Thank You of Smoking
Rhetorical Analysis: Thank You for Smoking
Rhetorical Analysis: Thank you for Smoking
The film Thank You for Smoking is a dark comedy that follows a lobbyist, Nick Naylor, for the tobacco industry. Dark comedies take a serious topic, and make light of the topic through satire. A good example of rhetoric can be found inThank You for Smoking during a scene where Nick Naylor delivers an argument against putting a skull and crossbones label on every pack of cigarettes. This is done during a hearing in front of a congressional committee lead by Senator Finistirre from Vermont. Naylor’s audience is the committee and members of the audience including his young son. Naylor is defending a controversial idea with controversial evidence and support, whether it goes against what he believes or not. Naylor’s own morality gets called into question. Logos, pathos, kairos, and ethos, the pillars of rhetoric, can all be found throughout Naylor’s defense. Rhetorical fallacies can also be found throughout the sequence.
Nick Naylor’s claim was that the warning labels should not be put on a product that people already knew that was dangerous. In correlation with Naylor’s claim, Naylor’s warrant seems to be that people should decide for themselves. If someone knows a product is potentially dangerous, it should be up to the consumer to decide whether or not to use it. This warrant is effective in that the audience of the assembly and the actual film already know that tobacco is harmful. The point Naylor made can be related to his entire audience. The large part of his support is based on people making decision for themselves. Naylor’s argument later drops down to proper tobacco education at the family level. It’s up to parents to educate their children about the harmful effects that follow the usage of tobacco. Even though he promotes proper education, his entire argument boils down to personal decisions. When Naylor was asked if he’d let his son smoke cigarettes, he replied by
Rhetorical Analysis: Thank you for Smoking
The film Thank You for Smoking is a dark comedy that follows a lobbyist, Nick Naylor, for the tobacco industry. Dark comedies take a serious topic, and make light of the topic through satire. A good example of rhetoric can be found inThank You for Smoking during a scene where Nick Naylor delivers an argument against putting a skull and crossbones label on every pack of cigarettes. This is done during a hearing in front of a congressional committee lead by Senator Finistirre from Vermont. Naylor’s audience is the committee and members of the audience including his young son. Naylor is defending a controversial idea with controversial evidence and support, whether it goes against what he believes or not. Naylor’s own morality gets called into question. Logos, pathos, kairos, and ethos, the pillars of rhetoric, can all be found throughout Naylor’s defense. Rhetorical fallacies can also be found throughout the sequence.
Nick Naylor’s claim was that the warning labels should not be put on a product that people already knew that was dangerous. In correlation with Naylor’s claim, Naylor’s warrant seems to be that people should decide for themselves. If someone knows a product is potentially dangerous, it should be up to the consumer to decide whether or not to use it. This warrant is effective in that the audience of the assembly and the actual film already know that tobacco is harmful. The point Naylor made can be related to his entire audience. The large part of his support is based on people making decision for themselves. Naylor’s argument later drops down to proper tobacco education at the family level. It’s up to parents to educate their children about the harmful effects that follow the usage of tobacco. Even though he promotes proper education, his entire argument boils down to personal decisions. When Naylor was asked if he’d let his son smoke cigarettes, he replied by