1. Introduction

On April 19, 2024, Taylor Swift dropped her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department (and The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology).[1]  The lyrical savant takes listeners through a journey of happiness, heartbreak, affairs, post-mortem examinations, alien abductions, zombies, Super Bowls, and, of course, Florida.  Although law students everywhere likely listened to the album while studying for (o

1. Introduction

Theme is vitally important in persuasive advocacy, whether written or oral. It took me several jury trials and a few seasons coaching high school mock trial to feel like I understood how to persuasively use a theme as a lawyer. Thus, I wanted to develop an exercise that helped first-year law students begin to grasp the idea of using a theme to advocate for their client. I created an exercise using opening statements from prominent criminal jury trials.