The Rhetoric of Problems
63
7
P
R
O
B
Rhetorical Problems, Tangible Outcomes
Here are three introductions to documents written to produce an outcome in a
business context. Which ones do you think are most likely to motivate their
reader to read on because she cares about that outcome? To motivate the
reader to read at all? Why?
The following are two versions of the opening of a letter written by a graduating
senior to a commodity trading firm with which he has already had a first
interview. The screening interviewer suggested to the candidate that he write
to the department supervisor directly if he wished to receive serious
consideration for the job.
1
a. I write to call your attention to my résumé. Yesterday, I had an interview with Carson’s
campus recruiter, Mr. Tortorici, who noticed that I have qualifications he had not seen in
my résumé. Mr. Tortorici told me I could help my case by writing to you about them.
Mr. Tortorici said that it is as important to Carson that management trainees have
leadership skills as that they have good grades. He could see from my résumé that I did
well in the University of Illinois’ demanding program in accounting. But he did not notice
that my experience as a volunteer leader gave me the kind of leadership skills that Carson
is looking for.
For the past three years, I have served. . . .
b. I write hoping that I can persuade you to give my résumé a second look. Carson’s campus
recruiter, Mr. Tortorici, was impressed by some of my qualifications that he did not
expect to find after reading my résumé. After my interview yesterday, Mr. Tortorici
suggested that I write to alert you to some of my experiences that Carson might
particularly value.
According to Mr. Tortorici, Carson needs management trainees who can lead and
motivate people, and Carson values those qualities as much as grades and other academic
achievements. My résumé highlights my success as a student in the University of Illinois’
demanding program in accounting. But it does not emphasize that I have proven myself
as a volunteer leader who can organize and coordinate complicated tasks and who can
motivate volunteers and contributors to achieve more than they thought possible.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
64
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
For the past three years, I have served. . .
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
65
7
P
R
O
B
2
The following is the opening of a memo written by a junior member of a
management consulting firm, addressed to the firm’s Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee has been discussing the general issue of
relocating employees, but is hearing about job counseling for spouses for the
first time.
Among the issues yet to be decided for the proposed Employee Relocation
Assistance Program is the need for job counseling for spouses. In FY 94, of the
eighteen employees offered cross-country transfers, thirteen requested help with a
job search for their spouses. The firm denied the requests of seven employees, four
of whom decided not to accept the transfer. The Firm has no specific policy for
authorizing requests for such assistance, nor does it have any standard resources for
assisting spouses in a job search. Since many employees have working spouses, the
Firm can anticipate increasing difficulties not only in agreements to transfer but in
recruiting new employees. I have identified several relocation firms that can provide
the needed services at a reasonable cost. Following is a summary of my research, an
outline of proposed policy guidelines, and list of recommended job counseling firms
in Charlotte, Houston, and Los Angeles.
3
The following is the opening of a memo by an apprentice stock broker at a
large brokerage office, addressed to the office manager. The assignment
was given by the assistant manager. The manager has heard about new
furniture arrangements once before, in a meeting concerning many assorted
matters.
I was asked to investigate the possibility of rearranging the office modules. In the
beginning, I gave a lot of thought to rearranging and reusing the modular wall system
already in place. Since then I have revised my original plan several times, sometimes
using the existing wall system and sometimes considering purchase of one of the
newer modular systems with work stations and moveable storage options. These
alternate plans were the basis on which I weighed our needs in view of our enlarged
duties and added staff, both full and part time. My research has generated three
viable plans and a set of priorities for deciding about a new office arrangement.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
66
7
P
R
O
B
The Rhetoric of Problems
Among the issues yet to be decided for the proposed
Employee Relocation Assistance Program is the need
for job counseling for spouses. In FY 94, of the eighteen
employees offered cross-country transfers, thirteen Predicament #1 (old
requested help with a job search for their spouses. TheCost information)
#2
firm denied the requests of seven employees, four of
Predicament #2 (new
whom decided not to accept the transfer. The Firm hasPredicament
#3 (based on writer’s
information)
no specific policy for authorizing requests for suchanalysis of the situation)
assistance, nor does it have any standard resources for
assisting spouses in a job search. Since many employees
Cost #3
have working spouses, the Firm can anticipate
increasing difficulties not only in agreements to transfer
but in recruiting new employees. I have identified
several relocation firms that can provide the neededPromise of a Solution
services at a reasonable cost. Following is a summary of
my research, an outline of proposed policy guidelines,
and list of recommended job counseling firms in
Charlotte, Houston, and Los Angeles.
A problem for the writer, but so far
I was asked to investigate the possibility of rearranging nothing for the reader to be
the office modules. In the beginning, I gave a lot of concerned about.
thought to rearranging and reusing the modular wall
system already in place. Since then I have revised my
original plan several times, sometimes using the existingA suggestion of a problem in “our
wall system and sometimes considering purchase of oneneeds,” but a very weak one at
of the newer modular systems with work stations andbest. What’s the Cost?
moveable storage options. These alternate plans were
So what? What is the reader
the basis on which I weighed our needs in view of oursupposed to concern herself with?
enlarged duties and added staff, both full and part time.Why?
My research has generated three viable plans and a set of
priorities for deciding about a new office arrangement.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
67
7
P
R
O
B
Identifying Costs in Tangible Problems
Effective documents motivate their readers by articulating a problem that the
readers have and the document can help to resolve. Although some
situations are so obviously problems that anyone would want to see them
solved, you can only be sure that your readers understand your problem as
you do if you articulate not only the Predicament or situation itself, but also
the Consequences that make the Predicament a problem worth solving. And
for a tangible problem, those Consequences had better feel to readers like
real costs they don’t want to pay.
The following is the first page of an unsolicited proposal prepared by engineering
students and submitted to the City of Atlanta in preparation for the 1996 Olympics.
How does it articulate costs for its readers?
4
PEOPLE MOVERS, INCORPORATED
Moving Atlanta to a Brighter Future
Olympic Traffic Impact Study
Executive Summary
The city of Atlanta faces many challenges as it prepares to host
the 1996 Olympic Games. From the point of view of city
services, Atlanta is in a good position to house, feed, and amuse
the many Olympic visitors. Its airports and highways are
adequate to bring the visitors to the city conveniently and
safely. But Atlanta may not be able to move its visitors around
after they arrive. Atlanta’s streets, notoriously inadequate in
normal times, will be hard pressed to accommodate increased
traffic during the Olympics. It can also be anticipated that the
tangled layout of streets will confuse visitors, as will the city’s
unusual scheme of street names. The Olympics will not succeed
and Atlanta’s image will be significantly tarnished if
overcrowded and confusing streets keep visitors from the
events they have come to see.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
68
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
People Movers has conducted an extensive survey of Atlanta
traffic patterns in order to establish a base line for predicting
1996 levels for normal volume and usage patterns as well as
volume and usage patterns for the ten days of the Olympic
festival. Based on those data, People Movers has formulated a
staged ten-point plan for limiting peak volume and improving
usage patterns during the Olympic festival. Fully implemented,
this plan will assure that Atlanta’s visitors and residents can use
the streets with minimal difficulty. . . .
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
69
7
P
R
O
B
You can find the Costs of a tangible problem that are most likely to
motivate readers by walking up the “So what?” ladder, answering each
new “So what?” as you imagine your readers would:
Atlanta’s streets cannot accommodate much additional traffic. They also have a
tangled layout and an unusual naming scheme.
So what? I get around just fine. Why is that my problem?
When Olympic visitors try to get to events at downtown venues, there will be
significantly more traffic on Atlanta’s streets, which cannot accommodate much
more. Also when these visitors encounter Atlanta’s tangled layout of streets and
unusual scheme of street names, they will be confused.
So what?
When visitors try to use streets which cannot accommodate the increased traffic, they
will be delayed by traffic jams. Also, if they become confused, they will get lost.
So what?
If the visitors are delayed or lost, they will miss the events they have come to see.
So what?
If visitors miss events because of traffic problems, they will blame the city.
So what?
With all the world watching the Olympics on TV, if visitors blame the city for making
them miss events, the media will say that the Olympics have been a failure and the
city’s image will be tarnished in the eyes of the world.
So what?
The city will lose prestige, which will cost it money because of decreased tourism and
decreased business development.
So what?
Well . . . .
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
70
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
If your readers just keep asking “So what?”, then you have not identified
Consequences that feel like costs serious enough for them to be motivated
to read or act. In that case, either you have to change your approach to
defining the problem or find yourself new readers who will be motivated.
You know that you have identified motivating Consequences when your
readers shift from “So what?” to “Oh no!”
PEOPLE MOVERS, INCORPORATED
Moving Atlanta to a Brighter Future
Olympic Traffic Impact Study
Executive Summary
PROBLEM
Predicament
+
Costs
The city of Atlanta faces many challenges as it prepares to
host the 1996 Olympic Games. From the point of view of city
services, Atlanta is in a good position to house, feed, and
amuse the many Olympic visitors. Its airports and highways
are adequate to bring the visitors to the city conveniently and
safely. But Atlanta may not be able to move its visitors
around after they arrive. Atlanta’s streets, notoriously
inadequate in normal times, will be hard pressed to
accommodate increased traffic during the Olympics. It can
also be anticipated that the tangled layout of streets will
confuse visitors, as will the city’s unusual scheme of street
names. The Olympics will not succeed and Atlanta’s image
will be significantly tarnished if overcrowded and confusing
streets keep visitors from the events they will come to see.
People Movers has conducted an extensive survey of Atlanta
traffic patterns in order to establish a base line for predicting
1996 levels for normal volume and usage patterns as well as volume and
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
71
7
P
R
O
B
usage patterns for the ten days of the Olympic festival. Based on those data,
People Movers has formulated a staged ten-point plan for limiting peak
volume and improving usage patterns during the Olympic festival. Fully
implemented, this plan will assure that Atlanta’s visitors and residents can
use the streets with minimal difficulty.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
72
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
Rhetorical Problems, Conceptual Outcomes
5
Here are three versions of an introduction to a student paper in a history class The
assignment: “Compare and contrast how Thucydides in the History of the
Peloponnesian Wars presents the rhetorical appeals of Corcyra and Corinth in order
to give readers an insight into Athenian values.”
Which version do you think is most likely to motivate its reader to read on because she
cares what the paper says? Least likely? Which do you predict would get the best and
worst response from the teacher? Why?
a. In 433 BC, the cities of Corcyra and Corinth became involved in a dispute over which of
them should rule Epidamnus. Because they could not settle the dispute between
themselves, they sent representatives to Athens to appeal for its help against the other.
After hearing the two speeches and debating among themselves, the Athenians finally
decided to support Corcyra. As presented in The History of the Peloponnesian Wars, the
two speeches differ in many ways, but the most important difference is in the reasons
that each side gives to support its appeal for help. The appeals that Athens accepted and
rejected can tell us something about Athenian values. In order to show these values, I
will first discuss the Corcyrean speech and then the Corinthian speech.
b. Just before the Peloponnesian War, Corcyra and Corinth disputed who should rule
Epidamnus. Because they could not settle the dispute themselves, they appealed to
Athens for help against the other. As presented in The History of the Peloponnesian
Wars, the appeals that each side gave differ. The Corinthians appealed to Athens’ sense
of justice and tradition, while the Corcyreans appealed to their self-interest. After
debating the question, the Athenians finally sided with Corcyra’s appeal, because at this
time the Athenians knew that war was coming and that they would probably need
Corcyra’s naval power. When we understand the kind of appeals that the two sides made
and which ones Athenians accepted and rejected, we can better recognize Athens’ real
values and motives.
c. When Corcyra and Corinth disagreed over control of Epidamnus in 433 BC, they each
went to Athens to ask for help against the other one. As presented in The History of the
Pelloponesian Wars, the Corinthian speech appealed to Athens’ sense of honor and
justice, while the Corcyrean one appealed to their self-interest. Since it was in Athens
that Socrates and Aristotle first taught about honor and justice, it would be easy to
assume that Athens would side with Corinth and its appeal to higher values. But they
sided with Corcyra, revealing that in this instance Athenians were motivated by selfinterest. Unless we recognize that right from the earliest episodes in the war Athens
rejected justice when it contradicted their self-interest, we will misjudge their real
motives when they later defended some of their cruel actions by calling them just.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
73
7
P
R
O
B
Athens showed its real values when it rejected justice and honor in favor of future selfinterest.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
74
7
P
R
O
B
The Rhetoric of Problems
In 433 BC, the cities of Corcyra and Corinth became
involved in a dispute over which of them should rule
Epidamnus. Because they could not settle the dispute
between themselves, they sent representatives to
Athens to appeal for its help against the other. After
hearing the two speeches and debating among
themselves, the Athenians finally decided to support
Corcyra. As presented in The History of the
Peloponnesian Wars, the two speeches differ in
many ways, but the most important difference is in
the reasons that each side gives to support its appeal
for help. The appeals that Athens accepted and
rejected can tell us something about Athenian values.
In order to show these values, I will first discuss the
Corcyrean speech and then the Corinthian speech.
When Corcyra and Corinth disagreed over control of
Epidamnus in 433 BC, they each went to Athens to
ask for help against the other one. As presented in
The History of the Pelloponesian Wars, the
Corinthian speech appealed to Athens’ sense of
honor and justice, while the Corcyrean one appealed
to their self-interest. Since it was in Athens that
Socrates and Aristotle first taught about honor and
justice, it would be easy to assume that Athens
would side with Corinth and its appeal to higher
values. But they sided with Corcyra, revealing that in
this instance Athenians were motivated by selfinterest. Unless we recognize that right from the
earliest episodes in the war Athens rejected justice
when it contradicted their self-interest, we will
misjudge their real motives when they later defended
some of their cruel actions by calling them just.
Athens showed its real values when it rejected justice
and honor in favor of future self-interest.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
A Predicament for Athens, but not
for the reader.
All old information so far.
So the speeches differ; what two
speeches don’t?
So what if they give different
reasons?
A hint of a problem, if the reader
already cares about Athen’s values.
No question or answer; only a topic.
All old information so far.
Common, but mistaken
assumption.
Problem; raises implied question:
“How can A act on such base
motives?”
Cost in the form of poor
understanding; raises implied
question: “What are A’s real
motives?”
Gist of an answer.
The Rhetoric of Problems
75
7
P
R
O
B
Identifying Costs in Conceptual Problems
For Conceptual Problems, you motivate readers to care enough to read on
by identifying Consequences that make them want to know more. But since
Conceptual Problems center around Questions rather than Predicaments,
their Consequences will involve those things that come with not knowing
answers: ignorance and misunderstanding. Sometimes, you can also find
distant tangible consequences that are associated with that ignorance or
misunderstanding.
The following is the introduction to an honors thesis. In this case, the writer raises
two related questions, one about O’Connor and one about one of O’Connor’s critics.
How does she show readers how those questions have consequences they should
care about?
6
Two Tickets to Sacrifice:
Racism and Activism in O’Connor’s Short Stories
In 1959 Flannery O’Connor was invited to meet with James Baldwin but declined the offer.
She explained in a letter that his visit to Georgia “would cause the greatest trouble,
disturbance and disunion”. After reading this, a reader could conclude that O’Connor was
racist. But did she refuse to see Baldwin because he was black? In a 1964 letter, she hinted
at the real reason:
About the Negroes, the kind I don’t like is the philosophizing prophesying pontificating kind, the
James Baldwin kind. Very ignorant but never silent. Baldwin can tell us what it feels like to be a
Negro in Harlem but he tries to tell us everything else too. King I don’t think is the age’s great saint
but at least he’s doing what he can do & has to do . . . (Letters, 580)
O’Connor disliked Baldwin not because he was black, but because of his overbearing
approach to race. Although she supported the idea of racial equality, she denounced
Baldwin’s means of achieving it.
But the ambiguous treatment of race here and throughout her work remains a difficult
subject for her admirers, who are unwilling to cast her aside as another Southern racist. In
her Introduction to The Habit of Being, Sally Fitzgerald tries to excuse O’Connor’s puzzling
presentation of race and save her place in the canon by explaining it as the product of “an
imperfectly developed sensibility” (Letters, xvi). She notes that “large social issues as such
were never the subject of her writing,” and adds that O’Connor “was never in danger on the
score of racism” (xix).
Fitzgerald’s analysis, however, is only half true. Large social issues were not the subject of
O’Connor’s writing, but her attitudes concerning race cannot be dismissed as the product of
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
76
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
an imperfectly developed sensibility. They were well-developed and firmly based
intellectually in her religious beliefs. For her, racism was not a social issue but the symptom
of a larger spiritual and religious crisis. To O’Connor, to treat racism as a social problem is
to misunderstand it. Analysis of her best known short stories shows that her treatment of
racism as a spiritual crisis was more sympathetic to racial equality than is apparent and, far
from indicating that racism was an aberration in her life, they suggest that O’Connor had an
understanding of racism that set her apart from liberals of her time.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
77
7
P
R
O
B
For conceptual problems, you can find the Consequences most likely to
motivate readers by walking up the “So what?” ladder, answering each new
“So what?” as you imagine your readers would. But in this case, the answers
will involve not painful costs but unsatisfying ignorance or misunderstanding.
Flannery O’Connor’s treatment of race is ambiguous. Implied question: “Are
there elements of racism in O’Connor’s work?”
a
So what? Why is that my problem?
If we cannot decide whether there are elements of racism in O’Connor’s work, then
we will not be able to decide how to understand and value that work.
So what?
If we cannot decide how to understand and value O’Connor’s work, then we will not
know whether we should read her with appreciation.
So what?
If we do not know whether to read O’Connor’s work with appreciation, then we will
not know how we should place her in the canon of American authors.
So what?
Well . . .
Sally Fitzgerald’s exculpatory explanation of O’Connor’s treatment of race is
only half true. Implied question: “Is there an acceptable explanation that
O’Connor’s treatment of race is not entirely racist?”
b
So what? Why is that my problem?
If we cannot accept this explanation, then we will not be able to decide how to
understand and value O’Connor’s work.
So what?
If we cannot decide how to understand and value O’Connor’s work, then we will not
know whether we should read her with appreciation.
Etc.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
78
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
You know that you have identified motivating Consequences of a conceptual
problem when your readers shift from “So what?” to “Tell me more.”
Two Tickets to Sacrifice:
Racism and Activism in O’Connor’s Short Stories
In 1959 Flannery O’Connor was invited to meet with James Baldwin but
declined the offer. She explained in a letter that his visit to Georgia “would cause
the greatest trouble, disturbance and disunion”. After reading this, a reader could
conclude that O’Connor was racist. But did she refuse to see Baldwin because he
was black? In a 1964 letter, she hinted at the real reason:
About the Negroes, the kind I don’t like is the philosophizing prophesying
pontificating kind, the James Baldwin kind. Very ignorant but never silent. Baldwin
can tell us what it feels like to be a Negro in Harlem but he tries to tell us everything
else too. King I don’t think is the age’s great saint but at least he’s doing what he can
do & has to do . . . (Letters, 580)
PROBLEM
Question
+
Costs
PROBLEM
Question
+
Implied Costs
O’Connor disliked Baldwin not because he was black, but because of his
overbearing approach to race. Although she supported the idea of racial equality,
she denounced Baldwin’s means of achieving it.
But the ambiguous treatment of race here and throughout her work remains a
difficult subject for her admirers, who are unwilling to cast her aside as another
Southern racist. In her Introduction to The Habit of Being, Sally Fitzgerald tries to
excuse O’Connor’s puzzling presentation of race and save her place in the canon
by explaining it as the product of “an imperfectly developed sensibility” (Letters,
xvi). She notes that “large social issues as such were never the subject of her
writing,” and adds that O’Connor “was never in danger on the score of racism
(xix).”
Fitzgerald’s analysis, however, is only half true. Large social issues were not
the subject of O’Connor’s writing, but her attitudes concerning race cannot be
dismissed as the product of an imperfectly developed sensibility. They were welldeveloped and firmly based intellectually in her religious beliefs. For her, racism
was not a social issue but the symptom of a larger spiritual and religious crisis. To
O’Connor, to treat racism as a social problem is to misunderstand it. Analysis of
her best known short stories shows that her treatment of racism as a spiritual crisis
was more sympathetic to racial equality than is apparent and, far from indicating
that racism was an aberration in her life, they suggest that O’Connor had an
understanding of racism that set her apart from liberals of her time.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
79
7
P
R
O
B
7
The following text is a cover letter for a formal proposal to receive funding for an
HIV-AIDS education program. The letter was written by the Director of
Development and External Relations at a university in Florida. The reader of the
letter is the Executive Director of a foundation that makes grants to health
education programs and organizations.
Eastern
Florida
University
Office of Development
and External Relations
22 Administration Bui lding
300 North College Avenue
Sei tonvill , Florida 27652
(204) 684-2739
March 19, 1995
Mr. Michael Garvarich
Executive Director
The Bryant Foundation
423 Third Street, Suite 300
Gainesville, Florida 94013
Dear Mr. Garvarich:
Florida ranks first in the country with the highest transmission rate for
HIV among heterosexuals, second in the number of pediatric cases and
third in the number of total AIDS cases. Until a cure for HIV-AIDS is
found, the most effective way of preventing the spread of the virus is
through education of our youth. Recognizing the Bryant Foundation’s
commitment to the HIV-AIDS battle, we request that you consider a
gift of $79,200 to fund two years of two peer education programs
entitled INFO-AWARE and AWARE THEATER at the HIV-AIDS
Institute at Eastern Florida University in Seitonville, Florida. Designed
to reach thousands of middle school, high school, and college students
throughout eastern Florida, the programs should have an enormous
impact on the Florida battle for HIV-AIDS prevention.
The goal of the HIV-AIDS Institute at Eastern Florida University is to
take the two AWARE programs, INFO-AWARE and AWARE THEATER,
into 300 schools and colleges in the next academic year, reaching an
estimated 75,000 young people aged 12-23.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
80
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
The INFO-AWARE program involves training student volunteers by
providing accurate information for them to relate to their peers. The
initial target volunteers are white, black, and Latino middle and high
school students recommended by their teachers. Once educated, these
students will go into classrooms and share their knowledge with others
like themselves.
Because young people learn in various ways and because visual
presentations are often understood better and retained longer than
written
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
81
7
P
R
O
B
Mr. Michael Garvarich
2
March 19, 1995
documents, Institute Director Sharon Patton has also developed the
AWARE THEATER, a second program that is designed to target young
people by using live performance and video. Cooke County
Community College has already joined in the Institute’s efforts and
volunteered a group of theater students ready and willing to be trained
and to go on the road by this June. To our knowledge, no other HIVAIDS education group has taken the approach of the AWARE
THEATER. Our design and concept could easily be imitated across the
country.
To fully implement both the INFO-AWARE and AWARE THEATER
programs, the HIV-AIDS Institute at Eastern Florida University needs
a cadre of young volunteers, the approval of the east Florida
community, and initial funding of $79,200 (please see attached
budget). Approval has been granted by the Cooke County and Turner
County Public Schools, and community college students are in line to
form the AWARE THEATER troupe. The Institute has already received
some funding from the State of Florida and from the Center for
Disease Control to serve as money for INFO-AWARE program
materials and start-up funds.
W e now seek additional sources of revenue to enhance the INFOAWARE program and to implement the AWARE THEATER program.
Support from the Bryant Foundation would enable us to pay peer
educators (an additional benefit to young people needing jobs) and a
full-time coordinator for the INFO-AWARE program; it would also
fund a training conference, props and scenery, transportation, and
publicity for the AWARE THEATER. A gift of $79,200 would assure
the full implementation of both AWARE programs by the fall of 1993.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our proposal. The
Eastern Florida University HIV-AIDS Institute is a worthwhile
recipient of a Bryant Foundation grant and a good investment for the
Foundation. Your published interests in youth, health, education, and
the HIV-AIDS epidemic are all addressed by both of the Institute’s
AWARE programs. I will call you the week of April 5 to verify the
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
82
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
arrival of our materials and to answer questions about our proposal or
budget; in addition, please feel free to call me any weekday at (407)
765-2279 if there is any additional information you would like.
Sincerely,
Lisa Phillips
Director of Development and External Relations
Enclosures: Proposal, Project Budget, IRS Determination Letters (2), Audited
Financial Statement
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
83
7
P
R
O
B
8
GARY & LIST
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
J. Williams Gary, C.P.A.
K. Garner List, C.P.A.
Janine R. Starr, C.P.A.
Robert L. Windower, C.P.A.
Kim Sung-Flowers, C.P.A.
1300 E. Columbus Street
P.O. Box 1928
Corvallis, Oregon 73584
Phone 802/601-3902
FAX 802/601-2548
INSPECTION PROGRAM REPORT, YEAR ENDING DECEMBER
31, 1996
The firm’s inspection program has been completed for the year
ending December 31, 1996. The inspection program includes a
sample review of some of our clients’ files. Reviews of
workpapers, audit program, checklists, and so forth are
performed in order to see that all staff follow procedures and
apply them consistently. The purpose of the inspection is to help
us all improve the quality of our work in this office and to
prepare for our next peer review in May of 1997.
The following is a list of eleven findings from the inspection:
1. INDEPENDENCE
Our review disclosed a case where our firm was not independent
of a client and where this fact was not noted in our report. A
compilation report was issued but the statement that the firm was
not independent was not included. Everyone in the firm signs a
statement on independence annually, but not everyone may have
available the list of clients of which we are not independent. The
following is a list of clients of which we are not independent as
of November 30, 1996: [list of clients]
2. CHECKLIST FOR COMPILATION AND REVIEWS
Last year we issued a policy memo with information about
signing off on audit steps in the audit programs. However, it
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
84
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
appears that we may have been somewhat lax about signing off
on the compilation and review checklists.
We need to be sure that these checklists of procedures are
followed to the letter and then signed off. If you have a question
about a procedure, ask one of the partners for an explanation. As
a reminder, disclosure checklists also need to be completed for
each financial statement prepared when notes are included.
In addition, a cover sheet is required on the compiled and
reviewed financial statement. The cover sheet must list “date
prepared,” “reviewed by,” “typed by” and “footed by,” and
“signed by.” As each step is completed, it must be dated and
signed. Our review noted that the “reviewed by” and “signed by”
steps were not always completed as required.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
85
7
P
R
O
B
The following introductions are from three honors theses, two in history and
one in English. Which of the three articulate a problem based on a question
that a reader might be willing to care about long enough to read on?
9
a. Parnell and deValera Crises: Two Challenges to the Irish Consensus
During their time, Charles Stewart Parnell and Eamon de Valera were at one point the most
powerful men in Ireland. By leading the Irish consensus, which involved the relationship
between the Leader, the Party, and the Bishops, Parnell and deValera were able to develop
constitutional states in Ireland. In 1890, Parnell attempted to undermine the consensus he created
when his role as Leader was threatened. In 1921, de Valera tried to disrupt the consensus he led
when it was evident that the Irish Republic was jeopardized by the Treaty with Great Britain. The
Party and the Bishops were not only able to bring down their leaders in both cases, but also the
Irish consensus was able to reconstruct itself after each constitutional crisis.
To understand the Parnell and de Valera crises, we must understand the consensus Parnell
constructed between 1880 and 1890. Then Parnell’s challenge to the constitutional system and
the Irish Parliamentary Party he built must be examined, as well as the survival of the Irish Party
up to 1918. The rise of Sinn Fein under de Valera during and after 1918 and the Anglo-Irish war
up to the Treaty will also be investigated. After the Treaty, de Valera’s challenge to the Irish
consensus and the resulting Irish civil war will be scrutinized. Finally, the survival of the Irish
consensus and the evolution of a more democratic Irish political system will be developed.
b. The Neutral and Natural Effects of Love and War in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is a novel which carefully and concisely blends the
themes of love and war, and other themes based on this grand scale of love and death. The main
themes of love and war and the bliss and tragedy in both originate, develop, and intermix, often
coinciding and coexisting in certain sections of the novel, depicting life as it is. The result of this
intermixing necessitates a fusion of the idyllic or comic, and the tragic or disturbing which is
certainly affected by the impending doom of the war. A Farewell to Arms is a story about the
love of two people affected by the disastrous events that happen during this period of war. It is a
narrative which, with meticulous care, follows the development of the psychological
characteristics of the two lovers, Catherine Barkley and Frederic Henry, as they encounter tragic
and idyllic settings, thus developing their relationship amidst the unstable, insecure surroundings
of a country at war. Hemingway writes the story of the two lovers as they represent average
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
86
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
human beings in their emotions, thoughts, and actions in a natural and neutral world of love and
war. In A Farewell to Arms Hemingway describes the story of the lovers as they stand on
unstable ground during this uneasy period, coupled with and comforted by the neutral territory
they always seem to find amidst the natural instability of their surroundings as a whole.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
87
7
P
R
O
B
c. Francisco Bulnes: Counter-Revolutionary Polemicist
My attitude is not one of enmity toward the Mexican Revolution. . . But when the people who
revolt lack the necessary reactionary power to reconstruct their country, they perish as a nation . . .
I am not an enemy of the revolution, but I do look with horror upon its progress, because Mexico
is my native land and from the final, supreme test of the revolution may result in the loss of its
independence ....
With this statement, Francisco Bulnes prefaces The Whole Truth About Mexico, a critique of
the Mexican Revolution which testifies to the culpability of the United States in seeking to
implant in Mexico an Anglo-Saxon notion of liberty that lacks logical basis or understanding of
the Mexican people. According to Bulnes, such a program orchestrates the demise of Huerta and
nurtures the “de facto anarchy” and despotism of Caranza. To change US policy, Bulnes went on
to construct a caustic but confusing polemic that some critics think is merely one more Mexican
nationalist. Others have claimed that while Bulnes’ critical re-thinking of the Porfiriato was
visionary, it represented only a crisis of Nineteenth Century Positivism.
But those views underestimate his role as a seminal transitional thinker and as the deeply
philosophical and influential polemicist that he was. We believe that his writings were an attempt
to adjust to an intellectual perspective more attuned to Twentieth Century modernity. He
provides an unexpected link between the late Nineteenth Century Cientifico program and the
post-Revolutionary, Twentieth Century organization of Mexican political and social life. While
we may marvel at Bulnes’ visionary ability to predict programs implemented by the
“institutionalizing” forces of Revolutionary Mexico, it would be a mistake to overlook his
contribution to the modern Mexican state, because there is evidence that Bulnes was widely read
and debated in the later literature of the 30’s, and 40’s, evidence suggesting that he may have
influenced later policy-makers, as well.
This paper will clarify three areas of Bulnes's interpretation of the Mexican Revolution: the
agrarian question, the collapse of the Porfiriato, and U.S./Mexican relations, in order to explain
how Bulnes elucidated a connection between the Porfiriato and the formation of the modern
Mexican State and hinted at ways in which various sectors could maximize social and political
restructurings to advance Mexican development.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
88
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
Rhetorical Problems: Three Essential Elements
We commonly describe problems in one of three ways: in a word (e.g., cancer,
homelessness); in a phrase (e.g., poor study habits, slumping profits); or in a
question (e.g., How do we improve our employee training program?). These
descriptions are fine for most purposes. But for the purpose of formulating a
rhetorical problem that organizes a document, you have to identify three
components: (1) A Destabilizing Condition; (2) Some Consequences of that
Condition; and (3) Readers Who Care.
1. A Destabilizing Condition, either a Question or a Predicament
A Destabilizing Condition is some particular situation that has the potential to
cause difficulty, either physical or conceptual. An example:
SAT scores have declined and show no signs of rising.
A situation is a Destabilizing Condition only in relation to a specific
Consequences for specific readers. Some Conditions are so fraught with
difficulty that they seem inherently destabilizing. For example, a plague that kills
thousands would seem to be a problem no matter the circumstances. But if you
were a citizen of Troy, and the plague ran through the Greek troops that were
besieging your city, then that plague would pose no problem. It would, in fact, be
the solution to a problem.
The point is this: Destabilizing Conditions are situations that threaten trouble.
They are identifiable only in relation to the trouble – the Consequences – they
bring. If they do not bring trouble, then they are no problem.
Destabilizing Conditions come in two forms: Predicaments that create Pragmatic
Problems and Questions that create Conceptual Problems.
2. Consequences of the Condition
In order to matter, the Consequences of a Condition must (a) affect your readers,
directly or indirectly, and (b) be recognized and accepted by your readers (or your
readers are at least willing to consider them). Consequences take two forms, either the
Costs of leaving the Condition unresolved or the Benefits of resolving it. (Costs and
Benefits are often mirror images of one another.)
Here’s our SAT example again:
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
89
7
P
R
O
B
SAT scores have declined and show no signs of rising. CONDITION If SAT scores reflect
achievement, then our workforce is becoming less well educated, which will put the U.S. at a
disadvantage in an international marketplace, weaken the economy, and reduce the standard of
living for many of us.COST
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
90
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
3. Readers Who Care about the Cost
When you construct rhetorical problems you can only count something as a
Consequence if your readers recognize it and accept it as a Cost or lost Benefit.
For professional writers, there is no such thing as a problem that every reader will
consider to be inherently worth acting upon. Remember that earlier we said a
Destabilizing Condition is only destabilizing in relation to its Consequences;
likewise, a Cost or Benefit is only a Consequence in relation to the specific group
of readers it matters to – a specific community of interest that will care enough
about the Consequence to act on the problem. When you formulate a problem, you
have to be certain that what you present as a Consequence is indeed undesirable to
your particular readers – and serious enough for them to bother about it. Let’s take
a look at our SAT example again:
SAT scores have declined and show no signs of rising. CONDITION
If this author were writing an editorial and wanted to appeal to parents who expect
their children to go to good colleges, he might attach the following Cost to the
Condition:
SAT scores have declined and show no signs of rising. CONDITION If children get low SAT
scores, they may not get into a good college, and their prospects for a comfortable and
satisfying life will be reduced. COST
On the other hand, if he wanted to appeal to employers who must compete in a
global marketplace with undereducated workers, he might attach this Cost:
SAT scores have declined and show no signs of rising. CONDITION If SAT scores reflect
achievement, then our workforce is becoming less well-educated, which will put the U.S. at a
disadvantage in an international marketplace, thereby weakening the economy and reducing
the standard of living for many of us.COST
And notice that this Cost would also work if our writer wanted to appeal to varied
readers with differing interests – for example, everyone who stands to have their
standard of living reduced; employers who have to be competitive in a global
marketplace; educators who want more funding for schools.
The point is this: the Consequences you choose to state in your document
must be appropriate to your particular readers. In business and professional
situations, you must carefully tailor your Costs or Benefits to the specific
needs of your readers in order to convince them to act. In academic
situations, you must tailor the Consequences of not knowing something to the
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
91
7
P
R
O
B
specific interests of your readers in order to convince them to change their
minds.
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
92
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
Sometimes business and professional writers write because someone has come to
them with a problem. In this case, you have only to keep your eye focused on your
reader’s problem and address the Consequences your reader has already explained
to you.
Just as often, however, business and professional writers write because they have
discovered a problem that their readers do not yet recognize, or because they have
a problem that their readers can help them resolve if they can be convinced to act.
In this case, your job is to formulate the problem in such a way that your readers
are persuaded to act because they recognize the Costs or lost Benefits that the
problem means to them.
If you are the boss, then your task is made a little bit easier: your problems are
necessarily your subordinates’ problems, although it pays to be persuasive rather
than tyrannical.
But if you’re not the boss, you must find some way to get your readers to care
about the Consequences you see in your problem – or, more frequently, you must
find some other Consequences that your readers do, in fact, care about.
And you may face one additional challenge as a professional writer: almost every
document you write will be read by multiple readers with differing interests.
Therefore you must formulate your problem in terms of Consequences that all of
these groups of readers will accept.
Readers will try to understand your document in terms
of the problem or question it purports to resolve. Your
job is to inform or, if necessary, to persuade readers
why the problem is important to them.
You do not persuade readers that your problem is their
problem just by presenting the condition that brings the
problem about, nor by emphasizing the problem’s
interest or importance, nor by stressing the many
difficulties associated with it. To sell readers on your
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
93
7
P
R
O
B
problem you must emphasize the particular
Consequences — Costs or lost Benefits — for your
particular readers.
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
94
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
Destabilizing Conditions in Conceptual Problems:
Questions
In conceptual problems, Destabilizing Conditions are always some form of
question, something your readers do not know or do not understand, but should.
What is destabilized in a Conceptual Problem is your readers’ minds. When
looking for the destabilizing element in a Conceptual Problem, look for words like
these:
an overlooked connection or disjunction
unexplained differences or similarities
what seems to be the case is not
inability to find a pattern
unaccounted for data
excessive complexity
a gap in knowledge
unpredictability
inconsistency
aberrant facts
contradiction
disagreement
discrepancy
uncertainty
perplexity
confusion
ambiguity
unclarity
anomaly
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
95
7
P
R
O
B
surprise
conflict
paradox
error
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
96
The Rhetoric of Problems
7
P
R
O
B
Consequences in Conceptual Problems:
More Questions
The Consequences of a conceptual problem can be hard to state because they are
normally abstract consequences that you cannot readily point to. Typically, the
Cost of a conceptual problem is that if the Destabilizing Condition is not resolved,
your readers will also fail to understand or appreciate something else that is still
more important than the Destabilizing Condition alone. Similarly, the Benefits of
resolving a conceptual Destabilizing Condition is that your readers will
understand more than they now do. A conceptual problem must have
Consequences that go beyond the puzzle or question inherent in the Destabilizing
Condition.
Because conceptual Costs or Benefits can be hard to state, it is particular
dangerous for writers to assume that their readers already understand them.
However, when you articulate the Consequences explicitly,
• you make sure that you understand both the Consequences and their relation to the
Condition;
• you may discover more Costs and Benefits than you thought you knew;
• you may discover additional Destabilizing Conditions related to the one with which
you began;
• you may discover intermediate Conditions and/or Consequences that link your
original Condition with the assumed Consequences;
• you guard against overestimating what your readers know and, especially, what
they will accept.
Readers of Conceptual Problems
In order to see a conceptual problem as a problem, readers have to share the body
of knowledge and ways of thinking that are disrupted by the Destabilizing
Condition. Few of us would find our conceptual landscape destabilizing if we
found out that the Dead Sea Scrolls were a fraud. But for those working in the
history of Judeo-Christian religions, such a revelation would be shattering. Its
Cost would include not only having to change their minds about many things they
now believe, but also rewriting textbooks, abandoning research programs, perhaps
even ruining a few careers.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
97
7
P
R
O
B
Since conceptual problems destabilize knowledge, ideas, understanding, they are
only problems for readers who understand things in a certain way. Conceptual
problems tend to be tied to groups of readers who share knowledge, hold many of
the same beliefs, and mostly understand things in the same or related ways. In
both academic and professional life, such groups are organized around disciplines.
What counts as a problem worth writing about for one discipline, might or might
not count for those outside.
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
98
The Rhetoric of Problems
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
Finding a Problem Worth Writing About
Tangible Problems
Usually, we write about a tangible problem not because we sought it out but because
it has jumped up to bite us. Few people go around looking for tangible problems to
write about. Instead, they write about a tangible problem because they face a problem
that they believe can be solved by writing to enlist others in solving it. That is way
documents that deal with tangible problems almost always focus on action —
whatever action the writer wants her readers to take or support in order to resolve the
problem.
So when you ask whether a tangible problem is worth writing about, apply these tests:
1. Do you need readers to help you address the problem? Are you
readers in a position to provide you the help you need?
2. Are the Costs of the Predicament to the reader greater than the Cost to
the reader of taking action to resolve it?
3. Are the Costs of the Predicament to you greater than the Cost to you of
the writing and everything else you have to do to resolve it?
If your teacher gives you an assignment to find a tangible problem to write about,
your best bet is to find someone who has a problem that meets those three tests.
Conceptual Problems
Most classroom writing involves conceptual problems, often conceptual problems
that the student must invent in order to write about it. Here are some steps for creating
and evaluating a conceptual problem at three different stages in the writing process.
I. While
you are
reading
and
researchi
ng
1.
Name your topic: Describe your topic with at least one nominalization that
could be a specific verb. That is, do not describe your topic like this:
I am working on stories about the Battle of the Alamo . . .
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
99
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
Instead, include at least one substantive nominalization:
I am working on the evolution of stories about the Alamo . . .
2. Describe what you (or your readers) do not know about it: To your first
clause, add another one that contains an indirect question of the form:
because I want to find out
who/what/when/where/why/how/whether . . .
I am working on the evolution of stories about the Battle of the Alamo because
I want to find out how the stories became part of our national mythology . . .
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
100
The Rhetoric of Problems
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
3.
Add a rationale for finding out what you don’t know: Complete your
sentence with a clause that states a purpose for answering your question:
. . . in order to understand better how/why/ whether . . .
I am working on the evolution of stories about the Battle of the Alamo because
I want to find out how the stories became part of our national mythology in
order to understand better why stories about military defeats come to represent
nationalistic values.
4.
Change the perspective from yourself to your readers: Remember, readers are
less motivated to find out what you don’t know and why you should than to find
out what they don’t know and why they should:
I am working on the evolution of stories about the Battle of the Alamo because
I want to show you how the stories became part of our national mythology in
order to explain to you why stories about military defeats come to represent
nationalistic values.
NOTE: You are unlikely to be able to complete steps 3 and 4 until you have
made some progress in learning about your topic.
II. After
you have
a draft
If you are like most academic writers, you get some of your best ideas as you write
and revise. If so, once you have completed a revisable draft you should suspect that at
least two things are true: (1) Your paper has more real potential after you draft it than
it did before, if only you can find where that potential is; and (2) whatever you said
about your problem in your first draft of an introduction does not quite match what
you did in your paper.
So follow these steps as soon as you have a revisable draft. In order to show you the
steps, we’ll use the following fairly typical paper Western Civ paper as an example
(this excerpt includes the first two and the last three paragraphs):
The Church and its Crusades
During the eleventh through thirteenth centuries, the Roman Catholic Church initiated
several Crusades against the Muslims in the Holy Lands. The Pope would usually instigate
and call for armament and support for this endeavor. Pope Urban II started the first Crusade
in 1096. His predecessor, Gregory VII, had also petitioned to get support for a crusade in
1074 but did not succeed in launching his Crusade. There are written statements from these
Popes concerning the Crusades. Pope Urban II in “Speech at the Council of Clermont” in the
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
101
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
year 1095 calls for a Crusade and Pope Gregory VII in a Letter to King Henry IV during the
year 1074 also proposes a Crusade.
Both the text preceding Urban’s speech and Urban’s speech mention several serious
problems within the society, both lay and clerical. At the end of his speech, Urban discusses
the need for a Crusade. The introductory text, The Version of Fulcher of Chartes, including
His Description of Conditions in Western Europe at the Time, furnishes some background
information about controversies which Urban does not discuss in his speech and he also
summarizes and emphasizes the important points in the Pope’s speech. . . . . . . . (cont’d)
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
102
The Rhetoric of Problems
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
. . . The concept of using the Crusades not as a purely religious project but as a means of
political unity can also be seen in Gregory’s letter. One reason he wishes to go on a Crusade
is the chance that the Roman and Orthodox Churches might reconcile. They have held
different views on the place of the Holy Ghost in the Trinity, and the Eastern Church also did
not recognize the Pope’s authority. Hopefully, with a successful Crusade, both of these
schisms could be rectified. They were to hold a conference to discuss the Holy Ghost and
also the Eastern Church would accept the authority of the Roman Pope. Then all of
Christianity would be under the guidance of one Church and not two separate Churches.
Another subtle coalescence is between the Church and the Empire. The beginnings of the
power struggle between the Pope and Emperor occur during the reigns of Henry IV and
Gregory VII. The Pope is head of the Church and the Emperor is head of the Empire. When
Gregory assures Henry of his affections and says that he will leave the Church under the care
of Henry if he, Gregory, goes on the Crusade, this could show that Gregory wishes to prove
that the Church and the Empire are still united and should work towards a common goal.
Perhaps Gregory wishes to prevent a power struggle between the Pope and Emperor, so his
proposal for a Crusade may also be a suggestion that the Church and the Empire unite to
fight a common enemy instead of fighting amongst themselves.
The Popes, Urban II and Gregory VII, heralded the Crusades as a way to restore the Holy
Lands to Christian rule, but in fact, they also used the concept of the Crusades as a means to
achieve a form of unity important to them during their pontificate. During Urban’s
pontificate, he could establish his authority, fight the devil (Muslims), and control fighting
amongst the Europeans and direct those energies elsewhere. Gregory VII wishes to achieve
unification between the Roman Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. And he also seems
to be trying to keep the unity or prevent the breakup of the Church and The Empire. In both
cases each Pope tried to unite people in a common cause to fight against the infidels instead
of amongst themselves. Therefore the Crusade was not just a fight against the Muslims to
recapture the Holy Land and to save God’s faith, but it was an effort to save the Church and
Europe from the dissent that was tearing it apart.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
103
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
Four Steps for Revision
1.
Name your topic: Describe your paper with at least one nominalization that could be a specific verb.
As I worked on the motivation of the Popes to initiate the Crusades. . .
2.
Describe the most important thing that you now know about your topic: To your first clause, add
another one that states what you found out:
. . . the most important thing that I found out was that. . .
In order to finish that clause, find the point of your paper, its main idea or main claim. You might find
it in the introduction, but you are more likely to find it at the end.
As I worked on the motivation of the Popes to initiate Crusades, the most important thing
that I found out was that the Crusades were not just a fight against the Muslims to recapture
the Holy Land, but an effort to save the Church and Europe from the dissensions which were
tearing it apart.
3.
Add a statement of why it is important to know what you have found out: Add another sentence
that includes an implied question that is larger and more important than the one your paper has
answered:
Now that I know that, I can understand better the larger question of how/why/. . .
To finish that sentence, you have to do some hard thinking about the significance of what your paper
says. Don’t fall into the trap of just repeating your first question:
Now that I know that, I understand better why the Popes ordered the Crusades.
Instead, ask yourself whether there is some larger question to which your paper can be a small part of
the answer. It is often helpful to make some of the terms in your first question more general:
As I worked on the motivation of the Popes to initiate Crusades, the most important thing
that I found out was that the Crusades were not just a fight against the Muslims to recapture
the Holy Land, but an effort to save the Church and Europe from the dissensions which were
tearing it apart. Now that I know that, I understand better the larger question of how the
Vatican used theological rhetoric to solve pragmatic political problems in early
European history.
4.
Preface your statement of the problem with a description of some common knowledge or
received wisdom that your paper will challenge: Add a last element:
Before I/my readers knew what I found out, we thought . . .
Finish that sentence with whatever ideas or information a reader will have to change as a result of
reading your paper. (You can invent readers for this purpose, but it is better if there are real people who
hold the views you contradict.)
LRS
VIRGINIA
THE UNIVERSITY OF
104
The Rhetoric of Problems
Revising on the Page
7
P
R
O
B
Before I/my readers knew what I found out, we believed the common myth, encouraged by
the Church over the centuries, that the Crusades were motivated entirely by popular
religious zeal to liberate Jerusalem and restore it to Christianity.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
105
Frequently Asked Questions
7
P
R
O
B
?
“I’m not sure what you mean by a problem. In most of my courses I write
papers that answer questions, not solve problems.”
The problems we’re talking about are the kinds of problems that organize documents —
think of them as rhetorical problems. Rhetorical problems include some kinds of
questions — the kinds of questions that your readers feel that they need to have answered.
They also include what you might think of as ordinary problems. So, as we use the term,
rhetorical problems are of two kinds:
1. Predicaments— Tangible, Pragmatic Problems (cancer, slumping profits, a high
divorce rate, etc.)
This is the most common sense of the word problem. Ordinary problems are people,
things, or situations that have consequences we do not like. Ordinary problems almost
always have a physical component. In order to solve them we have to act to change a
person, an object, or a situation. The damage done by tangible problems is usually
evident in the world around us — palpable in the form of pain, visible in the form of
suffering people. Sometimes, however, tangible problems seem to be personal and
“inside” us — depression, anxiety, unhappiness. But even these problems have a
substantial physical component.
Some academic documents, many professional documents, and most business
documents deal with tangible problems. Their outcome and their point tend to involve
physical actions.
2. Questions or Puzzles – Conceptual Problems (What came before the Big Bang?
Why did the Anasazi Indians disappear? How do we best categorize ancient Greek
vases? etc.)
Conceptual problems are questions, missing facts, things misunderstood — any gap in
our knowledge or understanding that bothers us, either because we need that knowledge in order to resolve a tangible problem or because we just need to know. They
tend not to have a physical component. Conceptual problems are often sought out
rather than avoided. For teachers and students, they are almost always good, because
they are the chief currency of academic endeavor.
Most academic documents, many professional documents, and some business
documents deal with conceptual problems. Their outcome and their point tend to
involve mental actions.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF
VIRGINIA
106
The Rhetoric of Problems
Frequently Asked Questions
7
P
R
O
B
?
“What about the problems on exams?”
Some exam questions, especially essay questions, pose conceptual problems. But
many of them are only rote problems, which are not important for organizing
documents. Rote problems are the kind of schoolbook exercise you find in many of
your textbooks. Rote problems have one right answer, and usually one set routine for
arriving at the answer. Most math problems are rote problems. Spelling correctly is a
rote problem. Repeating information in a chapter you just read is a rote problem. You
never want to organize your documents around a rote problem.
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
The Rhetoric of Problems
107
Frequently Asked Questions
7
P
R
O
B
?
“I don’t believe every document has to solve a problem. In my other courses, I
write papers that discuss issues rather than solve problems.”
You might be right about that. All documents don’t solve problems, just as all documents don’t make points — lists, minutes of meetings, anecdotes, novels, etc. But all
documents that make points should normally solve readers’ problems. When you write
a paper discussing an issue, you should frame it as a response to a conceptual
problem. When you answer a question, frame it as a problem. Academic readers like
this, and it will get you far.
Remember that you don’t have to use the actual language of problems and solutions
in order to frame your papers as responses to problems. You only have to be sure to
state a Destabilizing Condition. Usually, you should also state the Consequences of
leaving the Condition unresolved. But you can be silent about them if you are certain
that they will be obvious to your readers. We recommend, however, that you always
articulate Consequences explicitly, even if only to yourself, just to make sure that you
really have a problem that your readers will care about.
LRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF
VIRGINIA
108
The Rhetoric of Problems
Frequently Asked Questions
7
P
R
O
B
LR
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LRS
S