Death penalty Research Paper - to make it informative or argumentative?

Hello,
Im in English 111 and my professor wants a research paper on a topic that we feel comfortable writing about. I choose the death penalty thinking it was going to be easy. But I have to choose to make it informative or argumentative. I choose informative but he said it was going to be harder than argumentative. I thought informative is just facts therefore easier. Im confused. Can anyone help me? It cant have any religion based argument in it either.

I think the reason he said argument is easier because you need to pick a side and it doesnt matter if its bias. An informative cannot have any opinion, which death penalty is all about, it's each person opinion if there should be a death penalty, "An eye for an eye, the whole world will be blind" <-- that's an opinion.

Ryan, that is an impressive answer! We are lucky to have you participating here...

Latesha, I know some great articles for you:

Is capital punishment morally required? Acts, omissions, and life-life tradeoffs.
Stanford Law Review; December 1, 2005; Sunstein, Cass R. Vermeule, Adrian

Steiker, Carol S., No, Capital Punishment is Not Morally Required: Deterrence, Deontology, and the Death Penalty. Stanford Law Review, Forthcoming; Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 125.

If you read these two articles, starting with Sunstein and Vermeule, you will be ready to write a great paper!!!! :-)