Reflective Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example

ce Johnnie that cigarette smoking was a very dangerous addiction that not only causes harm to an individual alone, but also for their family, friends, and the society in general. In that respect, my rhetoric focused on highlighting the economic and social costs associated with cigarette addiction in terms of maintaining the health of the smoker when health effects like cancer start manifesting, and the resultant financial burden the audience’s family is likely to bear. Additionally, my rhetoric highlighted the negative impact of smoking on society in terms of reduced productivity of the addict, and the potential risk of loss of life of a productive member of the society in critical situations.

The purpose of persuading johnnie through the rhetoric was to get him to gain self-control and to overcome his addiction, to live a healthy life that is self-directed and productive; addiction to cigarette addiction destroys families and individual’s lives, and can be a real source of pain and suffering. Johnnie feels totally incapacitated by the addiction like his own life depends on it so much so that he cannot function at all without engaging in the habit; in that respect, the withdrawal symptoms that accompany his attempt to quit makes quitting difficult and almost impossible.

My rhetoric aimed to persuade Johnnie to feel and believe that he has power over his smoking addiction and that it was not the other way round, with the addiction controlling him to such an extent that he could not do without engaging in the habit. By altering Johnnie’s perspective about the smoking addiction, the rhetoric was meant to persuade him to gradually control his smoking by reducing the number of cigarettes he smokes every day and to stop the habit altogether. The audience of the rhetoric, Johnnie, was a close friend, a stubborn and yet very friendly fellow, who was always in the mood for conversation and little chats about everything that crosses his mind.

Johnnie is a very social