Annotated Bibliography: Sample

Orwell, George. "A Hanging." The Call to Write, by John Trimbur, Wadsworth, 2014, 93-97.

This short essay is a first-person account of a hanging carried out in Burma in the 1920s. The language is spare and unemotional. While the essay is not overtly political, it raises questions about power imbalances in a justice system and about the attitudes of authorities toward subject populations. The article contains descriptions of the effects the death penalty had on officials carrying it out. Another relevant point is that the hanging itself was done by an Indian colonial subject rather than by a British person, which raises the issue of outsourcing "dirty work."  While not directly relevant to the death penalty in 20th century America, the essay is useful because it points out several issues that should be considered in evaluating the appropriateness of the death penalty including racial disparities, power imbalances,  and the effects of capital punishment on persons carrying out this procedure.