Establishing a Phenomenon

Written Communication Jul 1990 Open Access

CAROL REEVES

Abstract

In the first three medical reports on AIDS which were published in 1981 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the writers' primary rhetorical agenda was to argue that a new medical discovery had been made. A secondary agenda was to offer etiological explanations for the new problem. To establish the new disease entity as deserving serious attention, the writers built a sense of mystery by confronting established medical knowledge about immunodeficiency and emphasizing the inability of modern medicine to diagnose and treat the problem. When they explained the phenomenon in etiological terms, rather than confronting the disciplinary matrix, the writers relied on established medical knowledge of infection rates in homosexual males as well as prevailing social views about the dangerous nature of male homosexual activity; consequently, they were able to imply that nothing was mysterious or surprising about immunodeficiency in homosexual males.

Journal: Written Communication
Published: 1990-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/0741088390007003005
Open Access: OA PDF Green
Topics: multimodality multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

STRATMAN (2000)

Readers' Perception of Bias in Public Education Documents

Written Communication
REEVES (1996)

Language, Rhetoric, and AIDS

Written Communication
RIVERS (1994)

Studies in the History of Business and Technical Writing

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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Written Communication
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The birth of molecular biology: An essay in the rhetorical criticism of scienti…

Rhetoric Review

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