Bring back flogging

Glen Drew
June 7

Title
"Bring back flogging" is a very catchy title. Readers are intrigued and want to know what the author really means. This title is directly related to his thesis and the point he is trying to make. He probably doesn't literally mean flogging, but some sort of punishment similar to it. Most Americans believe the prison system is messed up, and would like a fresh alternative.
Thesis
Jacoby's thesis is that America needs more forms of punishment than simply imprisonment. Imprisonment is used across the board for every type of crime. It is costing American taxpayers too much money to just lock everybody up. Doing time should not be the only punishment for criminals.
Purpose
Jacoby's purpose is to persuade the reader that our current prison system needs to be changed somehow. He uses old Puritan methods to illustrate that different crimes were met with different punishments. His other purpose is to show the reader that we are letting violent prisoners go because our prisons are being pushed beyond capacity. The costs of running a prison are also staggering and affecting the taxpayers. Jacoby wants corporal punishment brought back as an option to imprisonment. It may be degrading and brutal, but sodomy in prison isn't.
Method
Jacoby's method is very persuasive. He uses points that most Americans would tend to agree with. "We cage criminals at a rate unsurpassed in the free world, yet few of us believe that the criminal justice system is a success" (184). He also uses good sources: John DiIulio, a noted Princeton criminoligist. When using the point of public beatings, Jacoby does not make them seem to be that farfetched. He is not talking about chopping off hands or anything that would mutilate, just punishment that would hurt and humiliate the criminal. He also uses the fact that prison life has it's fair share of brutality already. "In 1994, more than two hundred thousand inmates were raped" (185). Jacoby offers the reader several persuasive arguments to agree with his point of view.
Persona
Jacoby's persona is that of a well educated man that knows what he is talking about. To back up his opinion, he uses statistics, a criminoligist, prison costs (economy), and a report from the Globe. He does not simply rely on what he knows. I like his persona. He is smart enough to bring up the fact of prison rape, which few reports do. He does not seem to be hiding anything in this essay.
Closing Paragraph
His closing paragraph reiterates the fact that Puritans using corporal punishment was a good idea. It makes us feel that we need to adopt a new way to treat our criminals. Since our methods are obviously not deterring crime, we should try some new ones. We need cheaper and quicker methods of punishment than just imprisonment.
Impression
I liked how he grabbed the reader's attention with bringing back the flog. He used history to present what worked in the past. His arguments that prison doesn't work and is costing too much money made me side with him. To end his argument, he brought up the fact that prisons are already brutal. So in the end, we're just being brutal to the prisoner in public and it may save us lots of time and money.