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A Critique of Thank You for Smoking? Essay

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A Critique of “Thank You for Smoking….?”

Peter Brimelow’s article “Thank You for Smoking….?” is an essay that looks at a rather extreme perspective on smoking. Brimelow starts off by describing the many actions that are taken against the tobacco industry; he writes that in some states, the government is trying to make the tobacco industry pay certain health care costs. However, he then goes on to state that smoking may actually be good for one’s health. He uses various sources to show that smoking has positive effects on our bodies; he states the decrease in risk in numerous diseases. Brimelow uses medical journals to show that smoking decreases the risk of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He also talks about some of …show more content…

Brimelow follows up his major claim with a number of minor claims throughout the essay. A minor claim is a secondary claim, one where the arguer is trying to make a point to support his major claim (McFadden 40). Minor claims are important because they strengthen your main point, or your major claim. His first minor claim is actually a rebuttal claim, which is “a claim that refutes the counterclaim” (McFadden 42). He compares smoking-related deaths per year to car-related deaths, saying they are similar. He states that both are a danger to a person’s health, but in many cases the reward outweighs the risk (Brimelow 141). He also compares the number between car-related and smoking-related deaths, but this hurts his claim because the number of smoking- related deaths is ten times greater than car-related deaths. So far Brimelow’s essay is a little weak because so far he has failed to give us enough information to support his argument.
Then as a second minor claim, Brimelow goes on to discuss the advantages of smoking. He shows us that smoking decreases the risk in various diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, prostate cancer and a few others. He also says that smoking lowers the rates of certain lung disorders and

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