The action knowledge assemblage: ‘Stay safe and plan ahead!’

The action knowledge assemblage was the third main set of discursive techniques employed in the texts. Within the analyzed texts, the action-assemblage uses a set of discursive techniques that call upon aging drivers to actively respond, in particular rational and responsible ways, to the constructed problem of the ‘aging driver’ and a potentially problematic, risky self.

The action assemblage functions together with, relates to, and builds upon the other two assemblages. In conjunction with the other two assemblages, this assemblage further

constructs who has the power to ‘solve’ the outlined problem, and, thus reinforces who is responsible for action. In other words, the action knowledge assemblage constitutes ‘taking action’ as flowing from ‘knowing’ about the problem (fact-knowledge) and ‘assessing’ oneself with regard to the problem (self knowledge) of driving in later life. Action assemblage techniques achieve two main functions: they invoke action through various discursive techniques, but also privilege particular actions as ‘the’ rational and responsible actions to take. As well, by framing specific actions as a rational response and responsible ‘solution’ to the outlined problem of driving in later life, the action assemblage contributes to locating the overall problem within individuals. By rationally and responsibly taking specific actions, subjects, according to the texts, have the power to reduce identified risks and ensure their own and others’ safety (e.g., “Here are some strategies that can be used to reduce therisk”, H, p.4, “This brochure ... suggests steps that can be taken to keep you and other road users safe while you’re behind the wheel”, A, p.1). Suggested actions, for instance, encompass simplifying or limiting one’s driving, engaging in body and health practices, monitoring age-related body changes through the help of experts, and planning ahead for a ultimately car-less future by pro-actively creating conditions for a “life after driving” (B, p.8).

The action assemblage employs a set of recurring discursive techniques to call upon individuals to become active in interaction with, and beyond reading, the texts. The four main discursive techniques include: (i.) imperative mood and personalized language; (ii.) ‘how-to’ formats, tips and strategies; (iii.) writing prompts and ‘tasks’ within texts; and (iv.) resources. The following section illustrates how these techniques functioned to call upon subjects to become active so as to reduce ‘their’ risk to driving safety by taking up particular practices.

Constructing and personalizing the ‘imperative’ to act: imperative

mood and personalized language

A central discursive technique within the action knowledge assemblage is the use of verbs in their imperative mood calling for, and directing action. In the English language, imperative clauses are typically used to give directives, such as requests, instructions,

advice, or encouragements (Downing & Locke, 2006). Texts, for instance, called upon readers to “Get your hearing checked” (N, p.5), “Report the following symptoms to your doctor” (A, p.3), “Do regular flexibility exercises” (E, p.10), “Choose the best time to drive for you” (X, p.13), “Take a refresher course” (D, p.19), “Learn to appreciate the close ties between personal health habits and driving skills (D, p.16), “Use alternatives to driving” (A, p.4), or “Make a personal transportation plan (H, p.8). As imperative clauses do not require a subject, this specific discursive technology addresses the reader as the subject who needs to act. At the same time, by giving direction on what to do, the imperative form privileges a particular action as the preferred, rational, and responsible choice. The frequent and pervasive use of the imperative mood in the action assemblage creates a dominant message, underlining the need to become active. For instance, the subsequent text sequence illustrates such a repetitive use of the imperative mood. Taken from a booklet for significant others, the sequence enlists relatives of aging drivers to build transportation options for ‘their’ senior. Suggested actions to engage in begin with verbs in their imperative form:

Explore public transportation.

Make transportation an important consideration in choosing a retirement home (...) Contact the local or regional transportation authority (...) Above all, help your senior with the “homework” involved in arranging public transportation. Know the eligibility requirements for bus passes and senior discount cards, fill out the required forms, and learn the schedules and routes. (K, p.18-19)

Besides the frequent use of the imperative mood, the action assemblage also calls

subjects into action by a frequent use of personal and possessive pronouns, such as ‘you’ and ‘your’; sometimes strengthened by a redundant use, such as in “your own mobility” (X, p.17) or “your personal health” (D, p.16).This related discursive technique,

personalizing the message that action is required, also assigns an individual responsibility for action. For instance, the following text sequences illustrate how personal and

possessive pronouns create an individual responsibility for action and carve out individual areas of action. By constructing individual action as able and needed to address a particular concern, the addressed subject becomes implicitly positioned as responsible for this concern:

What you eat, how much you exercise and regular visits to the doctor (and following the doctor’s advice) can help you keep driving longer and extend your life (...) It all begins with your attitude about how much control you believe you have over the quality of your life. It ends with how much of it you are willing to exercise (D, p.16).

Consider making a transportation plan by (…) This way, you can control your own mobility choices to maintain your independence... and safety. (X, p.17, last three periods in original)

Within the texts, individual responsibility for action is also reinforced by drawing upon pronouns in ways that ‘attach’ particular concerns to the addressed subject. This

technique forms the subject as the ‘owner’ of the concern and thus, as responsible to become active. For instance, as illustrated above, social concerns, such as accident risk, quality of life, mobility, independence, and safety become a personal matter (i.e., “your risk”, “the quality of your life”, “your own mobility”, “your independence and safety”). This technique also enlists subjects to become active by implicitly suggesting that not engaging in recommended practices might shape ‘one’s’ life conditions negatively (e.g., ‘not taking steps... might maintain risk’, ‘eating unhealthy... might shorten driving life’, ‘without a transportation plan... one might lose control over one’s mobility, independence and safety).

The personal responsibility and imperative to act is, in some texts, also constructed by directly and individually calling upon aging subjects to reflect on the ways they conduct themselves. For instance, the following text sequences, personally question readers:

Have you made the choice to regulate your own driving by (...) Have you considered vehicle features that make driving easier such as...” (X, p.15) What strategies will you use? (G, p.9)

In these quotations, rhetorical questions and personal pronouns direct aging subjects to ‘judge’ how they have done in their past or will do in their future with regard to an ideal action that is implicitly presumed. The use of this technique, invoking individual action by indirectly implying that ‘good’ subjects have ‘already’ taken action (and others need to ‘catch up’), can also be illustrated by the following two quotations. Note, how the word ‘already’ is used in ways that implicitly creates a moral expectation of engaging in individual action (e.g., keeping a medication list, knowing one’s problem areas):

All older adults should keep an up-to-date list of all medications (...) If you do not already have a list, at the end of this Booklet there is a handy table you can cut out. (E, p.7)

You probably already know what your problem areas are. Learn some important safe driving tips. (N, p.1)

As illustrated, the use of the imperative mood, as well as the use of personal and

possessive pronouns within the action assemblage reinforces a call for individual action and constructs individual responsibility to take action.

Setting boundaries for the ‘right’ actions: ‘How-to’ formats, tips and

strategies

A second main discursive technique identified within the action assemblage is the

provision of instructions and advice on what actions should be taken and how to best take them (“How do I get more information on driving safety?”, A, p.8, “What can you do?”, M, p.1). As in the example below, this discursive technique assumes and constructs a subject that will become active and needs and benefits from information on ‘how-to’ do so:

What can you do?

• Plan your route to avoid complicated intersections and to minimize the number of left turns required

• Ensure you have time to safely complete your intersection maneuver (e.g., turning left).

• Scan ahead and to the sides, looking for: traffic signs and signals, oncoming and crossing vehicular traffic, and other road users, before proceeding.

• Focus all of your attention on driving. (M, p.1)

Another text (D) lists “several things” that one can do “to handle” one’s expected “loss of vision”:

There are several things you can do to handle the loss of vision that comes with aging:

• Enroll in a retraining or refresher course where you can learn specific techniques for coping with the limits imposed by aging eyes. (…)

• Accept the limits of “aging eyes” and reduce the amount of driving you do after dark and at twilight (one of the most dangerous times). (…)

• Avoid tinted windshields and always keep your windshield and headlights clean.

• Turn your head frequently to compensate for diminished peripheral vision.

• Keep your eyes up – look at the road ahead to see trouble before you reach it. (D, p.14)

‘How-to’ formats invoke action by presupposing that action can and will be taken, although subjects might need information on ‘how to’ take action and ‘what’ to do. As this technique takes for granted that the suggested ways of doing are principally available to all subjects (“There are several things you can do”, D, p.14), barriers to action become shaped as an information problem (and not, for instance, as a problem of lacking

resources or difficult life conditions).

Texts sections which employ a ‘How-to’ format often read like concrete ‘To-do-lists’ or ‘instruction manuals’, outlining the ‘steps’ that need be taken to attend to previously constructed problems. That is, they are implicitly shaped as a solution to a problematic ‘truth’ previously established by fact assemblages. For instance, the next text sequence, providing first the rationale of why action needs to be taken by using a fact assemblage, reinforces action by using an implied ‘How-to-structure’ that informs which actions are to be taken to reach desired goals (being able to “adjust” to, “improve” and “compensate” for age-related vision problems). To highlight this rhetorical structure and technique, I have omitted the detailed lists of suggested practices [*do this*] that the text provides:

LIGHT

To see clearly, a 60-year-old requires 10 times as much light as a teenager. To help you adjust: [*do this*]

CLARITY

The eye’s ability to focus slows with age (...) To improve visibility: [*do this*]

GLARE

Our sensitivity to glare increases as we age (...) To help reduce glare: (…)[*do this*]

Colours, especially red, become less bright (…) To help with contrast: [*do this*]

FIELD OF VIEW

With age (…) depth perception lessens (...) To compensate [*do this*] (X, pp.9-11)

A related technique that is employed within the action assemblage is the provision of ‘tips’ and ‘strategies’, constructed as helpful practices to support action. These are often presented in bulleted lists, using arrowheads (e.g., E, p.9) signifying direction, or

checkboxes (e.g., X, p.3) and checkmarks (e.g., A, p.4) reminding subjects to ‘check’ how they are doing with regard to the suggested action. The subsequent figure shows a sample of snapshots from texts which draw upon this technique. Note also, how the call to take up particular practices, offered as ‘tips’ and ‘strategies’, is constituted as a means to increase ‘safety’:

Figure 13: Action knowledge assemblage, example use of tips and strategies (snapshots of five different texts; text at the top A, p. 4; at the middle left H, p.; at the middle right X, p.4; at the bottom left D, p.17; and at the bottom right G, p.6)

With regard to their content, practices framed as ‘tips’ and ‘strategies’ do not differ from practices suggested in ‘How-to’ formats. They equally constitute specific actions as rational, responsible and risk-reducing responses to established facts. However, the ‘Tips- and-strategies’ format employs a slightly different discursive technique than ‘How-to’

formats. In common English language, a ‘tip’ is usually understood as a piece of advice given by someone who knows more than the tip-taker and whose expertise, authority, or advanced knowledge, offered as a tip creates an advantage in approaching a specific situation (Merriam-Webster, 2003). Likewise, a ‘strategy’ commonly describes a careful, clever, and systematic plan, promising success in rationally approaching a complex and tricky situation (Merriam-Webster, 2003). Framing suggested practices as ‘tips’ or ‘strategies’ achieves two main effects. First of all, this discursive technique contributes to the idea that being prepared for an upcoming situation by having advanced knowledge and a rational plan is advantageous. Second, while ‘How-to’ formats are more

authorative in constituting one way of doing as the ‘right’ and common way, offering tips and strategies reinforces the idea of choice. Calling for action, this discursive technique underlines the idea that subjects are free to choose their actions - while ‘How-to’- instructions should be followed closely to achieve the targeted objective, ‘tips’ and ‘strategies’ might be taken or declined. However, as tips and strategies are framed as advantageous and valuable advice and able to increase ‘safety’, it would be irrational and irresponsible to decline them. By suggesting that taking up tips and strategies is a helpful and a responsible choice, this technique calls upon subjects to engage in particular practices. The emphasis of choice is also illustrated by the text sequence (B, p.13) below. The text provides advice on how to best “convince a senior to stop driving” by calling upon significant others to choose the best “approach” out of “a number of ways” that one could use “to address the issue”:

To convince a senior to stop driving, it is usually preferable, even essential, to ask someone close to the individual to speak with them (...). There are a number of ways you can address the issue. The type of approach will depend on the individual’s responsiveness and the urgency of the situation. You can:

 be direct, use an open approach (for example: “You should have a doctor assess your health before you have an accident.”);

 use reasoning and compassion (for example: “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”);

 find a reason when the situation is urgent and cannot continue (for example: “Your car isn’t safe anymore... The brakes are failing...); (B, p.13)

However, as typical with action assemblages, the overall action and rationale – that a particular action needs to be taken (such as, that a risky senior needs to be convinced stop driving by his or her significant others) - is already made and remains unquestioned. As illustrated, ‘how-to’ and ‘tips-and-strategies’ formats are discursive techniques that both reinforce action, but moreover set boundaries for the ‘right’ actions. They do so by framing particular actions as a standard and ‘right’ way of doing (i.e., ‘how-to’) to reach a particular goal (such as increasing safety) and by framing particular action as a rational and responsible choice (i.e., ‘tips and strategies’) which will improve one’s situation and action.

Prompting immediate and future action: Writing prompts and ‘tasks’

within texts

A third discursive technique typical for the action assemblage is the incorporation of writing prompts and ‘tasks’ within texts. This technique functions to invite subjects to engage in immediate and future action. Texts, using this technique, suggest filling out empty lines to respond to and personalize gained information (e.g., “What age-related factors affect your driving?”, F, p.6), using work-sheets to systematically analyze one’s resources (“Are other transportation alternatives available to you? □Yes □ No“, R, p.2), engaging in calculation exercises to learn something new (“Try this simple exercise… You will be surprised at how much mobility you can purchase”, D, p.27), and fabricating an individual ‘action plan’ to prepare and commit to future action (“Making a plan of action is an important commitment that can help you stay safer on the road”, R, p.1)

Figure 14: Action knowledge assemblage, example of writing prompts (snapshots of three texts; at the left K, p.23; at the top right E, p.26; and at the bottom right D, p.28)

The following snapshot of a text sequence (R) illustrates how empty lines, unfinished sentences (“I am going to…”), an already filled out example (“I am going to… avoid left- hand turns”) and a font implying handwriting, prompts readers to interact with the text by engaging in writing:

Figure 15: Action knowledge Assemblage, example writing prompt (snapshot text R, p.1)

Aging subjects are prompted to write down in the empty lines which actions they plan to take, based on what they have learned (“Write down the steps you need to take to help you be safer on the road”, R, p.1).

Writing prompts and tasks not only invoke immediate action, but also facilitate the application of fact knowledges to one’s individual life and driving context as illustrated in the next text sequence (E, p.26). This text calls upon aging drivers to take action with regard to their assumed medication, constructed in the preceding text as a specific risk factor for aging drivers. The presented action prompt, introduced as “My Medication Action List”, calls upon aging drivers to produce a medication self-inventory by

compiling information about their medication, as well as to inquire about potential side effects by listing them for each medication:

Figure 16: Action knowledge assemblage, example action task (snapshot text E, p.26)

Another common ‘task’ that many texts draw upon is the call to calculate current transportation costs. Texts, as illustrated below, imply that by engaging in this “simple exercise”, aging drivers will come to understand the ‘real’ costs of current transportation in order to ‘free’ money for future transportation.

Figure 17: Action knowledge assemblage, example of calculation tasks

(snapshots of three texts; text at the top left D, p.27, at the bottom left X, p.19, and at the right: I, p.1)

This specific exercise privileges fact knowledges, derived from rational calculation (i.e., the ‘true’ costs) over subjective knowledges (e.g., ‘regularly taking a cab might not be affordable’). The construction of rational calculation as beneficial is achieved by

constructing the calculative exercise as able to save money (e.g., “$avings… the money you will save”, X, p.19) and enlightening (e.g., “You will surprised”, D, p.27).

Furthermore, employing a calculative approach is implicitly constructed as being able to find ‘hidden’ resources and to create new options (e.g., “You will be surprised at how much mobility you can purchase for your car’s annual cost”. D, p.27) by becoming informed. Note also, how the dominant value that guides the implied decision-making process in this exercise is monetary. The exercise’s specific structure and technique