ABSTRACT
The stases are a sequential set of different types of claims (existence, definition, cause, value, and action) that originated in ancient times. They were designed to build a case for a decision on a legal or public policy issue. However, as developed in modern times, they have become a productive analytic tool for understanding persuasion of all forms, in academic scholarship ranging from literacy studies through the sciences as well as in technical and business communications. The stases have also served as the basis for writing instruction both in secondary and higher education. At the text level, the stases describe larger developments of points than Stephen Toulmin’s well-known model that defines arguments as a claim connected to evidence via a warrant. In on-going controversies, stasis analysis shows how speakers choose the most strategically advantageous stasis for the situation, shape the other points to build toward it, and set the stage for extensions and challenges from allies and opponents. The author explains the stases as a system and then each stasis in detail, illustrating their interactions with one extended argument.
