Analysis of My Rhetorical Situation

The CVS Cigarette Cutoff

Grajeda, Juan José. 8/2010. https://pixabay.com/en/cancer-smoke-healthcare-death-1088631/

1. Analyze your audience.

Of course I am creating this project to be seen by Prof. Bottai and my peers, but now that I think about it, the real-world audience I am picturing writing for is not very inspiring. When trying to imagine the circumstances for someone to look up my story, I am just picturing clusters of confused and frustrated smokers. Since CVS is one of those stores that is commonly perceived to carry everything you could ever need (groceries, cosmetics, appliances, passports, medicine, you name it), it is reasonable to believe it would also carry cigarettes had you not heard the story. The audience I anticipate does not follow news stories very well, but probably suckles off Buzzfeed's easily comprehendible articles and thus will likely latch on to my quick reference guide.

All I can really muster situationally is the scenario of some crotchety old smoker who just needed her daily pack or some brainless eighteen-year-old who, bless his heart, just wanted the thrill of legally purchasing some death sticks both annoyed at the fact that they are unable to buy cigarettes at their local CVS. I picture them leaving the store muttering under their breath punching nonsensical words into their phone like "why CVS no cigarettes". That's where I come into play.

2. Analyse your purpose. 

My first and foremost purpose is to inform the reader what exactly the decision was that CVS made and why they made it. My next most important purpose is to clearly outline what the major points of the debate were that sprung up from CVS's action. Finally, and maybe it's a long shot, but I would also like to convince my audience that CVS made the right decision.

3. Analyze your author.

Honestly, I'm not going to say that it was fate that brought me to this story. There was no groundbreaking love at first sight moment where I knew this story was going to change my life. But I did choose this story because I thought it sounded interesting, and it is as simple as that. And I think that is okay. I did not hastily choose the first story I saw because I was pressed for time or because it was some horrible homework assignment forced upon me. I was actually curious as to why any company would legitimately forsake assured profit because of ethics and caring about being viewed as a company that supported healthy lifestyles. Now what I will say in my favor is that I do feel like I can actually get into the content of this story because of its relevancy to my major (especially because I am considering pulmonology) and that I will get to experiment with being more expressive with my wit in writing form. I believe I have a pretty good and sharp sense of humor as it is, and this project will give me a good opportunity to practice conveying that in my writing.