The Toulmin Model: How we
will approach reading,
analyzing and writing this year
Stephen E. Toulmin
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philosopher and
rhetorical theorist
born in England in 1922
received his Bachelor’s
degree at King’s College
and his Master of Arts
and Doctor of Philosophy
degrees from Cambridge
More on Toulmin
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Toulmin taught at the University of
Southern California from 1993 2009
In 1958, Toulmin offered his model
of argumentation: a way to compare
“truths”
Toulmin’s Model
 Toulmin Model has three main parts:
Claim
Data
Warrant
Toulmin Model, cont.

Simply:
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A Claim is made.
Data is provided in the form of
supporting facts.
The Warrant connects the Data to the
Claim.
Example #1
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“I am an American.” (Claim)
“My mother was an American citizen
when I was born.” (Data)
Anyone born of an American citizen is a
legal American citizen. (Warrant)
Toulmin says that the Claim and the Data
cannot hold without a sufficiently strong
Warrant, or, the weakest argument is the
one with the weakest warrant.
Example #2
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The U.S. Postal service is wasteful and
inefficient. The proposed new mail
distribution agency will be wasteful and
inefficient.
 Claim: The proposed new mail
distribution agency will be wasteful and
inefficient.
 Data: The U.S. Postal service is
wasteful and inefficient.
 Warrant: the two situations are similar
(Reasoning by analogy)
Let's try one together
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This is the coldest winter since
2000. My heating bills are going to
be outrageous.
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Claim:
Data:
Warrant:
And another one together
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I work hard in class, do my
homework every night and study
for tests. I am going to ace Ms.
Rohde's class!
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Claim:
Data:
Warrant:
Types of Claims
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fact: claims that have historical
backing
judgment/value: claims involving
opinions and attitudes
policy: claims advocating courses
of action that should be undertaken
Types of Data
Fact or Statistic: a point of data that
claims some objective
Expert Testimony: a stated opinion
by a person experienced in the field
Personal Anecdote: personal
experience gained from time in the
related field
Connecting the Claim and Data
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underline a claim, warrant (if it states
one) and data in the article
create a diagram of the claim, warrant,
and data that looks like the example
below
Claim: ------------------ Data:
Smoking is bad
It causes lung
cancer
Warrant: Lung cancer is bad.
Observation 1 Inherency
SPS tech exists, but it needs money
Claim: ------------------ Data:
SPS exists, but no $$
R&D makes tech better -
Warrant: if we had invested money, SPS would
already work now.
Observation 2 Harm
Global Warming is happening now
because of humans
Claim: ------------------ Data:
Warming now
- 2000 was warmest year ever
- coal and fossil fuel use by
humans trap heat.
- natural causes couldn’t have
caused all the temp rise
Warrant: if we had invested money, SPS would
already work now.
Observation 2 Harm
Global Warming will destroy the
planet
Claim: ------------------ Data:
Warming ->
destroy planet
Warrant:
Observation 3 Solvency
SPS will solve warming before too late
– break the dependence on fossil
fuel
Claim: ------------------ Data:
Warrant:
Observation 3 Solvency
SPS best Alt energy source
Claim: ------------------ Data:
Warrant:
Observation 3 Solvency
SPS cheap, work well, and possible
Claim: ------------------ Data:
Warrant: