Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette English Faculty Research and Publications English, Department of 1-1-2007 In Search of the Unstated: The Enthymeme of/and Whiteness Krista Ratcliffe Marquette University Published version.JAC,Vol. 27, No. 1-2 (2007): 275-289.Permalink. © 2007 Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition. Response Essays 275 Walker, Alice. "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens." The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. 2nd ed. Ed. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996.2315-21. Warnock, Tilly. "Bringing Over Yonder Over Here: A Personal Look at Expressivist. Rhetoric as Ideological Action." Beyond Postprocess and Postmodernism: Essays on the Spaciousness ofR hetoric. Ed. Theresa Enos and Keith D. Miller. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2003.203-16. West, Cornel. "I'm Ofay, You're Ofay: A Conversation with Noel Ignatiev and William 'Upski' Wimsatt." Transition 73 (1997): 176-98. West, Thomas R. "The Racist Other." JAC 17 (1997): 215-26. Williams, Patricia J. The Alchemy ofR ace and Rights. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1991. Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. New York: Oxford UP, 1977. Wilson, James C., and Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson, eds. Embodied Rhetorics: Disability in Language and Culture. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2001. Worsham, Lynn. "Going Postal: Pedagogic Violence and the Schooling of Emotion." JAC 18 (1998): 213--45. Zawacki, Terry Myers. "Recomposing as a Woman-An Essay in Different Voices." Feminism and Composition: A Critical Sourcebook. Ed. Gesa E. Kirsch et al. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003. 314-20. In Search of the Unstated: The Enthymeme and/of Whiteness FCrista Flatcliffe I am pleased to be responding to Matthew Jackson's article. Not only am I fascinated with the enthymeme as rhetorical tactic and with whiteness 276 jac as rhetorical trope, but I am also intrigued with how, together, they afford me an opportunity to contemplate the unstated. Lately I have been thinking about how the unstated influences rhetorical performances of thought, communication, and action. Perhaps a physics analogy will explain my thinking. Physicists now believe that approximately 95% of the universe is composed of dark matter and dark energy, both of which cannot be seen but can be detected by their influence on visible matter. If you have seen images mapping the cosmic journey from planet to solar system to galaxy to ever-expanding universe, what can be seen is only 5%. That is a staggering percentage. From a rhetorical point of view, dark matter and energy serve as metaphors for the unstated. After all, we do not see the unstated in texts; we simply experience its effects. Given this "rhetorical situation" ofthe unstated, we need tactics for measuring these effects, and as Jackson's article suggests, the enthymeme is one such strategy for articulating, analyzing, negotiating, employing, revising, or rejecting the unstated. Engaging the enthymeme in these ways is a productive performance of pedagogy, whether in the classroom or beyond. What exactly is the unstated? To answer that question, let's begin with an everyday practice (thank you, Michel de Certeau) and examine the definition of unstated on dictionary. com: 1 -adjective not made explicit; "the unexpressed terms of the agreement"; "things left unsaid"; "some kind of unspoken agreement"; "his action is clear but his reason remains unstated[.]" From a rhetorical perspective, these five definitions signify some inter esting points. The first implies that the unstated may always be implicit, implied. The second, third, and fourth imply that the unstated may always be unspoken, either on purpose or not. And the fifth implies that the unstated haunts actions in that actions are always driven by reasons, whether stated or not. However, in search of more ideas about the unstated, let's take another tact. Because the negative is a valid means of definition (if not proof), let's look at what dictionary. com says about stated and, by extrapolation, what it implies about unstated. If dictionary. com defines stated as follows: Response Essays 277 -adjective 1. fixed or settled: a stated pricer;] 2. explicitly set forth; declared as fact[;] 3. recognized or official[;] then, it stands to reason that unstated might be defined as: -adjective 1. not fIXed or settled: an unstated pricer;] 2. not explicitly set forth; not declared as fact[;] 3. not recognized or not official. From a rhetorical perspective, such extrapolated defmitions of unstated are a little more interesting in terms of the term's import for Jackson's postmodem enthymeme. The first implies that the unstated may always be in flux. The second implies that the unstated may always be an invisible yet haunting presence as well as always up for negotiation since it is not "fact." The third implies that the unstated may be unknown (not recog nized) or unacknowledged (not official) or not reflected upon (not re cognized). As such, the unstated is not simply the inverse of the stated in terms ofe ffect because both the unstated and the stated do affect thought, communication, and action. As such, the unstated is not simply an absence because (like dark matter and energy) it is present and detectable, just invisible. And as such, the unstated is not simply a gap waiting to be filled with "meaning" because the unstated signifies ... as many different things. That is why Jackson's concept of the postmodem enthymeme is important: it helps us articulate, analyze, negotiate, employ, revise, or reject multiple significations of the unstated. So in what space I have available here, I will engage the unstated in terms oft he enthymeme and/ of whiteness. The Unstated: The Enthymeme As I mentioned earlier, the enthymeme fascinates me. Ask any TA whom I've ever trained to teach composition. During TA Orientation I always ask, "How many of you have heard of the enthymeme?" Sometimes a 278 jac lonely scholar raises herlhis hand. However, when I ask what it is, rarely can anyone provide a definition or even an example. I am continually amazed thatthe enthymeme has dropped out ofc ommon usage. Yes, a few rhetoric scholars dress it up and, on occasion, take it to the scholarly fair. But in the practices of everyday life (thank you, again, M. de Certeau), people rarely know the concept or use the term, even as every single person regularly composes enthymemes in writing, speech, and body language. So what is an enthymeme? Jackson does a nice job of rehears ing competing scholarly definitions in his article, so fornow, I will simply follow Aristotle's lead from his Prior Analytics and begin with his idea that an enthymeme is a rhetorical syllogism (bk. 2, pt. 27)-that is, a way of reasoning about particulars that takes into account probable assump tions, reasons, and claims ... any of which may be unstated.2 Although philosophers worry about mathematical precision in a syllogism (that is, making sure thatthe major premise, minor premise, and conclusion are all perfectly stated in substitutive order), rhetoricians worry less about mathematical precision in the enthymeme. For as Jackson claims, enthymemes "are not laid out so neatly for us" (605); unlike a syllogism, the enthymeme is often missing a major or minor premise and sometimes even a stated conclusion. Although popularly defined as a ''truncated'' syllogism, the enthymeme is more than simply an incomplete or inferior syllogism. (That way of reasoning was em ployed for centuries to subordinate rhetoric to philosophy). Instead, it is a related but different way of reasoning. A syllogism is grounded in general, universal truths; the enthymeme, however, is grounded in probability, particular cases, and common sense (or the sense a culture holds in common), a grounding that makes it a perfect companion for Jackson's foray into postmodemism. What is important about the "missing elements" in the enthymeme is that they function as the unstated. And as Aristotle tells us, such unstated assumptions, reasons, or claims may be supplied by audiences, hence the Aristotelian charge that interlocutors know their audiences. Although understanding every particular audience member's psyche may be an impossible endeavor, understanding some cultural assumptions of an audience is not; different kinds of understanding may be achieved via study, reflection, and lived engagement. And it is from this cultural Response Essays 279 common sense that an interlocutor may accrue unstated assumptions that may, in tum, be used to construct enthymemes as well as to fill in unstated parts. However, the enthymeme is not a sure thing. Just as there are many different cultural assumptions, there are also many different possible ways to fill in the unstated. That is just one reason communication is difficult ... and always ongoing, as Jackson makes clear in his discussion of the postmodem enthymeme. OK, let's ground this discussion for a moment. Scene 1: Suppose I walk into my first-year writing classroom, talk with the students for a couple minutes, and then say, "Class is cancelled today." Grounded in my ethos as ''the teacher," I have, with that one small claim, persuaded twenty students to pack up their backpacks, leave the room, and (probably) rejoice. But! will bet my last penny that at least one of the students leaving the room will think or say, "I wonder why she cancelled class?" That student is curious about the "because." He/she is trying to reason enthymemically, that is, to fill in reasons and assumptions for my clajm that class is cancelled. I have not provided enough informa tion for students to complete my enthymeme successfully, so the audience is left speculating. Scene 2: Suppose I walk into my first-year writing classroom, talk with the students for a couple ofm inutes, and then say, "You all bore me today. Class is cancelled." With those two short sentences, I have persuaded twenty students to pack up their backpacks and leave the room, but! will bet my last penny that, in this case, most oft hem will be insulted. And rightly so. They may even complain to parents or higher administra tion. Why? Because they do not accept my enthymemic reasoning, consisting of an unstated assumption (a teacher's being bored is a valid reason for cancelling a class), a stated reason (you bore me), and a stated claim (class is cancelled). Some students may take issue with boredom being a valid reason for cancelling class; others may take issue with being called boring; still others may simply be glad of any reason that cancels class; and perhaps a few will be motivated to elevate their performances just to prove something to me or to themselves. Scene 3: Suppose I walk into my first-year writing classroom, talk with the students for a couple ofm inutes, and then say, "You know what? Class is cancelled because I'm feeling really ill today." With these 280 jac sentences, 1 have again persuaded twenty students to pack up their backpacks and leave the room, but on their way out a few of them will offer, "I hope you're feeling better soon." Some may even recount a sympathy narrative oftheir or their roommate's being ill. But they will not usually complain. Why? Because they accept my enthymemic reasoning, consisting of an unstated assumption (a teacher's being ill is a valid reason for cancelling a class), a stated reason (I am ill), and a claim (class is cancelled). Aristotle celebrates the ~nthymeme as a rhetorical tactic; however, it has fallen by the wayside of rhetorical studies, assumed to be overly dry and overly rigid. That is a shame. And that is why 1 am delighted to be contemplating Jackson's postmodem take on the enthymeme, which celebrates the multiplicity ofthe unstated haunting enthymemic reason ing. For example, in Scene 3, perhaps a few students may think that my being ill is not a valid reason for cancelling class; perhaps they may think that 1 should have gotten a substitute or held class online from my home; and, ofc ourse, there may be the student who, having pulled an all-nighter studying for a test in another class, really does not care why my class is cancelled but is simply grateful for the time to take a quick nap. Given these different possibilities (and myriad others 1 have not mentioned), when Aristotle's notion of probability is merged with the postmodem notion of multiplicity, the enthymeme may appear to be dodgy proposi tion because it is hard to nail down. But the previous statement is an enthymeme (actually a couple). And that is precisely Jackson's point: a postmodem take on the enthymeme allows innumerable ways to imagine arguments and to render visible those imaginings. This multiplicity does not necessarily mean that anything goes; however, it does mean that there is always more to the universe than meets the eye. As such, the enthymeme is an invention tool that works at all stages of the composing process, whether one is composing via reading, writing, speaking, or listening and whether one is in a writing class, at ajob interview, on a date, or via self reflection. Given that Jackson posits the enthymeme as an antiracist strategy, it seems incumbent on readers to consider the political functions of the enthymeme. Given its focus on cultural common sense, the enthymeme possesses a conservative power (that is, a means for retaining the status Response Essays 281 quo) whether the status quo is liberal or conservative, progressive or totalitarian. Unstated assumptions not only drive thought, communica tion, and action, but they also drive the status quo; they hinder change because change is dependent upon changing not just thoughts and actions but assumptions. Unstated reasons drive the status quo because the speaker/writer assumes the reasons to be self-evident; if someone does not find the reasons to be self-evident, then that someone is an outsider to the powers-that-be-that-decide-assumptions. Unstated claims also drive the status quo. A mere lift of an eyebrow can tell someone else that an action should be taken, as when a parent walks into a teen's messy room, looks around, and lifts an eyebrow knowingly at the child. Even as the teen wails, "Whaaaattt???" s/he knows (based on previously estab lished premises) that she was supposed to have cleaned her room. However, the enthymeme possesses more power than its potential for conserving the status quo. It has the power to totally upend the status quo. If unstated enthymemic assumptions are "not settled or fixed," then thought, communication, and action are also "not settled or fixed"; instead, they are in a constant state of flux and negotiation. That is true for teens, for parents, for institutions, for countries. The Bush administra tion masterfully performs this flux even as it preaches a fixed neo conservative view of the world. Vice President Cheney merely had to mention on two or three occasions that Iraq was involved in 9/11; suddenly, thattotally specious claim became a common-sense reason that helped drive the US to war. President Bush did not have to state it; Vice President Cheney already had. All President Bush had to do was let that claim turned reason, turned "common-sense" assumption, haunt his discourse, unstated but rendering very real effects, one being the upend ing ofw orld opinion about the US, from sympathy after 9/11 to less-than sympathy after the invasion of Iraq. The enthymeme is powerful. So why do I love the enthymeme if its traditional use is conservative and its postmodern use may be co-opted by neo-cons to help drive the US to war? I love it because it is a rhetorical tactic with the potential to help people construct their own arguments and analyze arguments directed to them-by detecting the unstated. Once such dark matter and energy are detected, we can determine if the detected assumptions, reasons, and . claims need to be celebrated or challenged. That is why the enthymeme 282 jac is a useful tactic for teaching critical thinking and writing: it helps unpack unstated assumptions, unstated reasons, and sometimes unstated claims. (Note: Ijust used another enthymeme, the unstated assumption being that unpacking unstated assumptions and reasons is necessary for critical thinking and writing. OK. I'll stop. But you get the idea). Getting student writers to think about unstated ideas and getting teachers to think about students' unstated ideas (as well as their own!) goes a long way toward helping students and teachers think and write more critically in the classroom and beyond. That is why I love the enthymeme. The messier the better. And because Jackson's postmodem take on the enthymeme helps readers navigate such "messes," his article is important. Are there other ways of reasoning rhetorically? Of course. But this is my point, and Jackson's: Do not sell the enthymeme short ... but do not whitewash its problematic functions either. The Unstated: Enthymemes of Whiteness Whiteness is a rhetorical trope that lends itself well to a pairing with the enthymeme because, currently, whiteness in the US is often unstated. Even so, this unstated whiteness signifies as an assumed norm, which haunts discourses on any topic, whether education, food, music, rhetori cal theory, and so forth.3 In "Local Whiteness, Localizing Whiteness," Ruth Frankenberg offers four reasons for studying how unstated white ness haunts cultural discourses: (l) to make whiteness visible; (2) to put all racial categories into play so as to make discussions ofr ace symmetri cal; (3) to examine white selves; and (4) to excavate all racial/cultural locations so as to understand their functions and to be able to interrupt unproductive ones (1-2). Given that whiteness is frequently unstated and given that the enthymeme culls the unstated, I would like to explore how Jackson's concept of the enthymeme as antiracist strategy may actually effect all four of Frankenberg's charges. In the weird synergy that sometimes happens when I am writing, I read Jackson's article at the same time I received an e-mail from Kat Bodrie, a graduate student whom I have never met. As a result, Jackson's article provided a frame for my thinking about Bodrie' s e-mail, and her Response Essays 283 e-mail provided a testing ground for my thinking about his article's engagement with enthymemic functions of whiteness. Theory and prac tice. Practice and theory. These two continually inform and challenge one another. As always, Adrienne Rich says it best: "If [theory] doesn't smell of the earth, it isn't good for the earth" ("Notes" 214). However, before I discuss how the article and the e-mail inform and challenge one another, let me share the e-mail (and express my gratitude to Kat Bodrie for permitting me to reprint it here): Dr. Ratcliffe, I'm a graduate student from the University ofN orth Carolina at Wilmington, and Ijust read your book Rhetorical Listening. While reading, I realized that I had just listened to a comedy sketch by a (white) woman named Lisa Lampanelli. I don't know if you've heard of her before, but she talks about the common stereotypes of male and female blacks, male and female whites, Chicanas/os, and others. At first,! was aghast-how could shejust come out and say those things, andwasn 't the audience offended? But judging by the audience's reaction (and it sounded like a LOT of people), they were loving it. I've been thinking about it in conjunction with your book, and I noticed some of my own assumptions regarding whiteness and "race," and how, as I realized through my initial reaction to Lisa, I have had the common "white" presumption that talking about race should not be done. Now that I think about it, Lisa's comedy is just the opposite; by coming out and just saying these things, she is poking fun at stereotypes-recognizing them but not reinforcing them-and the audience can laugh along with her. Thank you for offering your perspective, and for offering a concrete method of pedagogy for such a (currently) difficult topic. Yours respectfully, Kat Bodrie Masters Student of English Literature University of North Carolina Wilmington (emphasis added) The three emphasized claims above are all enthymemes (and yes, this e mail contains many more than three). However, these three represent everyday enthymemes about the functions of whiteness in the US, circa 2007. What I find fascinating about Bodrie's e-mail is that she does not simply channel existing enthymemes of whiteness to reinforce the status quo (that is, the current dominant cultural logic of color blindness, which