TOW #15 (Written Text)- "We Know it Can Kill Us: Why People Still Smoke"

In January 1964, American culture was forever changed by a single Surgeon General health report. For the first time, doctors published a report that linked smoking cigarettes with bad health. Ever since that day in 1964, a major social movement has been going on to get people to quit smoking. The US government has spent billions of dollars on advertisements used to create awareness about the many bad health effects of smoking. This major movement may seem successful as only 19% of Americans smoke today, in comparison to 42% in 1965. Although, this means that about 43.8 million Americans still smoke today. In addition, smoking is still the top cause of preventable deaths in America, with about 443,000 deaths annually.

Since, the nicotine found in cigarettes is so addictive, the author, Jen Christensen, directs this article towards young adults and teens, because once you become addicted through adulthood, it is very hard to quit smoking. To emphasize the negative effects of smoking on ones health and convince young people to not smoke, Christensen bombards readers with many statistics and multiple narrative and anecdotal accounts told by lifelong smokers.

In order to create an effective appeal to ethos and logos, Christensen backs her article with multiple statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The primary usage of such statistics is to show people that smoking does kill and that the longer you continue to smoke, the greater the chance that you will become part of that statistic.

To further support her argument, Christensen incorporates narration and anecdotes accounts into her article to provide real, first-hand accounts of the dangers of smoking. Barry Blackwell, a 60 year old man from North Carolina, states that he grew up smoking as a young kid in the 1950’s, a time when it was more socially acceptable to smoke. Some time ago, Blackwell witnessed his mother die from smoking related disease and, as a result, became more inclined to quit, but after many failed attempts, he gave up because smoking was a way of life for him. Blackwell even admitted that it was easier for him to quit cocaine than it was to stop smoking cigarettes. Not only are cigarettes addicting because of the nicotine, but also because of the sensation it gives smokers while they inhale and exhale smoke. Therefore, I believe Christensen has affectively achieved her purpose, by wonderfully combining statistics with personal stories told by smokers.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/11/health/still-smoking/index.html?hpt=he_c2