"No Seconds" & "The Last Meal Project"

After reading and looking at both “No Seconds” and “The Last Meal Project” I had a whole new perspective on the death penalty and the idea of the last meal. The pictures included and some of the facts and responses were shocking to me and almost upsetting. If I had to pick one presentation over the other in terms of which one was more compelling, I would have to choose “The Last Meal Project”.

First, I will talk about “The Last Meal Project” and the rhetorical choices that the author made. The presentation begins with a quote that explains how a prisoner has the option of choosing a last meal before they are put to death. After the quote there are arrows to navigate through the presentation which includes slides with a picture of the sentenced individual and their last meal and then facts about them on the right side. Along with those images there was also images of what all the lethal injection entails, how much the death penalty costs and how much a citizen is paid to be the executor. One of the biggest things that surprised me was the minimal amount of food some of the people requested as well as the idea that some people rejected food altogether. The most moving last meal response that I read was Odell Barnes Jr.’s which read “Justice, Equality, World Peace.” This is the not the response one might expect from an inmate that is put in death row.

Second, I will talk about “No Seconds” and the goal that the author was attempting to present in his presentation. When looking at the pictures presented in “No Seconds” I noticed there was a lot of color and contrast in them. Some of the pictures even include colorful place mats in the background of the food. I think with “No Seconds” the author was attempting to convey the idea that it is almost a tease to offer someone on death row the option to eat whatever they want only because they are being put to death. There is this “positive” connotation put on it in a sense because they are granting the individuals their last wish before death.

I think that both articles has great visuals and did a good job of interpreting the reality of the death penalty and the last meal.