Thank You for Smoking
“Take another drag. That’s good for you.” One might not hear that everyday, but Peter Brimelow’s “Thank You for Smoking…?” is a very well written deductive argument that may have you believing that statement by the time you’re done reading his article. Brimelow’s argument is clearly inductive because he presents his samples right away which lead to generalizations that are drawn from those examples (McFadden).
Brimelow comes right out early in the argument and informs the reader smoking can be beneficial to one’s health (141). Brimelow makes it clearly evident throughout the article that smoking is good for one’s health which is his major claim. The major claim is also known as a thesis (McFadden). Because most Americans have heard repetitively from the time they were little that smoking is bad for your health, Brimelow needs to provide valuable information to sway his audience. In this argument, he does a really good job of doing just that. Brimelow uses grounds, which are evidence and facts that support the major claim, to back up his argument (McFadden 2003)
Parkinson’s disease among smokers appears to be half the rate of non-smokers. Alzheimer’s disease has been found to be as much as 50% less among smokers than non-smokers. Smoking may be responsible for what appears to be a 50% lower rate of prostate cancer among smokers` (142).
These were a few of the statistics Brimelow provided to show how smoking may help prevent certain diseases. He didn’t stop there. On page 141 Brimelow documented the outcome of studies performed by D.M. Warburton that showed cigarettes to stimulate alertness, dexterity, and cognitive capacity. These grounds presented by Brimelow attract the audience...
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...ke away from the power of Brimelow’s argument.
Overall, Brimelow has a strong argument going here. He clearly has stated his claim and has strengthened it with powerful grounds, warrants, and backing. He exhibited skill in providing qualifiers and bringing up rebuttals and counter-claims. Brimelow falls short in a few areas of the argument. By using some fallacies and hasty generalizations Brimelow takes away from his strong argument. With some modifications in a few areas Brimelow would have a very good argument.
Works Cited
Brimelow, Peter, “Thank You for Smoking...?” The Genre of Argument Ed. Irene L. Clark Boston: Thomson/Heinle, 1998. 141-143
Clark, Irene L. The Genre of an Argument. Boston: Thomson/Heinle, 1998.
McFadden, James. The Toulmin Method: From Classical Logic to
Modern Argumentation. 2003. Buena Vista University. Storm Lake, IA
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In the 1990 article "I’d Rather Kiss than Smoke" in the National Review, Florence King tries to persuade her readers to look through a smoker’s eyes in a smokist world. King has been around people smoking even before she was born. Her mother started smoking when she was twelve and she started this habit when she was twenty-six. Since she started smoking, she has been analyzing how non-smokers discriminate against them. Florence King expects everyone to be okay with smoking because it is what she was brought up in and it was okay in her family.
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“had to be brave for Sinita.” (19). This “hero’s attitude” is further evident in Minerva’s interactions with her sisters. One poignant example of this heroism is seen when Maria Teresa confronts minerva about why she was going to secret meetings at Don Horacio’s house, and asks her why she's doing such a dangerous thing. Minerva responds that she wants maria teresa to grow up in a free country, perfectly illustrating how minerva is willing to sacrifice herself so that the people around her can grow up in a better
Laird, Pamela, “Consuming Smoke: Cigarettes in American Culture.” University of Colorado at Denver. Author of Advertising Progress: American Business and the Rise of Consumer Marketing. 1998
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Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
Merriam-Webster defines smoking as; to inhale and exhale the fumes of burning plant material and especially tobacco; especially: to smoke tobacco habitually. The key word in that definition would be habitually. One who smokes generally is addicted or formed a habit of smoking. Although distasteful to most people, those who smoke are generally willing to quit smoking yet they're unable to "kick the habit." Smokers understand how hard it is to quit. They admire those who were able to quit. We realize the risk of smoking and the obvious side effects that could result to death. Although all the studies show the death effect of smoking many of us are still unable to quit. In the essay, Phillip brought his girlfriend to a social gathering of which she pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke. The hostess apparently was not fond of smoking when she asked her to put it out or go outside. This started a big debate over smoking of which the smokers went outside and the non-smokers stayed inside. Phillip stayed inside although he should have gone with his girlfriend. He was unsure whose side he was on. He wasn't a smoker but he wasn't fully against it. Throughout the essay he was unsure of which side he should have been on. He discussed his opinion and stories that support both arguments.
Thank You for Smoking Rhetorical Analysis: Thank you for not smoking. The film Thank You for Smoking is an obscure jesting that follows a petitioner, Nick Naylor, for the tobacco industry. Murky comedies take a grave topic, and light the topic through mockery. A worthy example of rhetoric can be found in Thank You for Smoking, during a scene where Nick Naylor delivers an argument against putting a skull and crossbones label on every pack of cigarettes. Senator Finistirre does this during a hearing in front of a congressional committee lead by Vermont.
In the film Thank you for smoking, Nick Naylor- the main character of the film employs rhetorical devices such as re-framing, hyperbole and numerous logical fallacies to win his argument
The central point the author drives home is that at the turn of the twentieth century, cigarette smoking was not deemed an acceptable practice for middle or upper class men in the United States. The author states that there were numerous factors, each seemingly more extreme than the last, that lead to the acceptance
Smoking causes many other types of cancer, including cancers of the throat, mouth, nasal cavity, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix, and even leukemia has been found linked to smoking. Also, people who smoke are up to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. Smoking also causes most cases of chronic obstructive lung disease. Also, approximately 49,400 deaths have been due to exposure to secondhand smoke. 3,000 nonsmoking adults die of diseases caused by exposure to second-hand smoke every year.
As most of you know, smoking is bad for your health, but what some of you might not know is that you don’t actually have to smoke to be harmed by smoking. Lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women, is mainly caused by cigarette smoking. Secondhand smoking causes approximately 2 percent of lung cancer deaths each year. It causes respiratory disease, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), middle ear disease, and asthma attacks in children.
Approximately one in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age. The most common of the diseases caused by smoking is cancer, of course. Not only is it a cause of lung cancer, but cancer of the larynx, and the esophagus, and it contributes to the development of cancers of the bladder, pancreas, and kidney. Lung cancer comes from the tar in the cigarettes.