Notes 9/21/09

The Toulmin sentence:
Because (grounds), therefore, or so (qualifier)(claim), since (warrant), because, or on account of (backing), unless (reservation)

Ex: Because of the new cell phone law, in most cases, no one should call while driving
(grounds) (qualifier) (claim)
since it is good to obey the law because if the law is broken it means a heavy fine unless
(warrant) (backing)
there is an emergency.
(reservation)

Write a Toulmin Sentence using
-Claim: people should wear seat belts
-support: there is a high rate of serious injury in accidents when seat belts are not worn
-warrant: serious injury should be avoided
-backing: serious injury is costly, painful, and dangerous
-qualifier: typically
-reservation: Seat belts should not be worn in cases where they may be dangerous, like on small children
-rebuttal: There is a high rate of serious injury when seat belts are worn.

(My sentence)
Because of vehicle accidents, typically, people should wear seat belts since serious injury should be avoided because serious injury is costly, painful, and dangerous and even though there is a high rate when seat belts are worn such as when a car goes underwater or bursts into flames, having a device to cut the seatbelt is better than not wearing a seatbelt at all.
(counterargument[claim])

Ex:
-claim: Sweetened soft drinks should be removed from the school's vending machines
-support: we're seeing increased obesity among teens in our school
-warrant: sweetened soft drinks lead to fat teens
-backing: obesity leads to heart disease and health problems
-qualifier: upon administrative approval
-reservation: sweetened foods should be available for people who need it in an emergency like diabetes
-rebuttal: teens should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own health and ,ake their own decisions

-Because of sweetened soft drinks making teens obese, upon administrative approval, sweetened drinks should be removed from the school's vending machines and should only be available for emergencies such as diabetics. Even though teens should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own health and make their won decisions, the school should provide a healthy way to choose to live.

Practice: Claim of fact
-Claim: students who work hard in high school do better in college
-support:
-warrant:
-backing:
-qualifier:
-reservation:
-rebuttal:

Practice: Claim of Value
-Claim: Faux news programs (e.g. "The Daily Show") are a great addition to television


Practice: Claim of Policy
-Claim: The US should (get out of/stay in) Iraq


Marc Cavalier