6P English - should the Highwayman be hung for his crimes?
For several weeks, we have been studying the classic poem 'The Highwayman'. We have analysed the poetic features, the language used and the themes of the narrative. This week, we have been considering whether the Highwayman should have been hung for his crimes, if he had been caught. We discussed the morality and implications of crime and any extenuating circumstances that may have surrounded him. We imagined that he had been taken to court and that it was our job to convince the jury to believe in our way of thinking. Below is Joshua's letter. He has written extremely well; using persasive language, modal verbs, engaging sentence openers and a formal tone. We found his very convinving!
Dear members of the jury, I am writing to you to tell you that I believe the Highwayman is innocent. I feel he does not deserve punishment for the crimes he has committed and should be released without conviction. For this reason, I want to explain why he should be kept alive. I am certain that if the final decision is to hang the highwayman results will be dreadful.
I’d like to start by informing you that the highwayman never murdered anyone. There are lots of killers out there, hundreds in fact that have not been committed for their crimes. Why waste precious time on the innocent when there are real murderers to catch and rightfully hang? I understand violence is not the proper way to deal with things, but the Highwayman only used force when threatened. Therefore, the highwayman was never a murderer and his life shouldn’t be ruined by the wrong decision.
In addition to this, I would like to add that the Highwayman was in love, and because of this he was obviously in the wrong frame of mind, which should be taken into account. In support of this, he needs medical care. Therefore, I ask for him to be assessed for his mental health before you make your decision.
To finish, he’s not a murderer you should be catching actual criminals where you have real evidence to convict them. He was in the wrong frame of mind, and he was in love. After he’s seen a doctor all the truth will come out.
I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read my letter, I hope it helps with your decision.