The nation's death-row population now numbers more than 3, 335 inmates. ... (Mello, "Against the Death Penalty" 31) Another major augment against the death penalty is that it violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. ... Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-I11 said, "death-penalty Darwinism? Death-penalty survival of the fittest?" ... Closer analysis of each state reveals that during the last two decades, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than states without the death penalty. ...

• Word Count: 3235
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

Vonnegut focuses on the death of a nation and its dream, a similar theme to that of another celebrated American author - Joseph Heller. ... However, unlike Vonnegut and Heller's existential critique, Thompson's Stanislavskian reportage (that is, a kind of "method writing" conducive to great verisimilitude) involves him directly participating in the search for - and death of - the American Dream. ...

• Word Count: 4213
• Approx Pages: 17