Style: Expeditio
 

Expeditio

Expeditio is a stylistic strategy that depends on a logical elimination of possible conclusions. After listing all possibilities or options, logically eliminate all but one. For example:


    1. "You either made, purchased, or stole the bomb. Since you lack the intelligence to make it and the funds to purchase it, it can only be that you have stolen it."


    1. "We can either leave Iraq now, wait until we hand over control to the Iraqi forces, or stay until security is adequate. Given the fact that leaving now would cause civil war and given that the Iraqi forces are inadequate, we are forced to stayed in Iraq until security is obtained."


    2. In short, the method works this way:

    3. We have three options. We can X. We can Y, or we can Z. X isn't true/doesn't work because ... and we can't do Y because... Therefore, Z is true (or, "We must do Z").


You can use expeditio as a conclusion strategy, but it's also a way to appeal to logic in your supporting paragraphs.