Analysis of Smoking Is Good for My Business

609 Words3 Pages
Life is said to be the most prized possession we humans cherish. Nothing is of equal or greater value. The tobacco industry with its advantages in the form of tax revenue, sponsorship and jobs, it is a Grim reaper’s industry (Ginsberg 1997). David Ginsberg tries to portray and express similar feelings and concern through his writing Smoking is good for my business. With the use of rhetorical questions, anecdotes, parallel structure and comparison David Ginsberg effectively gets his thoughts to his readers. David Ginsberg (1997) often uses rhetorical devices in his writing which appeals to the heart of the reader. For example he says “Could I justify this to her 12 year old daughter on the basis that her mother was dying for the economic good of society, for a tennis tournament, for a concert?”. Such a question does not require an answer. It gives a feeling of empathy to the reader, making the writers argument more convincing. All the rhetorical questions asked by Ginsberg are directly related to the thesis statement emphasizing the purpose of his writing helping him portray how he feels regarding the tobacco industry. Ginsberg’s (1997) use of parallel structure has helped his readers understand his cause. He has used a combination of parallel structure and rhetorical questions to best grab the attention of the reader in the following way : Would it be any less crass were I to have said that I was a heart surgeon repairing vessels damaged by cigarettes? Would it have been more acceptable if the pleasure that I took in his smoking being good for by business had related to my work as a tobacco farmer, to my work as a tobacconist, a tobacco company executive, the receiver of revenue benefiting from tobacco tax….. Would it have been more acceptable were I an organizer of a sporting event or an arts festival dependent on tobacco sponsorship? The above use of
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