Circumstances (rhetoric)
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The Five Ws is a checklist used in
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
to ensure that the
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
contains all the essential points of a story. As far back as 1913, reporters were taught that the lead should answer these questions: * ''Who?''asking about a person or other agent * ''What?''asking about an object or action * ''When?''asking about a time * ''Where?''asking about a place * ''Why?''asking about a reason or cause In modern times, journalism students are still taught that these are the fundamental five questions of newswriting. Reporters also use the "5 Ws" to guide research and interviews and to raise important ethical questions, such as "How do you know that?".


Nomenclature

There are many other names for this checklist. Some common ones are: The Five W's and H, The 5 W's of Journalism, Six Honest-Serving Men.


Usage outside of journalism

In the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland), the Five Ws are used in
Key Stage 2 Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when the pupils are aged between 7 and 11 years. England and Wales Legal definition The ...
and
Key Stage 3 Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland the ...
lessons (ages 7–14). In data analytics, the Five Ws are used in the first stage of the BADIR to identify the business problem and its context in an analytics request.


Origins in antiquity

According to Inoslav Bešker, Professor of Philology at the University of Split in Croatia, the 5 Ws are rooted in the seven questions used in ancient Greece to communicate stories clearly: Although long attributed to
Hermagoras of Temnos Hermagoras of Temnos (, fl. 1st century BC) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek rhetorician of the Rhodes, Rhodian school and teacher of rhetoric in Rome, where the Suda states he died at an advanced age. He appears to have tried to excel as an o ...
, in 2010, it was established that
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
's ''
Nicomachean Ethics The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the science of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely ...
'' is in fact the source of the elements of circumstance or ''Septem Circumstantiae''.
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
had much earlier acknowledged Aristotle as the originator of the elements of circumstances, providing a detailed commentary on Aristotle's system in his "Treatise on human acts" and specifically in part one of two Q7 "Of the Circumstances of Human Acts". Aquinas examines the concept of Aristotle's voluntary and involuntary action in his ' as well as a further set of questions about the elements of circumstance. Primarily, he asks "Whether a circumstance is an accident of a human act" (Article 1), "Whether Theologians should take note of the circumstances of human acts?" (Article 2), "Whether the circumstances are properly set forth (in Aristotle's) third book of Ethics" (Article 3) and "Whether the most important circumstances are 'Why' and 'In What the act consists'?" (Article 4).
For in acts we must take note of ''who'' did it, by what aids or instruments he did it (''with''), ''what'' he did, ''where'' he did it, ''why'' he did it, ''how'' and ''when'' he did it.
For Aristotle, the elements are used to distinguish voluntary or involuntary action, a crucial distinction for him. These elements of circumstances are used by Aristotle as a framework to describe and evaluate moral action in terms of What was or should be done, Who did it, How it was done, Where it happened, and most importantly for what reason (Why), and so on for all the other elements:
Therefore it is not a pointless endeavor to divide these circumstances by kind and number; (1) the ''Who'', (2) the ''What'', (3) around what place (''Where'') or (4) in which time something happens (''When''), and sometimes (5) with what, such as an instrument (''With''), (6) for the sake of what (''Why''), such as saving a life, and (7) the (''How''), such as gently or violently…And it seems that the most important circumstances are those just listed, including the ''Why''.
For Aristotle, ignorance of any of these elements can imply involuntary action:
Thus, with ignorance as a possibility concerning all these things, that is, ''the circumstances of the act'', the one who acts in ignorance of any of them seems to act involuntarily, and especially regarding the most important ones. And it seems that the most important circumstances are those just listed, including the ''Why''
In the ''Politics'', Aristotle illustrates why the elements are important in terms of human (moral) action:
I mean, for instance (a particular circumstance or movement or action), How could we advise the Athenians whether they should go to war or not, if we did not know their strength (''How much''), whether it was naval or military or both (''What kind''), and how great it is (''How many''), what their revenues amount to (''With''), Who their friends and enemies are (''Who''), what wars, too they have waged (''What''), and with what success; and so on.
Essentially, these elements of circumstances provide a theoretical framework that can be used to particularize, explain or predict ''any'' given set of circumstances of action. Hermagoras went so far as to claim that ''all''
hypotheses A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific method, scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educ ...
are derived from these seven circumstances:
In other words, no hypothetical question, or question involving particular persons and actions, can arise without reference to these circumstances, and no demonstration of such a question can be made without using them.
In any particular act or situation, one needs to interrogate these questions in order to determine the actual circumstances of the action.
It is necessary for students of virtue to differentiate between the Voluntary and Involuntary; such a distinction should even prove useful to the lawmaker for assigning honors and punishments.
This aspect is encapsulated by Aristotle in ''Rhetoric'' as ''forensic speech'' and is used to determine ''"The characters and circumstances which lead men to commit wrong, or make them the victims of wrong"'' to accuse or defend. It is this application of the elements of circumstances that was emphasised by latter rhetoricians.


Usage in rhetoric

Even though the classical origin of these questions as situated in ethics had long been lost, they have been a standard way of formulating or analyzing rhetorical questions since antiquity. The rhetor Hermagoras of Temnos, as quoted in pseudo-Augustine's ', applied Aristotle's "elements of circumstances" () as the loci of an issue: :''.'' :(Who, what, when, where, why, in what way, by what means) Aquinas also refers to the elements as used by
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
in (Chap. 24 DD1, 104) as:
''.''
Similarly,
Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...
discussed ', but did not put them in the form of questions. Victorinus explained Cicero's application of the elements of circumstances by putting them into correspondence with Hermagoras questions 5 W's and an H : Julius Victor also lists circumstances as questions.
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...
"made the seven circumstances fundamental to the arts of prosecution and defense": :'. :(Who, what, why, how, where, when, with what) The question form was taken up again in the 12th century by Thierry of Chartres and John of Salisbury. To administer suitable
penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derive ...
to
sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...
ners, the 21st canon of the
Fourth Lateran Council The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the council's convocation and its meeting, m ...
(1215) enjoined confessors to investigate both sins and the circumstances of the sins. The question form was popular for guiding confessors, and it appeared in several different forms: :''.'' :''.'' :''.'' :''.'' :''.'' The method of questions was also used for the systematic
exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
of a text. In the 16th century, Thomas Wilson wrote in English verse: In the United States in the 19th century, William Cleaver Wilkinson popularized the "Three Ws" – What? Why? What of it? – as a method of Bible study in the 1880s, although he did not claim originality. This eventually became the "Five W's", but the application was rather different from that in journalism:
"What? Why? What of it?" is a plan of study of alliterative methods for the teacher emphasized by Professor W.C. Wilkinson not as original with himself but as of venerable authority. "It is, in fact," he says, "an almost immemorial orator's analysis. First the facts, next the proof of the facts, then the consequences of the facts. This analysis has often been expanded into one known as "The Five W's": "When? Where? Who? What? Why?" Hereby attention is called, in the study of any lesson: to the date of its incidents; to their place or locality; to the person speaking or spoken to, or to the persons introduced, in the narrative; to the incidents or statements of the text; and, finally, to the applications and uses of the lesson teachings.
The "Five W's" (and one H) were memorialized by
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
in his '' Just So Stories'' (1902), in which a poem, accompanying the tale of ''The Elephant's Child'', opens with: By 1917, the "Five Ws" were being taught in high-school journalism classes, and by 1940, the tendency of journalists to address all of the "Five Ws" within the lead paragraph of an article was being characterized as old-fashioned and fallacious: Starting in the 2000s, the Five Ws were sometimes misattributed to Rudyard Kipling (referred to as "The Kipling Method"), especially in the management and quality literature, and contrasted with the five whys.Richard Smith, ''et al.'', ''The Effective Change Manager's Handbook'', 2014, p. 419


Etymology

In English, most of the interrogative words begin with the same letters, ''wh-''; in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, most also begin with the same letters, ''-''. This is not a coincidence, as they are
cognates In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the soun ...
derived from the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
interrogative pronoun root '' kwo-'', reflected in
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
as ''χwa-'' or ''khwa-'' and in Latin as ''-''.


See also

* * * * * * *
Cluedo ''Cluedo'' (), known as ''Clue'' in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players (depending on editions) that was devised in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The game was first manufactured by Waddingt ...
– Game about establishing the basic facts of a crime


References

{{Authority control Journalism Investigative journalism Problem solving methods English phrases Interrogative words and phrases de:Fragetechnik#Offene W-Fragen in der Praxis