Stasis theory and composition

In reading the articles on stasis theory this week, I was glad to see that stasis theory seems more practical to implement than either formal or informal logic. I especially appreciated Fahnestock and Secor's assertion that the stases "are like a generating machine or device for extrusion molding; a topic dropped in the top hopper comes out in questions and potential theses" (59-60). After reading this article, I looked back at my assignments, and realized that knowledge of the stases could be very useful for my students as they work on their third formal paper assignment. This assignment is the following:

Assignment #3
For this assignment, you may choose one of the two following options. Either way, your paper should be 6-7 pages long, and it must use at least 4 outside sources.

Option A: Choose a topic that you think is of great social/political importance in the United States at this time (possibilities include the Iraq War, immigration, same-sex marriage, etc.) Make a scholarly argument about what should be done about this issue.

Option B.
You have been chosen to advise a new presidential candidate, Samantha/Samuel “Sam” Smith, on an issue of vital importance in the next election. Write a letter telling the candidate what should be done about this issue and why. Remember, the reasons you give your candidate may not necessarily be the reasons you would use if you were only trying to figure out the best solution to the problem. The format for your paper should, in general, be the same as for an ordinary academic paper, but you may use first and second person, as you would in a letter. Do not forget to include a greeting and a closing.

For this assignment, the students could potentially use all of the stases: fact, definition, value, and procedure/policy. Say their topic was same-sex marriage. They could begin with definition questions: What is same-sex marriage? How is it different than civil unions? They could move on to questions of fact: Where is it legal? How long has it been legal? Value questions could include issues of whether the effects of legalizing/banning it are positive or negative. Finally, (and this is the heart of the essay), the question of policy: What should be done?

I could see teaching some elements of stasis theory to my students as they are beginning work on this assignment to be very productive, as it could help my students to look at various aspects of the issue. They may or may not address all of these issues in their paper, but I think that looking at them all could help. Perhaps short, ungraded (or minimally graded) writing assignments building up to the paper could look at individual stases (e.g., "This week we're looking at the stasis of definition. Do preliminary research on your topic, and write a short report defining your topic).