State-wide Smoking Ban

On June 1, 2008 no longer will smoking be allowed in a public places in the state of Nebraska. All corporate and small businesses, bars and restaurants, and any other public place will be smoke free. Legislative Bill 395, proposed by Kearney Senator Joel Johnson, amends the Nebraska Clean Air Act, which has been in effect since 1980 and allows businesses to choose whether to allow smoking or ban it. Modeling itself after Lincoln’s indoor smoking ban, Legislative Bill 395 will call for a state wide consistency. The only three exceptions to this bill will be: smoking in private residences, except when used for child care, adult daycare or as a health care facility; guest rooms and suites that are rented and designated as smoking; and areas used for research on the health effects of smoking. The Health and Human Services Department of Regulation and Licensure calls this bill “the greatest health issue of our time.”

In the Lincoln Journal Star on January 19, 2007, Paul Fell’s cartoon on the smoking ban was displayed. In this political cartoon a ghost, compiled of smoke with the words “proposed state wide smoking ban” written on the stomach, has just entered into a bar. Focus is placed on this ghost because of the diagonal structure of this cartoon. Shading in the upper left hand corner of this picture places a spot light on the ghost. In the bar there are two customers smoking along with a bartender who is also smoking. Two of the three men have cigarettes fused into their faces. Also, there are two ashtrays packed with cigarette buds and two empty bar stools. The ashtrays and stools are parallel to each other and along the wall is the word “BAR”, but it is written backwards. Paul Fell’s political cartoon uses the rhetoric appeals of analogy, cause and effect, example, classification, logos, and the pathos “scare tactic” to display the sides of this argument.

One of the rhetoric strategies Fell uses in this cartoon is compare-contrast. Fell contrasts the two sides of the argument. Having bar written on the wall is not needed to show that the place was a bar and furthermore, writing bar backwards exemplifies the bartenders’ irrational logic about Legislative Bill 395. This is shown through the empty bar stools which represent the loss in customers and ultimately “death” of business.

Fell uses the ghosts because ghosts represent death, but the ghost in this picture is a caricature of a “white sheet” ghost. This ghost is complied of cigarette smoke and smoking has been proven to kill people. The packed ashtrays and empty barstools are circular, parallel structures that contradict the argument that not allowing smoking will create a “death” in the business. The fact that the ashtrays are packed with cigarette buds and the stools are empty shows cause and effect; smoking kills, hence the fact that there are only two customers in the bar.

Normally in a bar there are usually a few more people than just two. Fell uses the rhetoric appeal of example to show the impact smoking can have on someone’s life. In the cartoon there are two ashtrays packed with cigarettes but only two people. The ghost is compiled of cigarette smoke. Maybe this is why Fell made the customer and the bartender have such a surprised look on their face. They are seeing the effects of smoking and how this bill will help protect their lives.

As I have stated before the ghost Fell created in this political cartoon is a caricature of a ghost compiled of cigarette smoke. Fell used this ghost to show the rhetoric appeal of analogy in this cartoon through the ghost. Ghosts represent death. This ghost in particular represents the smoke of all the people who have died from smoking and since it has been proven that smoking can kill you this is the analogy that Fell has created with this picture.

Another rhetoric appeal Fell uses with the characters of his cartoon is the logos rhetoric appeal. The customer in the bar that is sitting on the right and the bartender both have cigarettes infused into their faces. This is the rhetoric appeal of logos because showing the characters with infused cigarettes in their faces could convince readers who look at the cartoon not to smoke. This shows the logical argument that if someone smokes a lot that smoking could become such a large part of their life that eventually it is like a cigarette is infused into their face because a cigarette is always there. Not only is convincing readers that smoking is bad a logos rhetoric appeal it is also the classification rhetoric appeal. Smoking to some people is not a big deal but this cartoon shows how smoking can play into a large scheme of things, which, by definition, is the classification rhetoric appeal. Smoking can start off a something someone does every once in a while but then it can turn into a every day thing or even worse, multiple times a day. That is how it gets to the point where it seems like a cigarette is infused to your face because smoking occurs all the time. Eventually it will interrupt and possibly stop life. That is how the classification rhetoric appeal is shown through this cartoon.

The last rhetoric appeal Fell uses in this political cartoon is the pathos “scare tactic”. The scare tactic is shown through the ghost, bartender and customer. The cigarette smoke compiled ghost represents the death of those who have smoked, whether it be from smoking directly or second hand smoke. That is used to scare people into believing that the bill is necessary to have in order to keep people safe in the work environment. The bartender and customer serve the purpose of showing the reader what can happen if smoking continues over their life time; that eventually smoking will over take their lives, hence the fact that the cigarettes are infused into their face. This scares the reader and makes them not want to smoke.

In Paul Fell’s political cartoon rhetorical appeals are everywhere. Fell’s cartoon displays both sides to the argument of Legislative Bill 395. The logos, pathos “scare tactic”, cause and effect, analogy, classification, and example were the rhetorical appeals that were apparent in Fell’s political cartoon. This shows how advertising can easily sway people one way or another.