The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. What is the goal of incarceration—of doing time? The answer to this question varies. Some argue that incarceration can encourage people to make positive changes in their lives through rehabilitative programs that focus on meaningful education and work opportunities.

Marvin Wade, a formerly incarcerated writer, considers the impact of his own experience in prison in his essay published in Mend, a journal dedicated to the voices of currently and formerly incarcerated writers and artists as well as others affected by the criminal justice system.

Marvin Wade, “Time and Prison: Are They Mutually Exclusive?” Mend, vol. 3, no. 7, 2025.

1. Marvin Wade begins his argument by responding to a “they say.” Carefully re-read the first three paragraphs of his essay. What is the “they say” Wade responds to? What is his “I say”?
2. Wade explains different ways time gave him the opportunity to improve his life and how prison undermined or interfered with this work. What’s one way Wade worked to improve his life in prison? How did the structure and culture of prison undermine this effort?
3. Wade skillfully uses connecting devices to tie together the pieces of his argument. Look carefully at his topic sentences. Notice how Wade repeats words and uses similar sentence structures in the topic sentences throughout his essay. Why do you think he made this choice as a writer—how does it strengthen his argument?
4. At the end of his essay, Wade signals to his argument’s bigger “so what?” and “who cares?” questions. He writes, “This dispatch on prison and time was written with the youth in mind.” Why, according to Wade, should young people care about his experience in prison and his belief that “Time is your friend”? Is his argument compelling? Why or why not?
5. Marvin Wade worked with filmmaker Evan Bode to remix his argument into an op-ed video published in 2026 in the New York Times. Watch their video, “Prison and Time.” Pay attention to how Wade and Bode use sounds, images, and illustrations in their argument. How is this video remix different from Wade’s original written argument? In your response, focus on a particular sound, image, or illustration in the video that you think changed or strengthened Wade’s argument.