Conceptual Problems
Your main problem with conceptual problems will be finding one worth writing about.
Remember that a conceptual problem is one you must discover in order to have a problem
for your argument to solve – it is a question you must ask in order to give yourself a reason
for proposing an answer. Below is a way of finding that question before you start to write.
A. Before You Start Writing
1. Name your topic: Describe your topic using at least one nominalization
(“noun” that names an action) that could be reworded in the form of a concrete
verb. Don’t name your topic like this: “I am working on stories about the
Battle of the Alamo” Instead, name your topic like this: “I am working on the
evolution of stories about the Alamo” Make sure that the subject of your topic
is doing something – in this case “stories about the Alamo” are “evolving.”
2. Describe what you don’t know about your topic: To the clause in which you
name your topic, add another one that contains – in an indirect form – that
question that you are asking and that your argument will try to answer about the
subject of your topic: “ … because I want to find out who or what or when or
where or why or how…” So, to continue our example: “I am working on the
evolution of stories about the Alamo because I want to find out how those
stories became a part of our national mythology.
3. Explain why you want to know more about your topic: To the clauses in
which you name your topic and pose your question about it, add another one
that gives a reason why your questions are worth answering: “…in order to
understand better why tales of military defeat come to represent nationalistic
values.” So, to conclude our example: “I am working on the evolution of
stories about the Alamo because I want to find out how those stories became a
part of our national mythology, in order to understand better why tales of
military defeat come to represent nationalistic values.”
4. Rephrase your topic statement to address the reader: Remember, readers will
be less motivated to find out what you don’t know and why you should than
they will be to find out what they don’t know and why they should. So: “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 tales of military defeat come to represent
nationalistic values.”