The Death Penalty is an article written by David Bruck, an attorney who has represented many criminals on death row. In his piece, he disagrees with Koch, the then-current mayor of New York City from 1977 to 1989, who wrote an essay on why the death penalty should be enacted. Bruck’s article fundamentally describes how the death penalty is immoral and ineffective. The source was produced in the liberal magazine The New Republic in 1985. Since it was published in 1985, it might have been more revolutionary or different than normal beliefs about enacting the death penalty. More people might have been in favor of capital punishment, and the article could have caused a shift in supporters of the death penalty. The magazine’s headquarters is in…show more content… Its headquarters also indicates that its writers play a role in political discussion and are aware of current events. Prior knowledge of the piece is how liberal views include opposing the death penalty. The article was written for readers of The New Republic and those who read Koch’s essay on capital punishment. This makes the source reliable because it is published in a widely-known source and targets those with prior knowledge on the death penalty, so it needs to be plausible. The article was published to disagree with those who support capital punishment and to gain supporters of ending the death penalty. This source is important because it gives present-day readers an idea of what liberal views of execution were thirty years ago. It may change one’s opinion on execution and remind one of the value of human…show more content… Her piece is an attempt to prove to readers that the death penalty is morally wrong. Her book describes her experiences helping and talking to prisoners on death row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The setting affects the meaning of the source because it proves that Sister Helen talked to prisoners herself and that these experiences were her own. Prior knowledge of the piece is the “eye for an eye” argument used by supporters of capital punishment and the fact that “Dead man walking!” is what guards say as someone who is about to be executed walks through the prison halls. These facts help establish the idea that the death penalty should be considered barbaric and the true impact of death. Her piece was created for Christians or religious people and those who are either in favor of or against the death penalty. The reliability of the source may be affected because it is a religious piece and based on moral values. This source was produced in order to change the minds of people who believe the death penalty is a positive way of handling crime. Her novel was published in 1993, meaning that while it was two decades ago, it is still recent enough to be a valuable source. The novel can be a good example of how views in the death penalty changed within twenty years. Dead Man Walking is an important source because it provides an account from someone other than an attorney or a scholar to the