Toulmin Logic Group Analysis: “Competitive Cheerleaders Are Athletes”

This sample includes all of the elements of a Toulmin argument. The Canvas system will break you into groups.

Part I

Start off by discussing each of these questions in the discussion board:

1. Summarize the position this essay takes, being sure to identify the claim (the main thesis), the grounds, the warrant, the rebuttal/naysayer, the qualifiers, and the concluding statement.

2. Do you think the writer includes enough backing for her claim? What other supporting evidence could she have used?

3. Find the qualifier in this essay. How does it limit the argument? How else could the writer have qualified the argument?

4. Do you think the writer addresses enough objections to her claim? What other arguments could she have addressed?

5. Based on your reading of this essay, what advantages do you think the Toulmin logic method offers to writers? Any disadvantages?

Part 2

Next, make a group 1 paragraph final summary in which all of these questions are answered. Post and label this summary in the discussion board.