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Hoping someone can help me out.....

Task 2:
By punishing murders with the death penalty,society is also guilty of committing murder.Therefore,life in prison is a better punishment for murderers.To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge.

My question is : In such a question,should we consider the first sentence as a general statement or write our essay in the context of the example given-"only murder as a crime " in this case?

Also,which approach or methodology is better for writing such essay-discussing both views(discussion essay) OR Argument essay?
According to me, I partly agree with the statement and at the same time disagree also(any crime is dependent on circumstances under which it is committed,simply giving a death penalty or life imprisonment without proper evidence/court trial does not make sense!!) ..so a bit confused

If you would be in my position ,how would you have answered ? Which method is better suited from exam point of view...

The first line is intro or background information for the topic.the question is whether they should be punished by life imprisonment?and other side of arguement is they should be hung . In intro you will give both views ,and in your thesis you can stick to eithr one side or give a balanced opinion.which most people do.I would give balanced approach answer.
I hope this helps .
cheers

The question states 'do you agree or disagree'... so this is clearly an argument type essay and you should either support life time imprisonment of criminals or you can support death sentence.
Dont support both