Cruel and Unusual Punishment

As it seems to be for every Amendment, the 8th Amendment which protects American citizens against cruel and unusual punishment is tricky. In class, we've been discussing a few cases involving this Amendment, and it has come to be my opinion that it shouldn't be more specific. Should we even attempt to narrow it down more, people will be more likely to try and find a loophole to just barely get out of the law's grasp. To continue, even simply defining cruel and unusual punishment is difficult. To me, I suppose it just means exactly what it says; should punishment be cruel and unusual to what has become the norm, I think it qualifies under this Amendment.