Tautology

LESSON 2.15
Tautology

In order to create a What Statement, you have to know how to avoid circular reasoning, also known as a tautology.

Tautologies occur when people discuss or argue, and the “proof” is nothing more than repeating the same thing they have said. Little kids do this all the time:

               Tommy:                 Mommie, I want a toy fire engine.

               Mommy:                Why do you want it?

               Tommy:                 Because I do.

               Mommy:                But why?

               Tommy:                 Because

In college-level writing, we call such circular reasoning a “tautology.”

Avoiding Tautology

The best way to avoid tautology is to make sure that the Why Statement cannot describe, define, or otherwise duplicate the What Statement. Doing that will mean you say the same thing twice.

For example, a Siberian-Yupik (Eskimo) student of mine created the following What Statement.

The prompt: If you could do one thing as a career the rest of your life, what would you do?

After some help, he said:

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life, I would carve ivory swans.

Carved ivory swans are not uncommon in Alaska, and Daniel’s father was generally considered the best in the world at carving them. Therefore, the outline looked like this:



Variable 1:             I (Old)

Relationship:         would carve

Variable 2:             ivory swans (Old)

Old + Old = poor subject

He rethought the What Statement, and came up with the following (which he intended to do anyway):

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life, I would carve black ivory swans.

The following outline results:

Variable 1:             I (Old)

Relationship:         would carve

Variable 2:             black ivory swans (New)

Danny now has a Prompt Tag and a What Statement.

Prompt Tag

What Statement

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life,

I would carve black ivory swans.

It is time to create the Why Statement.  He starts with a because phrase:

Prompt Tag

What Statement

Why Statement

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life,

I would carve black ivory swans.

I have chosen that career because …

It is up to Danny to fill in the rest.  He says this Why Statement:

               I have chosen that career because it’s fun.

The Problem

Danny would not select a career if it wasn’t fun. His outline will include the following:

Old variable:             I + carving.  

New variable:            I + carving black ivory swans

Why:                         I + carving black ivory swans + fun

Put another way:

Old variable:             His interest and training in carving.

New variable:            What carving a black ivory swan involves.

Why:                         Fun.

As you can see, he will repeat himself.

Fixing a Tautology

To fix a tautology, make sure that nothing you say in the Why Section in any way defines, describes, or otherwise repeats what you said in any part of the What Section.

Danny and I did some brainstorming, and we came up with two possible Whys:

    • Because I want to honor my dad.
    • Because my dad has opened markets where I can sell.

He chose the second one because in that one he can also talk about his father. Now he has this:

Prompt Tag

What Statement

Why Statement

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life,

I would carve black ivory swans.

I have chosen that career because my dad has opened markets where I can sell.

But who is his dad? Why would a reader be interested in him?

With my help, Danny modified the Why Statement to this:

Prompt Tag

What Statement

Why Statement

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life,

I would carve black ivory swans.

I have chosen that career because my dad, a world-famous carver, has opened markets where I can sell.

Finally, with my help he trimmed off some excess language:[i]

Prompt Tag

What Statement

Why Statement

If I could do one thing as a career the rest of my life,

I would carve black ivory swans.

I have chosen that career because my dad, a world-famous carver, has opened markets for me.

Small-Group Activity

Determine which of the following Why Statements contain a tautology:

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Individual or Small-Group Activity

Complete the exercise:    Guatemala

Optional Activity

 

[1] The swans are not really black. They are painted with India ink.

[11] We will cover how to trim language later in this Clarity unit.