallacious (adj.) : containing a fallacy ； erroneous谬误的

stench (n.) : an offensive smell or odor ； stink 恶臭，臭气 rack (v.) : trouble ， torment ， or afflict折磨，使痛苦

promiscuity (n.) : a state ， quality ， or instance of being promiscuous ， esp. in sexual relations混杂性；杂乱 ( 尤指男女乱交 )

impotent (adj.) : lacking physical strength ； weak 无力的，虚弱的；衰弱的

exemplar (n.) : a person or thing regarded as worthy of imitation ； model ； pattern ； archetype模范，典范；典型；榜样

tardy (adj.) : slow in moving ， acting ， etc ．； late ， delayed慢的，行动缓慢的；迟的，迟到的

miscarriage (n.) : failure t0 carry out what was intended( 计划等的 ) 失败；审判错误；未得到预期的结果

irrevocable (adj.) : that can’t be undone ； unalterable 不能取消的，不可废止的；不可变更的

acquittal (n.) : setting free or being set free by judgment of the court 释放，开释；宣判无罪，赦免

implausible (adj.) : not plausible似乎无理的，难以置信的，似乎不可能的

ostracism (n.) : a rejection or exclusion by general consent ， as from a group or from acceptance by society排斥；放逐；流放

callous (adj.) : 1acking pity ， mercy ， etc ．； unfeeling ； insensitive 无同情心的；无情的；无感觉的

tribunal (n.) : a court of justice法庭，法院 languish (v.) : 1iver under distressing conditions ；

continue in a state of suffering 受折磨，受苦

commute (v.) : change(an obligation ， punishment ， etc ． ) to one that is less severe减 ( 刑 ) ；减轻 ( 责任等 )

demagogy (n.) : the methods or practices of a demogogue煽动，鼓动，蛊惑人心的宣传

mischance (n.) : an unlucky accident ； back luck ；misadventure 不幸事件，不幸；灾难

vindicator (n.) : a person who clears from criticism ，blame ， guilt ， suspicion ， etc ．辩护人，辩白人

parole (n.) : the release of a prisoner before his sentence has expired ， on condition of future good behavior( 刑满前的 ) 假释

stigma (n.) : something that detracts from the character or reputation of a person ， group ， etc ．；mark of disgrace or reproach 耻辱，污名

misstep (n.) : a wrong or awkward step ； a mistake in conduct 失足；失误，失策

peter (v ． [colloq ． ]) : become gradually smaller ，weaker ， etc ．， and then cease or disappear[口 ]逐渐枯竭；渐趋消失

remorse (n.) : a deep ， torturing sense of guilt felt over a wrong that one has done ； self—reproach懊悔，悔恨；自责

incarceration (n.) : imprisonment 关押，监禁 meliorist (n.) : a person who believes that th

e world naturally tends to get better and ， esp. ， that this tendency can be furthered by human effort社会向善论者 ( 一种认为社会自然地向好的方向发展的理论

give pause to sb ．／ sth :   give pause to sb ．使某人踌躇不前 例： Her anger gave pause to his further action ．她生气了，这使他不敢马上采取进一步的行动。

do justice t0 sth ．／ sb ． :   treat fairly公平对待，适当处理 例： That subject was so complex that I could not do justice to it in a short speech ．这个主题太复杂，我无法在一篇短小的发言里就把它阐述清楚。

at the outest :   in the beginning 在开始时 例： Things went well at the Vbly outset ．刚开始时一切进展顺利。

preside over :   be the head or director of负责，主持，管理 例： She presided over the business of this store ．她管理这个店的业务。

to the teeth :   be lacking nothing ； completely 全副地，全部地 例： "armed to the teeth武装到牙齿／ be dressed to the teeth全副打扮

on the march :   on the march 在行进中，在发展中 例： Technology is on the march ．科技正在发展中。

beyond one’s ken :   not within one’s range of knowledge超出某人的知识范围 例： How can I answer those questions that are well beyond my ken? 我怎么能回答得出那些远远超出我知识范围的问题呢 ?

trot out :   produce ； bring out给人看，炫耀，搬出 例： trot out the spokesman to face the press搬出发言人来对付新闻界

peter out :   diminish slowly and come to an end ； dwindle逐渐耗尽，逐渐终止 例： The storm petered out finally ．暴风雨最终逐渐平息下来。。

coupled with :   if one thing is coupled with another ． they happen or exist together and produce a particular result加上，外加 例： Drought coupled with high temperatures caused the crops to fail ．干旱外加高温使农作物歉收了。

strike a blow for :   do something to help an idea ， belief ， or organization拥护，为…而战斗 例： It’s time we struck a blow for social equality ．是我们为社会平等而战的时候了。

Special Difficulties Identifying and understanding technical terms in this essay

capital imprisonment executionjudicial homicide euthanasiacounsel testimonypenitentiarymiscarriage of justiceacquittalparole