To develop and practice the skills of assessing the strengths, weaknesses, and underlying assumptions of arguments made by others.

Purpose: To develop and practice the skills of assessing the strengths, weaknesses, and underlying assumptions of arguments made by others.

Directions:

Afterin your textbook and The Toulmin Model–Diagramming An Argument Canvas page select one of the options below to analyze the arguments made by the author.

For your chosen selection write a 2-3 page paper analyzing the arguments made by the author.

Identify the elements of the Toulmin model present in their arguments. What are their claims? What reasons do they give to support them? Why are those reasons considered persuasive? Provide examples.

What evidence is used to support their points? What arguments is that evidence used to support? Provide examples.

Topic Choices reading  (select one of the following articles below to download a copy)

Article: “Old-School Job Skills You Won’t Find On Google”, Alison Head, Seattle Times

Article: “Community College Students Succeed at Elite Schools—When They’re Admitted”, Adam Harris, The Atlantic

Speech Transcript: Prison Labor, Farrah Bara-University of Texas, Austin, 2016 National Speech Champion in Persuasive Speaking

Article: “These Kids Are Ticking Time Bombs: The Threat Of Youth Basketball”, Baxter Holmes, ESPN

Paper Requirements:

Paper should be 2-3 pages, double-spaced, 1” margins, Times New Roman Font, with a clear header identifying author of the paper.

Paper should be in MLA format for in text citations and bibliography

Specific examples from the article, essay, etc. should be provided in the paper.

No additional research is needed, focus on the arguments made by the author.

You do not need to agree or disagree with the points made in the example, just to identify as many examples of the Toulmin model as you can find.