Shutika, Debra LattanziHallman, Annie2017-12-212017-12-21https://hdl.handle.net/1920/10844This thesis explores personal experience narratives as social practice within the death penalty abolition movement, focusing on the relationship established between the storyteller and the listener through the creation and performance of stories that lead to activism. In the process of researching and writing this thesis, I conducted a literature search, incorporated discussions with murder victims’ family members and activists while participating in an anti-death penalty demonstration, and analyzed an oral performance and a memoir written from the perspective of an exonerated woman. I present and analyze the stories and voices of these survivors, advocates, and activists in an attempt to uncover how they use personal narrative to promote awareness and attain understanding, connection, and a shared sense of responsibility to social justice.enFolklore and social justicePersonal experience narrativeDeath penalty abolitionCapital punishmentStorytelling and activismNarratives and human rightsThesis