Smokers

What ruins an evening as soon as you walk into a restaurant? It is something that you do not even have control over. Give up? It is when you and your family, sometimes young kids go to a restaurant to enjoy a nice meal with your loved ones and open up the door and are blasted in the face by a wall of smoke; that terrible smelling, poisonous smoke takes your breath away and makes the rest of the evening a flop. It was not your choice to poison your lungs and possibly spread disease, but since someone else chose that path, you have to put up with it. I mean all you have to do is ask for a non-smoking seat on the other side of the room; over there you will not get any effect of that smoke hanging in the air, right? Wrong! Thank goodness that this is no longer a problem for the residents of Lincoln. However, it was once a definite and real situation that many people had to deal with when they were going out for a nice evening meal with their family.



Today in Nebraska, people are not able to smoke in public places, such as restaurants, government buildings, or private work places. Also, Nebraska’s leaders have taken an important step toward protecting the state’s people from the terrible toll of tobacco by increasing the cigarette tax by 30 cents a pack for the next two years. By doing this, it will reduce smoking among both kids and adults, and save lives by reducing smoking-caused disease.

In this cartoon featured in the Lincoln Journal Star, it addresses the issues of the smoking in public and the taxes that will be induced by the state of Nebraska. Also it portrays the way some smokers view the way they are treated by these laws that are being enforced. In the cartoon it portrays smokers as people who believe that these laws and taxes are unfair and that they are persecuting them, as if what they are doing has no affect on anyone else. Some of them firmly believe that they are the ones being punished unfairly. Through the use of rhetorical strategies the artists conveys his feelings of a smoker in a society where smokers feel they are persecuted.
There are numerous rhetorical strategies within this cartoon. There could be a case developed for all types of rhetorical strategies used but the artist who developed this cartoon developed and used some more than the others. One of the most prevalent uses of rhetoric in this cartoon is the use of illustration. The entire image itself, the man sitting there, is an illustration. The way the artist drew the man in the picture makes it the focal point, he uses an exaggerated image, makes the image darker and bigger than everything else in the picture making the reader’s attention focus directly on the image the way he wanted them to. The entire illustration is a caricature that serves as a stereotype. It stereotypes blue collar smoking men. The image was made with specific details to send this message to the audience that all blue collar smokers feel a certain way. If the image is looked at closely you can tell that the man in the picture is an out of shape, large man of an older generation, he has white hair. He is not wearing a nice slick looking suit and standing by a nice new car but rather wearing a small tight t-shirt and an old ball cap while smoking two cigarettes. The way the image was created immediately sends the message of what type of person is being argued about in the picture. Not only do the cloths and appearance of the man send the message that he is a blue collar man but he is also sitting in a factory. All of these aspects combined portray the man in the picture to be a blue collar kind of man. The illustration creates a feeling that the older generations of blue collar smoking men are ignorant and self-absorbed. In the picture the blue collar smoker is oblivious to the facts that are stated in the surgeon general’s warning, which is located behind the figure; he is facing the other way, which allows the reader to make the assumption that the man is totally oblivious or totally unaware of the facts. Also adding to the fact that the man is self absorbed and ignorant is the way his body is drawn. It is clear by the weight of the man that he does not care about how healthy or unhealthy he is. Not only is the man in the picture faced the other way not paying attention to the warnings he is also reading a piece of paper that, by reading the text, we know is talking about enforcing cigarette taxes. It is the man’s quote at the end, “This is so unfair!!” that makes the entire point of the illustration. Everything in the picture was placed in a certain spot, and drawn a certain way to really prove the point of the artist. The way the artist used illustration and the way he chose to place things in the picture really made it an effective image.
The argument is made by using all different kinds of rhetoric strategies, and these strategies portray rhetoric appeals. One could make an argument for all three rhetorical appeals in any image or text, but in this particular argument the artist focused on two of the rhetorical appeals to convey his argument. The artist used the logos appeal or “the logical appeal” in his argument. He accomplished this by adding in the surgeon general’s warning. The warning contains logical facts. By using the logical appeal it enhances the argument and the image however the artist focused more on the appeal to emotions, pathos, because it was an efficient way to prove his point and to keep the audience interested in what he wanted to say. When everything in the picture comes together is when pathos is reached. The caricature of the man, the way he is facing, the surgeon general’s warning and the way the words are displayed all come together to appeal the readers emotions. The way the artist creates irony with the images and placement of everything in the picture also creates humor. Throughout the entire cartoon the sense of emotions is used. The man in the picture wants society to feel sorry for him which is a complete contrast to the way our society really feels, creating irony. The irony of the entire image is humors, creating an appeal to the reader’s emotions. The picture makes us laugh or smile and therefore makes us interested.
The use of the rhetorical strategies like narration, example, illustration, and cause and effect really does a good job of making it easy for the audience to be able to understand the argument that the artist is trying to prove. When these strategies are used effectively like they are in the cartoon is clears up any confusion about the argument and allows the artists views to be seen very clearly. In this particular cartoon it is not only what the artist feels but what society feels as well. By combining these effective strategies along with the appeal to the emotions of the audience makes a good and effective augment.