8. Electronic Cigarette Use Has Doubled Among Middle School Students

James Hamblin, The Atlantic's Health editor, writes about the increasing usage of electronic cigarettes by students. He explains what an e-cigarette is and tells the reason why it is becoming so popular. It has been seen through research that e-cigarettes are safer than normal cigarettes considering the health issues. Hamblin explains that is why there has been an increase in the number of students that use e-cigarettes. The author then shares that he disapproves of what is happening, but also that he thinks it is inevitable that children will be introduced to nicotine. He ends by questioning whether e-cigarettes are actually bad. Are they “good because it encourages adults to use e-cigarettes instead of [actual] smoking, or bad because it implies to kids that they're cool to use them?”

The author does a great job in providing good backup information, but sometimes fails to stay consistent with the way he writes for his audience. In his writing, Hamblin includes statistics and quotes from very important people that study the e-cigarette phenomenon, from the CDC director to a professor of health behavior. He does a good job in citing reliable sources from where all the information he used was taken from. The author writes mainly for an audience of adults, clearly seen when he addresses them in the second paragraph, “in case you're not among the six percent of adults who've tried them…” Throughout the article, Hamblin uses an informal style of writing since he is talking to an average adult audience. By providing his own personal opinion on the matter, he also creates an intimacy with the reader. However, he does add in complex terminology that is sometimes confusing. It does not fit in to the specific style of writing Hamblin uses in this particular article.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/electronic-cigarette-use-has-doubled-among-middle-school-students/279390/