Rhetorical Problems


One of the questions that kept coming up this week in class was, "What is a rhetorical problem?" and how do I find one that fits the exploratory narrative assignment?

 When I designed this writing project, I thought about this process in steps: 

 1. Think of a discourse community that you belong to or would like to enter. 

 Example: I belong to the Cuban American exile community, which I consider a social and ethnic discourse community with its own unique genres, language and values.

 2. Try to identify a problem that arises from the ability or inability of the members of this discourse community to communicate or persuade effectively.

 Example: The Cuban American community, I think, has been unable to share its collective experience of exile with people outside of the community. I feel like worldwide, most people are sympathetic to the Cuban Revolution rather than to the plight of Cubans who left the country as a direct result of the Castro-led coup. I think that Cuban American exiles have failed in using rhetorical devices that will reach "outsiders" and effectively persuade them of the failure of the Cuban Revolution as an agent of social justice. 

 2a. Write the introduction of your exploratory narrative: 

 The intro only needs to help you and your reader understand where you started and where you are going to as you begin your research process. For example, in the intro you'd want to answer questions like

  • What is the problem you've chosen to investigate? 
  • Why did you choose this problem? 
  • How is the problem PSI? 
  • What is the main research question or questions you need to investigate (the research question(s) usually come at the end of the intro).

3. Start asking questions: What is the problem exactly? What's causing it? Who is it affecting?) and then possible solutions to it (I emphasize here multiple vs. two. We have this fascination with opposing views, but there are always more than two views on any given issue, not just the proverbial two).

 Examples: Is this true? Are most people outside of the Cuban American exile community "sympathetic" or perhaps just "indifferent" towards the Cuban exile's and the Cuban people's suffering?  How is the Cuban Revolution affecting both Cubans and others? What has the CuAm community done already to persuade others to their point of view of the Cuban Revolution? What can be done better? Which medium has been overlooked? Which rhetorical genres (memoir, news articles) have been underused or overused? How effectively has pathos been used? Ethos? Logos?

 4. Begin to engage in purposeful research selecting research methods and sources that fit your research goals but also give you a wide spectrum of views on the problem at hand. Purposeful research also means turning on your crap detector.

 Example: I'd probably start with a survey of people inside and outside of the community to see what their "attitudes" are towards the Cuban Revolution and/or the Cuban people. 

 I would likely also look for other reports that may already have assessed these attitudes. The Cuban Research Institute at FIU, for example, has conducted surveys of our population where they've asked questions about the Cuban experience. I would also look back at documentaries like "Improper Conduct" which I think were a good rhetorical artifact, inasmuch, as it demonstrates an attempt to use rhetoric to denounce the human rights violations being perpetrated by the Cuban government in the 70s. 

5. Keep detailed double-entry research notes, which you then will transfer to your exploratory narrative. 

 Example: My double-entry notes on this documentary would include: 

 Questions I was hoping to explore through my engagement with this source: 
What works in this artifact in terms of cinematographic strategies that lead to pathos, ethos, logos or angle of vision which in turn lead to persuasion.

 MLA Citation: 

 Double-Entry Notes:

 What the documentary "says": Quotes, paraphrases and summaries of the content of the documentary.

 What the documentary "does" through rhetorical devices: My thoughts on the film's use of rhetoric--my rhetorical critique of it, as well as my thoughts on how this ties with my ultimate goal: to find a solution to the problem.

 6. Draft and revise your narrative as you conduct research with the purpose of recording your research and thinking process as you investigate this rhetorical problem. Follow framework for exploratory narratives's body on page 479 of The A&B Guide to Writing.

 This is the process I'm hoping you'll follow not just for this project, but for any other research-based project, no matter whether it asks you to write a research-based narrative, a research-based argument or a research-based novel.

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