AnnoBib -- “The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem”

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Flower, Linda and John R. Hayes. “The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem.” Composition and Communication 31.1 (February 1980): 21-32. Print.
Critiques the metaphor of “discovery” in writing as the metaphor implies discovery, while writing is largely a creative act. As a response to a self-defined problem or goal, the authors investigate how writers represent rhetorical problems to themselves, if spending more time developing the problem's representation helps generate ideas, and if there are significant differences in the way good and poor writers approach the problem. The authors review transcripts of thinking-aloud case studies at the local writing center using protocol analysis
    A significant differences between good and poor writers was the degree to which they created a unique, fully-developed representation of their unique rhetorical problem. Effective writers examine and reexamine the rhetorical situation, often drawing on experience and semantic knowledge. Cognitively, effective writers approach goals and purposes (reader/audience, persona/reader relationship, meaning, and formal features) with more representation and consideration than novice writers. Goal-making in respect to connecting with the reader generates the most new ideas for experienced writers and often represent the writing problem not only in more breadth, but also in depth.
    The strength of this paper is that it demonstrates that the exploration of a rhetorical problem is teachable – problem-solving is not a gift or mystery, but a skill of imaging and representing the problem fully. As this is one of Flower's and Hayes's first papers on describing a cognitive process of writers, it is useful to see an early genesis of their research process and initial ideas on cognition and creativity.

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