MODULE ON THE ESSENTIAL PARTS OF AN ARGUMENT BASED ON THE TOULMIN MODEL

This module serves as a supplement in developing the skill in reading and writing argumentative essays by starting with the most basic parts of an argument.

WHY STUDY ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING?

One of the interesting forms of speech and writing is argument. All of us are assumed to have engaged in an argument at some point in our lives, either with our selves when making a decision or with other people over a topic or an issue. Arguments can be found in newspaper editorials or opinion articles, in the homily of priests, in television talk shows, and virtually in any oral or written communication that asserts a claim or a stand. It is therefore important for anybody to be aware of how an argument works or how it takes shape to be conscious of how we should formulate our own. As fourth year high school students, you should be already exposed to the basic principles on argumentation like its parts to be able to develop a level of critical thinking, logic, and coherence, elements which should frame formal speech and writing.

The Toulmin model will be the framework used for this module. Said model is a very natural and practical model because it follows normal human thought processes. It has six parts; the claim, support or data, warrant, rebuttal, backing, and qualifier. The first three parts are considered essential while the last three are optional. Although rebuttal, backing, and qualifier are also vital in a sound argument, this module will be limited to the first three parts. The rest will be discussed in a separate module.

After completing the activities here, you are expected to be able to write an argumentative essay with the three essential parts present; the claim, the support, and the warrant.

Tip 1:
Argument is defined as a statement or group of statements that offer support for a claim. (Rottenberg, 1985) It is a process of reasoning and advancing proof. They do not necessarily have to take the form of a dialogue but may be implied dialogues as the speaker or writer always takes his audience into consideration when composing arguments.


ACTIVITY ONE

q This activity will help you develop a keen eye in discerning the issue surrounding a claim. Arguments start off from an issue.

Directions: Choose the issue from the box below that corresponds to the claim stated.

Political appointees Poverty
Catholic Faith Drug trafficking
Terrorism Election Tactics
Environment Morality
Racism Education



___________________ 1. The advocacy of the Catholic Bishops conference of the
Philippines for transparency, accountability, and going to the roots of the problem underlying the sex scandal issue faced by clergymen is laudable.
___________________ 2. We should all work together in increasing the budget for
education and allocate more funds for classroom creation, purchase of new equipment, and teacher training to boost the Philippine economy.
___________________ 3. The president should not let her influence determine who
gets appointed in the government especially the Supreme Sourt.
___________________ 4. Macapagal is running for presidency and this is her motive
for appointing Bonifacio to the San Miguel Board of Directors.
___________________ 5. The government should intensify its efforts to gather
evidences against the drug barons in order to place these people behind bars.
___________________ 6. People are not born with racist attitudes, they have to be
taught them.
___________________ 7. Professional squatting should be considered a criminal
offense, decriminalization of squatting should be lifted.
___________________ 8. The Philippine military must capture the armed rebels now
and not wait for foreign help to come.
___________________ 9. The environment is the single most serious problem the
world faces today.
___________________ 10. Legalizing abortion will kill not just thousands of infants
but also thousands of soul.


ACTIVITY TWO

q This activity zeroes in on the different kinds of claims. It is important to be able to identify the kind of claim one makes or reads to be able to determine the terrain of argument that the author or speaker develops.

Tip 2:
Claim organizes the entire argument and everything else related to it. It answers the question “What is the author/ speaker trying to prove?” (Wood, 1998)

TYPES OF CLAIMS (Wood, 1998)

Claim of fact - What happened? Is it true? Does it exist? Is it a fact?
Claim of cause - What caused it? Where did it come from? Why did it
happen? What are the effects? What probably will be the results on a short-term and long-term basis?
Claim of
Definition- What is it? What is it like? How should it be classified?
How does its usual meaning change in a particular context?
Claim of value- Is it good or bad? How good? How bad? Of what worth is it? Is it moral or immoral? Who thinks so? What do those people value?
Claim of policy- What should we do? How should we act? What should future policy be? How can we solve this problem? What course of action should we pursue?

Directions: Identify the type of claim. There are five kinds of claims; fact, value, policy, cause, and definition.


___________________ 1. The government must be prepared to combat with the
armed rebels anytime.
___________________ 2. Television content promotes violence.
___________________ 3. Two people joined by God in marriage must never be
separated by man.
___________________ 4. The decline in good teachers is a result of bad education.
___________________ 5. We need to define what constitutes a family before we
discuss family values.
___________________ 6. Men in general die young.
___________________ 7. Euthanasia may be wrong but it certainly relieves a person
from too much suffering.
___________________ 8. The government should place top priority in modernizing
military weaponry to increase efficiency of the Philippine soldiers.
___________________ 9. A lot of infrastructure improvements are going on because
the elections are coming up.
___________________ 10. Love does not mean breaking your back to feed a man fit to
carry a cow.

ACTIVITY THREE

q This activity aims to draw logical connection between the data given and the claim.

Tip 4
Support comprises all the explicitly stated explanations, information, facts, opinions, personal narratives, and examples that authors use to make their claims and subclaims convincing and believable. It may be true (facts, real examples) or probable (opinions, made-up stories).

Directions: Choose from the box below the appropriate support/ data for the given claims. Add one more support for each claim following the required data indicated.


§ As of last month, only 565,375 of an estimated 5.623 million new voters had registered and validated their registration
§ Current budget appropriation in education is not enough to cover the needs of the students
§ FPJ did not finish his studies
§ The police and their anti-crime units usually show up at the crime scene after establishments have been robbed or after victims have already been shot
§ The present English literature curriculum for college includes more works from regional Filipino writers than before.


1. The Philippine National Police is not performing its functions well.

Supports: A:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B(Cite an example) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

2. FPJ should not run for presidency
Supports:
A:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
B. (Cite an experience in Philippine government history)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Migration of students from private to public schools poses a problem to the public education system.
Supports:
A:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
B: (Statistics/ Facts)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The teaching of English literature in the Philippines has ceased to be Western-centered.
Supports:
A:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
B: (Compare and contrast by citing specifics)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Few Filipinos are eager to participate in the coming elections because of the Presidential candidates.
Supports:
A:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
B: (Cite names of presidential candidates and briefly describe each of them)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



ACTIVITY FOUR
q This activity aims to enhance your ability to read an argumentative essay critically by identifying the claim and support(s) given in the passage.

Tip 5:
“To locate the claim, what should you look for? The claim may be explicitly stated at the beginning of an argument, at the end, or even somewhere in the middle. Or it may be stated anywhere. It may sometimes be implied, in which case you will be expected to infer it.” (Wood 1998)

“Locating and identifying the claim as soon as possible helps you focus on what the argument is all about.” (Wood 1998)

“Discover the support in an argument by asking, What additional information does the author supply to convince me of this claim?” (Wood 1998)

“To locate support, what should you look for? One bit of good news: support is always explicitly stated, so you will not have to infer it as you sometimes have to infer a claim. Among the common types of support are facts, opinions, and examples (real or made-up).” (Wood 1998)

Directions: Identify the claim and support(s) in the given passage. Please also indicate the kind of claim given.

Passage One
(Letter to the Editor: PDI, Dec. 03, 2003)
Traffic rules notobeyed nor enforced
LAST Oct. 30 at around 7:30 in the evening, I had to brave the strong rains to get to the airport to fetch my wife. As I stopped at the intersection near the Airport Road, a PNP Traffic Management Patrol Car No. 055 also stopped beside me and we waited for the red light to change. The driver of the car on my other side decided that he couldn't wait, so he drove off to beat the red light. The patrol car did not do anything. Then the motorcycle beside me decided to do the same. Still, the police car just stayed there doing nothing. Then an airport van from across the street crossed the intersection, beating the red light on his side and still, the patrol car did nothing.

A few vehicles from our side decided they too couldn't wait, so about three vehicles crossed the intersection on a red light. Still, Patrol Car No. 055 didn't budge. The government spends millions to provide our traffic enforcers the equipment to do their job effectively. Unfortunately, many of our traffic enforcers are deaf and blind on the streets. If this is what we get from the PNP Traffic Management force, then the country would be better off if they sell all these expensive cars and spend the money to build more public school classrooms. With non-discipline such as in the above incident, is it a wonder that we are where we are? --NOEL CARPIO, 1 Molave St., Ramax Subdivision, Diliman, Quezon City
CLAIM: (Kind of Claim) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

SUPPORT(S):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Passage Two
http://www.inq7.net/opi/2003/dec/04/letter_3-1.htm
Guns as insurance policies
WITH THE RECENT killings because of more kidnappings and robbery in the metropolis, it may be safe to say that Juan dela Cruz can no longer count on anybody else for protection, except for his own self. The police and their other anti-crime units usually show up at the crime scene after establishments have been robbed or after victims have already been shot. But at the very moment that danger looms, no law enforcement personnel is around to serve one's need or protect one's life. It is with this unfortunate reality in mind that I appeal to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to lift the ban on the issuance of permits to carry firearms outside the residence for responsible and law-abiding gun owners. The gun ban has in no way prevented criminals and outlaws from doing their business. It has only added to their confidence that the danger to themselves is lessened since their would-be victims are helpless and unarmed.
Guns do not kill people; it is the person who pulls the trigger who does. I suggest that stiffer disciplinary action be meted out to violators of the gun ownership law, and that stricter screening measures be administered to gun owners and bearers. This stand may call for rebuttal from the other side, but one thing is very clear--guns are like insurance policies. You may not need a gun, but it is far better to have one when the need arises. --EGAY F. CARRASCO, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija (PDI, December 4, 2003)
CLAIM: (Kind of Claim) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

SUPPORT(S):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY FIVE

q This activity will help you draw the connection between a warrant and a claim.

Tip 6:

“Warrants are the assumptions, general principles, the conventions of specific disciplines, widely held values, commonly accepted beliefs, and appeals to human motives that are an important part of any argument.” (Wood 1998)

Here’s an example (Wood 1998):

Claim : The president of the United States is doing a poor job.
Support : The unemployment rate is the highest it has been in ten years.
Unstated
Warrants : The president is responsible for creating jobs; when
unemployment is high, it is a sign that the president is doing a
poor job; or, even though the president may be doing well in
other areas, creating jobs is the main index to how well he is
doing.

Here’s another one (Wood 1998):
Claim : Business profits are adversely affected by environmental
protection laws.
Support : Obeying environmental protection laws that call for clean air,
for example, costs industry money that could otherwise be
realized as profit.
Warrant : Profit is more important than clean air.
Businesses make profit to survive.
Environmental protection laws are threatening the capitalistic
system.


Directions: From the box below, choose the letter corresponding to the appropriate warrant for the given statements.


a. The Supreme Court is expected to be composed of lawyers of high
Integrity.
b. A politician running for presidency will try to forge as many political
allies as possible.
c. Celibacy is a virtue.
d. Science and technology are important for the progress of a country.
e. The Catholic Church is not easily daunted.
f. The Erap administration is a failure.


______________ 1. The Catholic Church will remain steadfast despite the human failings of
clergymen.
______________ 2. PGMA is running for presidency and this is her motive for appointing
Bonifacio to the San Miguel Board.
______________ 3. FPJ should not run for presidency because the Philippines’ experience
under Erap will be repeated.
______________ 4. What the SC needs is a justice who is not prone to influence and
coercion.
______________ 5. We should provide more funds for the development of science and
technology if we want this country to go somewhere.


ACTVITY SIX

q This activity will help you infer the warrant from the claim and support provided.

Tip Seven:
“To help you discover warrants, ask questions like the following:
What is left out here?
Where is this author coming from?
What is causing this author to say these things?
Where am I coming from?
Do I believe that this evidence supports this claim. Why or why not?” (Wood1998)

Directions: Identify the warrant based on the given claim and support.

1. Claim : We no longer value human life.
Support : Because we have legalized abortion.
Warrant : _____________________________________________________

2. Claim : Laws should be passed to limit immigration.
Support : Because we have our own unskilled laborers who need those jobs.
Warrant : _____________________________________________________

3. Claim : Importation should be curbed.
Support : Because the local industries are suffering from unmitigated
importation.
Warrant : _____________________________________________________

4. Claim : A person should not marry at a young age.
Support : Because separation usually happens with couples who marry young.
Warrant : _____________________________________________________

5. Claim : Death penalty should be re-instituted.
Support : Because people are no longer afraid to commit crimes.
Warrant : _____________________________________________________


Activity Seven:

q This activity will integrate all three parts discussed.

Directions: Identify the claim, support, and warrant in the print advertisement below. Identify the kind of claim and whether the support is a fact or an opinion. Please also indicate whether you agree or disagree with the warrant.


Claim (Kind of Claim) :_____________________________________________________
Support (Fact or Opinion):___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Warrant(Agree or Disagree):__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Congratulations!!! You have just completed our first module. We shall be discussing your answers when we get back to school. In the meantime, have fun!!!J