Assignment 2

"Harder and longer punishment for people who commit crimes should be the most important election issue 2010!"

“Mr. X rapes and kills a young girl; the court judges him to a life sentence in prison. Mr. X is behaving well in prison, and is not a troublemaker at all and comes out of prison after 8-10 years instead of the life sentence”. This can´t be right?

The people in Sweden that commits crimes are getting away too easily nowadays, it seems like there are no “life sentenced people” that actually spends a lifetime in prison. What if they let them out and they commit new crimes, what if they kill again? Why even judge people to a life sentence in prison when almost everyone is getting out much earlier just because they are “behaving well”?

There are many arguments in the favor of this claim;
1) The risk that the person commits more crimes when they get out

2) Imagine what the families of the victims would feel like when they are letting out the prisoner

3) The relations between the citizens of Sweden and the people that decides to let prisoners out is being very damaged, they seem to be “not trust-worthy”

4) It´s not a very safe and positive pattern that we here in Sweden are letting out our prisoners if they behave well, maybe more people will commit crimes?

I think that there are many more arguments in the favor of my claim, instead of seeing the positive thing in letting the prisoners out.
I don´t see the positive thing in letting murders get back on the street and be a risk to the citizens, they can surely manipulate the judges in believing that they are “new and better persons” and therefore should be let out 10-15 years earlier than they´ve been judged to.

One thing that I believe can be a counterargument is that there are actually people that deserve a second chance whom are behaving well because they are really regretting what they´ve done.

My answer to this is that you have to assess every single case, I do believe that people can change, but I have no belief in, that a person that rapes and kills an innocent girl deserves to start a new life outside the prison. Surely, there are people that have done something “less horrible”, like embezzlement that can be let out earlier, but as I said, you would have to assess every case. But my opinion is that we want to let out more people than we keep in prison, and this is of course very wrong!

Keep the prisoners behind the bars where they belong!

Assignment 1. Formal & Informal Writing

1) The style of the academic writing is about choosing the right texttype for the right occasion. The academic writing is linear, which means that it has a red thread through the whole text. The formal writing avoids local words or expressions ("slang"). It is objective and avoids the "I", formal writing isn´t about what I believe. The text is explicit and a standard English is used, the formal writing is not personal. In academic writing, that we use in the University you should always choose the formal writing.

Informal text:
Jack Spring thinks that everyone should have the right to own a gun but I don't agree with him. People like him think that the government is infringing our democratic rights when it restricts gun ownership. They think that most people who own guns are responsible citizens who keep the guns for sport and recreation.

Formal text:
Jack Spring maintains that everyone should have the right to own a gun. This position asserts that the government is infringing our democratic rights when it restricts gun ownership. Most people who own guns, so this argument goes, are responsible citizens who keep the guns for sport and recreation.

Here I´ve choosed the same texts but they are written in an informal way and in a formal way. You can clearly see the differencies as I´ve fatbolded the text where they have changed the sentences and words.
The text differs in the way of writing "I" and "They think". Also some words that sounds more appropriate for the formal way of writing.

2)
Formal text:
Since the Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull began to erupt on Wednesday, millions of passengers have been affected. The passengers are stranded all over Europe, not knowing when they will be able to departure. The eruption also affects the aviation industry when the companys have to cancel a huge amount of flights.

Informal text:

I´m sitting here reading about the volcano! I find it kinda scary and annoying, what if the volcano eruption is continuing for another weeks, will my flight to Krakow be cancelled?!?! I´ve been looking forward to this trip for soooo long now, gosh, I hope that this thing will be over soon!