Controversial Issue Persuasive Body Paragraph Sample
My topic is e-cigarettes. The controversial issue is primarily divided into two sides: Those who believe e-cigarettes should be legal for sale and those who believe e-cigarettes should be illegal. In my paper, I am dividing my exploration of BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE into three areas of inquiry; those are my three body paragraphs.
I need to address how both sides (for and against e-cigarettes) feel about each area of inquiry, so I will give their positions.I will always be working to convince the reader that my side of the issue is the right side. I will do this by employing rhetorical devices and persuasive techniques.
The topic of this sample body paragraph is the safety of e-cigarettes compared to regular cigarettes
Evidence for the anti-e-cigarette side:Electronic cigarettes--use of which is spreading, particularly among youngsters--contain carcinogens, sometimes at higher levels than those found in conventional cigarettes, recent research shows
Kunugita and his team analyzed the vapors of nine different brands of e-cigarettes sold domestically. For each of the brands, they measured the composition of the vapor a total of 15 times and then took an average.
In two brands, the average concentration of the carcinogen formaldehyde contained in 550 milliliters--the equivalent of 10 inhalations--surpassed the average concentration in conventional cigarettes, at 100 micrograms and 120 micrograms, respectively, compared to 76 micrograms for conventional cigarettes.
Also detected were glyoxal and acrolein, which are feared to inflame bronchial tubes and pulmonary alveoli, leading to a reduction in lung functioning. Glyoxal may also cause coughing and irritate mucous membranes in the eyes and other organs. / Evidence for the pro-e-cigarette side:
Health officials in Britain have for the first time endorsed e-cigarettes, saying they are 95 percent safer than tobacco equivalents and even suggesting doctors should be able to prescribe the "game-changing" devices to smokers trying to quit.
"E-cigarettes are not completely risk-free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm," said PHE's Professor Kevin Fenton in a statement.
"There are still nearly 8 million smokers in England, many of whom would benefit from switching to electronic cigarettes, but who may have been put off doing so because of unfounded health concerns," the British charity Action on Smoking and Health said in a statement.
"If every smoker switched overnight to electronic cigarettes many hundreds of thousands of premature deaths would be prevented in the years to come," it said.
Here’s my body paragraph. Notice how I give evidence from both sides, but end the paragraph with evidence which supports my position on the issue, and some persuasive language to convince my reader to agree with me:
A controversial subtopic in the e-cigarette debate is the safety of e-cigarettes. Those who would like to see e-cigarettes made illegal argue that e-cigarettes “contain carcinogens, sometimes at higher levels than those found in conventional cigarettes(Weatherstine 43). For example, “In two brands, the average concentration of the carcinogen formaldehyde contained in 550 milliliters--the equivalent of 10 inhalations--surpassed the average concentration in conventional cigarettes, at 100 micrograms and 120 micrograms, respectively, compared to 76 micrograms for conventional cigarettes.(Weatherstine 44). Conversely, those who would like to see e-cigarettes remain legal argue that “they are 95 percent safer than tobacco equivalents and even suggesting doctors should be able to prescribe the "game-changing" devices to smokers trying to quit”(Macenroe 62). As is evident, the question of whether e-cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes is answerable is simple terms: e-cigarettes are an effective and safe method to enable addicted smokers to begin the difficult process of quitting. According to the British National Health Service, “"If every smoker switched overnight to electronic cigarettes many hundreds of thousands of premature deaths would be prevented in the years to come"(Macenroe 62). Smokers who continue to smoke regular cigarettes are missing the opportunity to try a safer method of reducing their nicotin intake, and, hopefully, quitting. This last sentence is a transitional bridge sentence.