What's all the Buzz About

What makes a scientific article “scientific”? If readers apply Fahnestock and Secor’s stases, readers can develop a sense of meaning to scientific writing. In the Popular Science article “Show Me the Honey” by Taylor Hegen, readers can apply Fahnestock and Secor’s staces concept to prove this an affective piece of scientific writing for the audience.

The first staces as discussed in class and in the Fahnestock and Secor article was the staces of fact and definition. Hagen’s article follows the structure of the staces concept quite well. Readers are first introduced to the problem at hand, which the article explains that honey bees are carrying too many pesticides into their hives and causing problems in the be population as a whole.

The second staces is that of value, a question of is this good, or is this bad. Clearly Hagen wants readers to know that the honey bee population is important, and is something that people need to be aware of. Hagen uses expert knowledge to back up and establish the value of these bees to people.

Hagen soon brings in the idea of procedure, which happens to be the third staces. Hagen brings to light that because of the public’s awareness, a bill has been presented to Congress. Hagan reveals exactly what the farm bill presented to congress will do for the bee population.
Finally the last staces and last section of Hagen’s article is that of policy. Hagen encourages readers to plant flowers and use organic pesticides. In doing so the bees will be exposed to a far less harsh environment and not bring so many pesticides into the hive.

This article followed Fahnestock and Secor’s staces concept to a T; in doing so, a clear and concise scientific argument can be made. When writers organize the content of their writing it is much easier for them to convey meaning.