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Blog Post #5: Final Thoughts

  Just Mercy  by Bryan Stevenson was an incredibly moving, true story about the injustices within the judicial and police system. It emphasized the mistreatment and racism against death row inmates and their experiences throughout court and prison. Throughout the book, Stevenson was incredibly dedicated and hard working-constantly in a battle for death row inmates' lives. Stevenson fought bravely in arguably one of the most racist counties, and maybe even state, within America. He voluntarily began his law firm in Monroeville, Alabama-which was known at the time for its unjust system and racism. However, this did not sway Stevenson. After every racist comment, experience, or argument he had to endure and did not walk away. Stevenson today still continues to fight in Alabama for death row inmates' lives and prove them not guilty.  Stevenson's dedication to continue fighting for peoples' rights, even against hard circumstances, has encouraged me to be more cognisant about...
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Blog Post #4: Reflection

      After reading the novel, Just Mercy  by Bryan Stevenson was another eye-opener to the injustices in our world. Through being informed on current events, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) and other social uprisings-this book really solidified my point of view and ideas on racism and our justice system. My personal experiences as well as my prior knowledge on the subject helped me understand this book on a much deeper level. By experiencing first-hand accounts of racism against my friends and even seeing the judicial and police system within our own country make bigoted decisions, I suppose I never truly  wanted to believe that America was still racist.  I understood that racism was an apparent issue however I did not realize how many people are actually racist until I read this book. Stevenson brings to light these social injustices that I supposed I did not really take into thought. He recognizes the systematic racism within our count...
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BLOG POST #3: Argument

     In the book, Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson heavily focuses on his clients that served on death row. As the reader, you learn a lot about death row that you may not have previously known. You learn the living conditions, the crimes many of these people are convicted of, and the treatment they receive. You learn about the deeply rooted racism within some of these prisons. Stevenson has a few main platforms throughout the book that he gets across, and one of them is the abolishment of the death penalty.      The death penalty has recently become a sensitive topic for discussion. The United States is one of the few countries that still have the death penalty at all, though certain states have gotten rid of it. However, Alabama is not one of those states. Stevenson often talks about the high execution rates in Alabama; as well as the high rate of execution that people are convicted of. This in itself is one of the problems; he talks about how judges are voted...
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BLOG POST #2: Rhetorical Analysis

 In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson uses many different methods to keep his audience interested, and invested in what he is telling them. Through his personal style of writing, he uses many rhetorical devices to make his point.  In Stevenson's Just Mercy, he makes use of pathos often. Pathos is used to invoke emotion in the audience, which he does often in his anecdotes. For example, when he talks about his phone call with Jimmy Dill, he says, "I also realized that I was crying...The harder he tried to speak, the more I wanted to cry. The long pauses gave me too much time to think. He would have never been convicted of capital murder if he had just had the money for a decent lawyer." Here, pathos is used to invoke anger and sadness in the audience as they realize the unfairness of the situation, that Jimmy Dill could've avoided this deadly situation if he had just had the money. Stevenson says this to upset the reader, and make them angry, as he feels, to get them to real...
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BLOG POST 1: Relevance to Current Events

     Before reading this book, I feel like I have tried my best to stay informed about current events, such as politics, and other things going on in the world. I found this book enjoyable to read because it gave me more information on things I already knew were true, and it gave me evidence to back my opinions.      In Just Mercy, Stevenson talks about his early experiences as a law school graduate, and the things that led him to his career today. He talked about his experiences with death row inmates and interviewing them at a young age. This affected him deeply, and led him on his journey to work with death row inmates, children, and the disabled. He talks about his own experiences as a young black man, and what he has seen other black people go through. This sheds light on the things going on in America right now, with the BLM Protests, sparked by the murders of innocent black people, such as George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and many others...
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