What This Document Is
This resource is a focused reading guide designed to accompany Jeanne Fahnestock’s work on accommodating science – specifically, sections addressing rhetorical strategies within scientific communication. It’s crafted for students in Stony Brook University’s BME 300: Writing in Biomedical Engineering course, and aims to deepen understanding of how scientific arguments are constructed and presented. This guide isn’t a summary *of* the reading, but a tool to actively engage *with* it, prompting critical analysis of key concepts.
Why This Document Matters
Students enrolled in advanced writing courses, particularly those within STEM fields like Biomedical Engineering, will find this guide exceptionally useful. It’s best utilized *while* reading the assigned sections of Fahnestock’s text, serving as a framework for note-taking and focused consideration of the material. Understanding the rhetorical underpinnings of scientific writing is crucial not only for comprehending research, but also for effectively communicating your own scientific work. This guide will help you move beyond simply *reading* science to *analyzing* how science is written.
Topics Covered
* Different types of statements commonly found in scientific writing.
* The typical contexts and purposes for each statement type.
* Stasis Theory and its application to scientific argumentation.
* The four stases within Stasis Theory and their roles in building a case.
* Identifying where different stases appear in various scientific genres.
* Connections between rhetorical strategies and specific types of scientific communication.
What This Document Provides
* A structured format for analyzing Fahnestock’s concepts.
* Charts designed to facilitate comparison and categorization of information.
* Prompts to encourage close reading and critical thinking about scientific rhetoric.
* A framework for understanding the relationship between argument structure and genre.
* A tool to help you identify and analyze the building blocks of scientific discourse.