In 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were convicted of killing a fourteen-year-
old neighbor boy. Leopold and Loeb were in their late teens, came from wealthy
families, and attended college. They wanted to commit the "perfect crime. Attorney
Clarence Darrow, a lifetime opponent of the death penalty, was their defense
attorney.
excerpt from Clarence Darrow's closing argument in Illinois v. Nathan Leopold and
Richard Loeb, August 22-25, 1924
And then came the planning for this crime. Murder was the least part of it: to kidnap
and get the money, and kill in connection with it that was the childish scheme
growing up in these childish minds. And they had it in mind for five or six months,
planning what? Planning where every step was foolish and childish, acts that could
have been planned in an hour or a day; planning this, and then planning that
changing this and changing that the weird actions of two mad brains.
How does the use of hypophora in this excerpt advance the speaker's viewpoint?
It emphasizes the speaker's opinion that the boys poorly planned the crime.
It shows the audience that the speaker has been unbiased in forming his opinion
It shows that the speaker wants to be merciful toward the
le presents the speaker's opinion as one of several possibilities