Question

Taking livestock is theft, and theft is a felony which carries the death sentence. . . . It is unlikely that you will be hanged for taking a wild animal such as a rabbit; but, even so, you will get a fine amount­ing to three times the value of the animal as well as three months in prison, and you will have to enter into a bond to guarantee your good behavior in the future; a second offense will be treated more harshly. If a gamekeeper attacks you and you defend yourself, you can be charged with assault. You may find yourself on the gallows if you injure him.

Answer 1

Sample Response: The author uses second-person point of view in this text by addressing the reader directly. The consequences listed for the felony of theft of livestock seem much more severe when readers consider they might happen to them. By speaking to the reader as a distinct individual, the author captures the attention of a reader who in other circumstances might not take the punishment of a crime in Elizabethan England as seriously.