Smoking
Introduction
Some governments have banned smoking in all public places. Smoking has been proven to be very dangerous to health. Nonetheless 40 % of the population smokes. Actually I am a non smoker, although I used to be a smoker.
Most people try out smoking when they are young ; many youths think smoking is a good grown-up habit. Furthermore many young people begin smoking as an act of rebellion and independence. Young smokers start smoking at their age of 12 or 13 just to get a taste of , what it is like. Some of them find it disgusting and unhealthy and some of them find it cool.
Fact’s and Figures
Tobacco use kills about 420, 000 smokers each year. According to recent studies 53.000 nonsmokers die each year from second-hand smoking. It is not surprising. Despite having plenty of anti-tobacco commercials on Television, and on every single pack of cigarettes there being an important note, chainsmokers can’t kick their bad habit. In Hungary a packet of cigarettes costs around 2 Euros. The average smoker buys a packet a day which comes to 730 Euros per year. Could you imagine , what you could do with all that money?
Government intervention in the workplace
Last month while I was reading the newspaper, I came across this article: „Smoking is not allowed in any public places anymore.” I found this ministerial decree, a very good decision, due to there being many smokers in my workplace. There is no assigned smoking area for them. As a consequence I ...
To begin with, social class has always been of great importance in society, more money means more power and more respect. Friendship and acquaintances are based purely on whom someone is in contact with and how much fame and money they have. In the “Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald presents two distinct types of wealthy people. First, there are people like the Buchanan’s and Jordan Baker who were born into wealth. Their families have had money for many generations; hence they are "old money”. The “old money” people, Daisy, Tom, Jordan and their social class, are considered the elite group; the societies highest. They are judgmental and superficial failing to look at the emotions of the people around them and sometimes them selves. “It’s a b****’, said Tom decisively. ‘Here’s your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it”(Fitzgerald, 30). Tom is very aggressive verbally and nonverbally, he thinks he’s always right and likes bossing people around, to show them that he has power over them. All the “elite” are superior and never questioned as with their influence they can do anything. Second there are people like Gatsby who are from a l...
The desire for sophisticated social class represented in The Great Gatsby can either destroy or build character and potential in a young person. Due to the fact Fitzgerald’s novel is flexible, the realistic and romanticized attributes can be interpreted in different ways. However, Fitzgerald’s technique utilized when building his social structure plays a major role in the novel’s penetration in high school academic literature.
The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1920 shows an insightful exploration of social class and the inability to change ones social class no matter how hard they attempt to. Fitzgerald was a great author in his ability to take himself out of reality in the 1920’s and write in The Great Gatsby the dangers of social climbing by comparing characters with regards to their social class. The desperation to achieve but ultimately failing the American Dream was explored through the characters of Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson. I am going to investigate the inability to change one’s social class in 1920s America.
There has always been a social hierarchy since the first man had something another did not and this social stratification has only matured with time adding customs and conventions steadily widening the gap between the haves and the have nots. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts a world of such class-consciousness, ultimately forcing the reader to look within themselves at their own materialism and the utter absurdity of a class based society.
“The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the vast social difference between the old aristocrats, the new self-made rich and the poor. He vividly interprets the social stratification during the roaring twenties as each group has their own problems to deal with. Old Money, who have fortunes dating from the 19th century, have built up powerful and influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority behind a veneer of civility. The New Money made their fortunes in the 1920s boom and therefore have no social connections and tend to overcompensate for this lack with lavish displays of wealth. As usual, the No Money gets overlooked by the struggle at the top, leaving them forgotten or ignored. Such is exemplified by Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan. Their ambitions distinctly represent their class in which Fitzgerald implies strongly about.
The recurring themes of society, class, and self identity can be seen throughout many different writings of the 20th century. Two of these writings include, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Both novels focus on the protagonist's goal of achieving equal rights in their own environment while at the same time trying to figure out who they are in the world. In the early 1900s, when “Their Eyes Were Watching God” takes place, slavery had very recently been abolished (relatively speaking) and the lasting effects of segregation take a toll on Janie, the protagonist. In the Great Gatsby, although Jay Gatsby is white, and thus does not have to deal with the factor of race, he struggles with many different aspects of American Society, mainly the class system and the American Dream. The American dream depicted by F.Scott Fitzgerald is a desire to gain wealth and prosperity. However, at the same time the book does not suggest that wealth equates to success. Even though Gatsby does have material wealth, he is not successful in gaining what he wants to be happy. Despite his material wealth, Gatsby is never united with the love of his life, Daisy. This shows that even though Gatsby has achieved the dream of wealth and prosperity, he has not achieved his final goal. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie too believes in the American Dream, and similarly to Gatsby, it is not a dream of wealth and prosperity. For her, it’s a dream of Freedom in all aspects of life. Both characters however, spend much of their time trying to conform to the rest of the world and essentially be like “everyone” else instead of trying to be distinct individuals. Societal norms of the early 1900s tak...
Unaware to some, The Great Gatsby not only tells a story, but contains great meaning to those who understand it. Published in 1925, Fitzgerald’s novel holds a myriad of topics and themes that depicts what life was like at that time. One such topic included is the class structure 1920s. During the 1920s, there existed invisible borders that separated people based off their socioeconomic class. Each class had particular attributes associated with people living in them as well as reasons why they are in that specific class. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald creates characters with specific attitudes and behaviors that generalize the social stratum they are placed in to convey a message about how the American class structure functions. Through
Smoking is a lifestyle, a habit, and a trend. Smoking has become a social activity among teens, connecting them through the craving of a smoke. Smoking is seen as seductive and cool in the media and movies which influences teenagers to smoke even more. The World Health Organization has stated that “Tobacco kills around 6 million people each year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.” As of April 2016, only 7% of teenagers in the U.S. smoke, but it is said that tobacco use will kill 8 million people annually by 2030. 99% of adult smokers start in their years as teenagers. Smoking is an epidemic that has taken control of people’s lives since 1881 and the media since the early 1900s. Smoking currently kills about 440,000 people a year in the U.S. I feel that it is an issue because it is the #1 most preventable way to die, but people still continue to smoke because of how it looks and how they are perceived as a person if they do. The fact that people become addicted to a trend that will attribute to their death for the sake of being thought of as cooler, is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Recent television commercials that are against smoking have impacted a lot of the population's opinion on smoking. Recent laws in cities around the country are now banning smoking in a lot of public places.
Many themes are portrayed in the Great Gatsby; however one theme that runs throughout the book is the theme of class. This is an integral theme and there are many different ways in which Fitzgerald presents this. One of these methods is the use of different characters to portray class. It is important to note that the connotations and idea of class is one of the bases for the novel and therefore the central themes such as relationships, economy, and prejudice revolve around it. Therefore it is mentioned or at least inferred a lot throughout the novel. There are many different interpretations of the word class and these are some of the definitions found in dictionaries: ‘a system of ordering society whereby people are divided into sets based on perceived social
...more than twice as likely as youth without smoking parents to become smokers. More than 90 percent of adult smokers started when they were teens. A 2001 Survey found that 69.4 percent of teenage smokers reported never being asked for proof of age when buying cigarettes in a store. The same survey found that 62.4 percent were allowed to buy cigarettes even when the retailer was aware they were under eighteen.
Ninety percent of smokers begin before the age nineteen. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Thirty percent of teenagers that smoke continue to smoke and die early because of it. Studies have also show that the first time tobacco is introduced in one’s life is before graduation. (11 facts about teen smoking) Teen smoking is not only dangerous but is also very deadly. Over thirteen hundred people in the United States die a day because of smoking, so if we can decrease the amount of teen smoking would decrease those numbers dramatically. If we as people would help show those who smoke the cost of how much money they spend just in a month own cigarettes just that could change their mind. Many of the one is who smoke tend to have problems financially. We need to show them that cigarettes cost so much and could increase the amount of money they could have for themselves or for other things that they need at home or for some can help pay for their
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald peers into American life during the roaring 1920s. In the story, Fitzgerald not only discusses the ideas of power and greed but also that of social stratification. Fitzgerald focuses on the thought of a contemporary society: In chapter 3 Gatsby's holds a party that s both a description and parody of Jazz Age decadence. It presents the fortitude of conspicuous use, and is an amalgam of the boorish and the reputable. Fitzgerald accentuates the unique social classes through the descriptions of Gatsby himself, the guest’s behaviors, and the conclusion of the party, in order to suggest the superficiality of society.
“…..Nearly half the adult population regularly performs a bizarre act which is necessary neither for the maintenance of life nor for the satisfaction of social, sexual, cultural, or spiritual needs; an act which is acknowledged, even by its adherents, to be harmful to health and even distasteful” (Aston and Stepney 1982: VII). Regarding the above statement a vast majority of anti-smoking campaigners believe that the restriction on smoking in public locations should be increased and effective actions should be taken by governments in order to reduce the consumption of tobacco. On the other hand, addicted smokers consider smoking prohibition as interference in their civil freedom. Though they argue that they have the right to smoke whenever and wherever they want; governments consider passive smoking’s threats as a major priority to deal with. This essay will discuss the policies taken by governments to decrease or even stop smoking among the public. Moreover, it will present smoker’s arguments regarding their right to smoke in public places.
Most controversial debate is going on public smoking ban. The reason is simple, smoking ban affects directly all people rapidly and we can see its effects in a short-term period. There have been a lot of arguments brought up both in favour and against a public smoking ban. Some of the arguments in favour are the following. Smoking ban is one of the controversial ways for reducing smoking and recognizing non-smokers’ right to health protection. The health risks of smoking are clear. Passive smoking does carry risks. Many leading medical and scientific organizations recognize second hand smoke as a cause of a range of life-threatening conditions. The health situation could be drastically improved if one of the risk factors - tobacco - was eliminated. People have a right to protect themselves from smoke inhalation. People shouldn’t have to inhale the ill-effects of other people’s smoking. The creation of smoke-free public places also improves air quality.