What Hive Found

As we have learned, the stases theory described by Fahnestock and Secor is composed of three to four points at which certain questions can be asked. “There are questions of fact, questions of definition, questions of value, and in some versions questions of procedure, which [we] will conflate with questions of policy.” These stases can be used to create arrangement and can even be a tool for audience analysis. Although all stasis are usually addressed in scientific rhetoric, more emphasis is usually placed on one or two stases. This does not mean that the remaining stasis or stases, is to be disregarded because they are still relevant to the reader and the audience. This emphasis on one or two stases is a major component in the composition of the audience.
In the article, “Show Me the Honey,” written by Taylor Hengen, follows the systematic flow of the stases theory. Hengen is able to answer the simple questions of fact and definition in the first few paragraphs of the article. What are they? Bees. Clearly this question is answered through the title of the article and the picture given next to it. But what is really the problem that is being discussed? “But Bees haven’t been staying on task. They’ve been acting a little weird lately—leaving their hives and not coming back…” Hengen continues to describe what is happening to the bees, and how pesticides are a “contributing factor” in the strange behavior of the bees. This description of the actual problem that is occurring in these hives is answering the question cause.
When answering the question of value, is this good or bad, Hengen has to convince the audience that this is a real problem. I am not sure that he/she is able to do this. He/she seems to not spend as much time on this stasis, which is common in scientific writing, but in this case, I feel that the author should be convincing us, the readers, to completely understand why these crazy bees are a problem. This is a major role in audience construction that is not complete in my opinion. If the bees are not changing my life, my food, my environment, why should I care? These questions should be addressed and answered.
The last two paragraphs are spent answering the question of policy. What action should be taken? “Last year, the American Beekeepers' Federation, in a letter to the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, encouraged Congress to pass the 2007 Farm Bill. The letter highlighted environmental regulation and enforcement as one of the beekeeping industry's priority issues, stating "the central role of bees in the environment and farm economy should be emphasized in environmental regulation and enforcement, including in the review and approval of new farm chemicals and treatments.... In the Farm Bill or otherwise, Congress should, among other things, mandate that sub-lethal effects on honey bees be considered in the regulatory process for new agricultural treatments."
Hengen is able to address all stases, some more than others in this article. It is necessary as a writer and reader of rhetoric to see how these states play a role in all public discourse. It is also important to see what role they play. “Why are arguments being addressed in these states at all?” “Every topic or issue must have ‘won’ an argument over value before it can be addressed at all. Such a preliminary value argument may not be addressed explicitly in the text of an actual argument, but it is necessary part of the fir of argument to audience.” Audience construction and arrangement are both part of the way we write. Our style is very important when we are trying to bring our reader’s to our side of the argument. The Stases are a systematic way for a writer to construct a well written argument.