Stasis: A Way to Zero In on the Issue

Stasis is a range of possibilities for inventing claims and focusing an argument. If a writer and reader are going to have a meaningful, relevant exchange, they should first be on the same page about what the issue is and how to explain or argue about it.

• Have you ever participated in or witnessed an argument where the participants seemed to “talk past each other” or to not even agree about what was at issue? Have you ever struggled to come up with ideas, especially when asked to work with other peoples’ texts? Of course you have. People have been experiencing those same phenomena as long as humans have been using language.

• Ancient rhetoricians developed a simple yet powerful system for understanding what is, or could be, at issue in a particular situation, whether coming up with ideas or trying to understand other peoples' ideas. They called this system stasis (STAH-sis).

• Stasis is a flexible system for identifying and zeroing in on what is, or could be, at issue and for understanding, focusing, or creating an argument.

• Various stasis systems have been formulated over the centuries and updated or contextualized for different situations. For our purposes, think of stasis as a flexible, useful system for understanding and coming up with ideas and for avoiding misunderstandings.

• You have no doubt heard and used the sayings we’re not on the same page or comparing apples to oranges before. Those common sayings are expressions of the idea that there was no basic agreement yet on what the issue was or how to argue about it. For there to be any meaningful engagement between arguer and audience, all arguments have to rely on some definition of what is at issue.

• Sometimes, that definition is explicit (as it might be in a formal academic essay). Much more often, though, it is only implied. Developing the skill of surfacing implied definitions of what the issue is will make you a much more perceptive reader and writer. The stases help you to identify what is, or could be, at issue and form the basis of your own claims. They also will call for different kinds of support for arguments.

• Stasis is best thought of as a system of asking questions across a spectrum from foundational to complex. Shifting from the left (more foundational) to the right (more complex) on the spectrum of stasis shifts perspectives and possibilities. Misunderstandings often arise when a writer (or speaker) and audience shift from one stasis to another abruptly.