ABSTRACT
The international sign that bans smoking in public places can also be read as a sign of cultural hegemony, a frequent and forcible reminder that in democratic societies such civic regulations commonly inscribe the will of the dominant culture. The sign has radically and no doubt permanently altered the public behavior of smokers and nonsmokers in many regions of the country. At issue, however, is whether these or possibly other even more punitive legal and economic sanctions will ultimately not only regulate smoking but also extinguish the desire to smoke. Composition classrooms are the designated areas of American colleges and universities. Composition courses are populated by students who for one reason or another do not produce fluent, thesis-driven essays of around five hundred words in response to either prompts designed for standardized tests or assignments developed by classroom teachers.
