Free The Caging Of America Article Review Sample

The Caging of America by Adam Gopnik is an enlightening article that highlights the gloomy state of affairs in the American prisons. The author critically analyzes the current situation in the American prisons and the population influx. Gopnik not only converses the source of mass incarceration but also highlights the association between mass incarceration and the rates of crime. The author uses foreshadowing, persuasive evidence and a plea for ethics to illustrate to the population how mass imprisonment is an immoral issue that must be corrected. Gopnik is a sophisticated writer who uses divergent ideas and opinions to back up his idea. He uses numerous sources of information including statistical data, popular culture and scholarly literature in compiling the article.
Gopnik believes in evidence-based research, and he takes advantage to explain the intolerable situation in the American prisons. In the commencement of the article, Gopnik looks at Ivan Denisovich article, “One day in the Life,” and draws a comparison that exists amid American and Soviet prisons. In this comparison, Gopnik illustrates how mass incarceration had grown into a severe problem in America. Moreover, the author draws attention by using Bob Dylan’s lyrics to exemplify the basic image in American prisons with the aim of appealing to the sympathy of the target audience. Dylan sings, “Sometimes I think this whole world is one big prison yard, /”“Some of us are prisoners, some of us are guards.” (Gopnik, 2)The lyrics aim at attracting the attention of the readers by stimulating their sympathy. He has also mastered the application of scientific statistics to prove his points. For instance, Gopnik indicates the ratio of the number of Americans set in prison in every hundred thousand. Also, the astounding statistics depict how prisons consume more money compared to the budget set on higher education spending.
In the article, Gopnik conveys a contemptuous-but eloquent- narration about mass incarceration backed up with appalling facts. Citizens of black origin are the most populated in the prisons compared to the whites. The author also indicates the high number of people who are raped and molested in the prisons. The revelations bring out anger and emotions from the readers, but they feel helpless about the situation. Gopnik depends on the hypothesis drawn from William J. Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice and Franklin E. Zimring, The City That Became Safe. In his hypothesis, the first case study fails to apply common sense in the manner it conducts judgments compared to the second case that is more precise and deftness. Gopnik agrees to Zimring findings that prisons played a less significant role towards crime reduction.
In my opinion, Gopnik article is informative and an excellent piece of literature. The author uses statistics and case studies in highlighting the problems observed in the American prisons. The article strengths include the manner at which the author draws the comparison from different case studies in highlighting the status of mass incarceration in America. Ideas are well developed with a consistent flow and explained in a clear cut manner. The author uses effective styles that capture the attention of the readers. Readers are glued to the coherency of the article and read it for understanding the inhuman nature experienced in the prisons. The article suffers minor shortcomings and stands out to remain among the best. I could rate the article as a job well done, keep up Gopnik!

Work cited

Gopnik, Adam. "The caging of America." The New Yorker 30 (2012): 1-6.