Williams, Joseph M. “Problems into PROBLEMS: A Rhetoric of Motivation.” University of Chicago: http://wac.colostate.edu/exchange/williams/pdf. Copyright 2004.
Executive Summary:
Williams extends earlier work (from Swales, Bazerman, and MacDonald) to discuss how academic introductions are rhetorically shaped in English. His analysis can be used as a pedagogical tool for teaching prototypical introductions as well as for graduate students and novice researchers attempting to gain entrance into disciplinary communities through academic publication. In his first section (1-32), he explains the cognitive reasons why some introductions are more successful if they follow the prototypical problem/solution format. His format is the following (he gives detailed reasoning and explanation in the text):
| Stasis | Disruption | Resolution |
| CONTEXT/BCKGRND | PROBLEM (conceptual, not tangible) | RESPONSE |
| | DENIAL + DESTABILIZING CONDITION + COST + COMMUNITY | (So what?) GIST OF SOLUTION OR PROMISE OF SOLUTION |
In his second section (33-53), he illustrates that student introductions receive higher scores if they contain all or some of the PROBLEM-RESPONSE formula, that students aren’t aware that we write in academia to solve problems, and (although there are numerous challenges to overcome since students have trouble working with conceptual, not tangible, problems) that students respond well to explicit instruction of the formula. In the last section, Williams discusses some of his pedagogical approaches to teaching this format to first year composition students, outlining some potential pitfalls and supplying a few practical tools.
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