Friday, October 2, 2009

Smoking is Silly

Paul Paryski's article called “The Negative Effects of Smoking on Bones, Joints, and Healing” begins with a question. Paryski asks, “can smoking affect surgery, bone health and healing?” and the answer, according to 44 studies, is yes (caption). Instead of just saying that smoking is bad or that it causes cancer, the article discusses some specific ways smoking causes harm. The logic Paryski presents clearly shows the negative effects that smoking has on the human body. He uses a rational argument to convince the reader that smoking affects bone health, healing, “is the leading avoidable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States”, and harms the musculoskeletal system (par. 2). By the end of the article, the reader realizes that it's illogical and irrational to smoke. In short, smoking is a dumb idea.

Paryski begins the paper with a strong statement that introduces the illogicality of smoking when he says, “there are roughly 50 million smokers in the United States in spite of a great deal of publicity about the negative effects of smoking on health (par. 1). He makes the reader wonder why so many people still smoke even though everyone knows it is such a harmful activity. Then he points out that “there is growing and conclusive evidence that smoking is the leading avoidable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States” (par. 2).

In the next paragraph, Paryski begins to explain the afore mentioned negative effects, specifically the effects on the musculoskeletal system. He says that “healing is affected by smoking, since an adequate degree of oxygenation is necessary to form mature collagen, which closes wounds” (par. 5). By using the specific terms and an explanation of how healing is affected by smoking, Paryski shows the particular medical effects of smoking. Instead of just using a general statement like “smoking is bad for you” he explains a specific reason why it is bad.

As he discusses the effects on healing, Paryski is building a relationship with readers who are about to undergo the healing process. Not only will smoking kill you, but it will happen sooner than you think. People will go into surgery for something completely unrelated but will be unable to heal because of their smoking addiction. Obviously the rational thing to do is to quit smoking.

As Hailey said, Paryski “gives facts and statistics to support the argument. The author also cites a credible and authoritative source (a book written by and orthopedic surgeon) to back up his facts.” By using the specific examples of the effects on the muscoloskeletal system and how it affects the healing process, Paryski appeals to the rational thinking of his readers. The logic he employs, could convince anyone that smoking is bad and that he or she should quit immediately.

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