Structure

“My Sons on Death Row” by Kevin O’Sullivan is a magazine article which focuses on a case study. The article presents the case of the first woman in the US to have two sons on Death Row for separate crimes.

Heading and subheading

The heading (title) of the article announces the topic of the text. “My Sons on Death Row” tells readers that the article is going to be focused on the issue of the death penalty and will present a personal case.

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Introduction

The introduction of the article presents the main theme to be discussed. The article begins with a recent development in the US—the possibility of televising death penalty executions: “This summer, a TV station in San Francisco claimed the right to show the execution of double killer Robert Harris, due to end his days in a gas chamber.” (p. 170, ll. 3-7)

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Main body

The writer presents briefly why the sons are in jail and how the mother feels:

When her eldest son Ernest was found guilty of a cold-blooded contract murder (…) The shock so devastated her she suffered a heart attack. (…) Three years ago Jacqueline’s youngest son Bobby was also sentenced to die in the electric chair after killing his wife… (p. 171, ll. 7-20)

Then, the writer gives a background story on the boys’ upbringing and their lives before the murders. We find out that their father was a violent man whom Jacqueline had to leave when she was pregnant with Bobby.

Then, two portraits of the boys are conveyed. While Ernest became a rich, handsome bachelor running a construction business, Bobby married a much younger woman, took up to drinking, and worked a low-paying job:

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