The Awakening
Use the next 10 minutes to read your text.
Remember the quiz and seminar will cover
Chapters 1-14.
Be sure to pick up a seminar rubric.
#38
Toulmin 10/23
• British philosopher Stephen Toulmin: 1950’s
• Focused on the assumptions that back up and
hold together parts of an effective argument
• Nothing is true all the time- expressed with
qualifiers and rebuttals rather than asserted as
absolutes.
• Probability over certainty.
#37
Toulmin 10/23
Evidence
Claim
Qualifier
Warrant/
assumption
Backing
Rebuttal
Toulmin practice
• Every student should read at least one hour daily,
outside of school. Everyone wants to be smarter.
Reading makes you smarter! This is important for
students especially, particularly those in high school
that want to go on to college. It may be less important
for those learning a vocational trade.
Claim:
Evidence:
Warrant:
Backing:
Qualifier:
Rebuttal:
Toulmin practice
Every student should read at least one hour daily, outside of
school. Everyone wants to be smarter. Reading makes you
smarter! This is important for students especially, particularly
those in high school that want to go on to college. It may be less
important for those learning a vocational trade.
Claim: Every student should read at least one hour daily, outside of
school
Evidence: Reading makes you smarter!
Warrant: Everyone wants to be smarter
Backing: students desire being smarter so much they would prefer
to spend their time doing whatever it takes to become smarter.
Qualifier: This is important for students especially, particularly
those in high school that want to go on to college
Rebuttal: It may be less important for those learning a vocational
trade.
Toulmin Practice
• Try to label these the parts of these
arguments.
Evidence, Claim, Warrant, Backing,
Qualifier, Rebuttal
• Because studies show that almost 80% of
smokers can develop lung cancer, you should
probably stop smoking, since stopping a bad
habit can help reduce the occurrence of its
bad consequences. Life expectancy is
lengthened if habits harmful to one's health
are stopped. Although it is not always the case
that people who smoke will suffer from lung
cancer, the risks are higher for those who
smoke routinely.
Evidence, Claim, Warrant, Backing,
Qualifier, Rebuttal
• Congress should ban animal research, because
animals are tortured in experiments that have no
necessary benefit for humans such as the testing
of cosmetics. The well being of animals is more
important than the profits of the cosmetics
industry. Only congress has the authority to make
such a law because the corporations can simply
move from state to state to avoid legal penalties.
Of course, this ban should not apply to medical
research. A law to ban all research would go too
far.
# 39 Toulmin Thesis Template 10/23
• State your claim (your statement of position)
• Supply a reason (a “because” clause to support
your claim, your evidence)
• Add a warrant (assumption of shared values or
beliefs)
• Put these together in this order: ‐because-claimsince
Example: Because such actions can be proactive,
school administrators should consider random
backpack searches, since student safety is of utmost
importance.
• American essayist and social critic H. L.
Mencken (1880‐1956) wrote, “The average
man does not want to be free. He simply
wants to be safe.” In a well‐written essay,
examine the extent to which Mencken’s
observation applies to contemporary society,
supporting your position with appropriate
evidence.
• 1. Flip over the sheet. Write a thesis sentence
for the prompt. Use the Toulmin template to
create your sentence.
Back to “Putting Down the Gun”
• Analyze Walker’s argument using the Toulmin
structure. Then flip it and analyze the
argument made by her son.
Reminders: for Friday
• Vocab Homework/ Finish Walker Handout
• For Seminar: 3 GOOD questions, 1 quote & paragraph
• What’s on the Quiz?
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All words still possible.
Types of evidence
Rogerian, Classical, Toulmin structure
“I Want a Wife”
“Women’s Brains”
“Mind Over Muscle”
“Putting Down the Gun”
Awakening through Chapter 14