Smoking at home kills: Mr Johnny Treeton, p. 41
- What evidence does the author rely on?
- How does it link to the author’s views?
- What point does it prove?
- What is its impact?
(See Checklist for Technique Identification). Use this checklist as the basis for the following “taking it further” exercises.
Techniques and purpose:
- Appeal to moral values: Mr Treeton characterises the parents as selfish and/or ignorant in order to shame them.
- Appeal to the common good and public safety/ duty of care and responsibility: Parents should be more responsible in the home. The government should set appropriate standards.
- Mr Treeton makes an analogy with other rules and regulations relating to domestic affairs to show that there is a precedence. This anticipates Ms Fit’s attack (and seeks to overturn the preconceived notion) that the government should not interfere in the home.
- He uses a real-life example referring to Sabina and her asthmatic condition to prove that parents are ignorant of the damage they are causing to their children.
- His argument also relies on statistics to show that there are a lot of children who are suffering unnecessarily from passive smoke. This enhances the author’s authority as well as the degree of trust among his target audience –parents who smoke. It seeks to alarm those who may still be indifferent towards the consequences.
- Repetition (parallel rhetorical questions): “Don’t they read… Don’t they see…?” to question the parents’ degree of ignorance and selfishness.
See Quick Paragraph Plan and Useful Metalanguage for “Smoking at Home Kills”
Sample paragraph:
( View and topic sentence) Mr Treeton maintains that parents should not smoke in the home because they are jeopardising / compromising their family’s health. The author refers to the anecdotal evidence regarding two year old Sabina’s ill-health to prove that controls are needed to stop parents smoking in the home. He uses repetitive questions, such as “don’t they know” to suggest that many are ignorant of the detrimental effect of smoking on children’s health.(“..”) To increase his credibility, Mr Treeton also refers to the expert opinion of Professor Simon Chapman, who is a trustworthy and credible source. He believes that we need greater regulations in the home in order to protect the vulnerable children. He uses comparisons to justify the intrusive regulations by stating that there are also other building regulations that protect people’s lives and ensure safety in the home.
- See Quick Paragraph Plan and Useful Metalanguage for “Smoking at Home Kills”
- Return to Taking it further: now turn to exercises
- Return to Summary Page: Red Workbook tasks