Toulmin: The Basics

• Stage 1: The Argumentative Paragraph

1. Unpacking the Essential Question

2. Close Reading

3. Evaluating Evidence

1. Claim2. Clarification3. Evidence4. Justification

1. Relevance2. Accuracy3. Clarity4. Specificity

PRE -WRITING DURINGWRITING DURING/AFTER WRITING

Unpacking the Essential QuestionEssential Question: Are you a good friend?

Step #1 SHADY TERMS:

Find the shady terms or phrases

Step #2 EVALUATIVE QUESTIONS: Create evaluative questions that ask for meaning of shady terms or phrases

Step #3 CRITERIA:

Answer evaluative questions by creating criteria

Key words or phrases that have “shades” of meaning or mean different things in different situations

Questions that ask for a specific meaning of words or phrases: What makes _______? What does it mean to ___________?

Specific definitions of shady terms used to test examples

The Close Reading

• CLOSE READING: An analysis of an information source with a specific focus on finding evidence appropriate for defending an answer to the essential question.

What makes an effective close reading?

• Blocking personal biases or opinions.• Careful annotation or note-taking.

Annotating the Text to Find Strong Evidence (Green = Yes, Red = No)

Essential Question: Are you a good friend?

Your friends constantly laugh at your jokes. At lunch, King students are known to crowd around you as you tell crazy stories about your day. In fact, yesterday, Ms. Pukhraj told me you have the sense of humor of a sophisticated adult. “I mean, I could be friends with this kid,” she told me. “Wow,” I thought, “interesting, sounds like this student spends more time trying to joke around with people than do school work. He/She showed up without homework again today.” Turning in homework on-time has always been a struggle for you.In addition to making people laugh, you are very good at making connections with people. You always ask people about how their day is going and about what’s going on with them at school and at home. On the first day of school, you made a point of introducing yourself to ten new people who you did not know. “I have never seen such an outgoing and inclusive student,” Ms. Einhorn mentioned to me on her way into school. “Hmmm,” I thought. “I wonder why such an inclusive person did not invite me to sit with them at lunch?”Last night, you called your friend from middle school to see how he was feeling. His grandmother has been very sick and you wanted to see if he or his family needed anything. No one picked up, so you left a message. When your friend called back, you screened his call because you were busy doing homework.

Evaluating Evidence

• EVALUATING EVIDENCE: The process of selecting a piece of relevant, accurate, clear, and specific information that supports the most compelling answer to the essential question

Evaluating Evidence: The RACS TestCriteria Meaning Test

Relevant

Accurate

Clear

Specific

Information is on topic

Information is correct or true to the source

Information makes sense

Information provides sufficient detail

Divide your claim into its component parts. Your quotation needs to relate to all parts of the argument

Check to see that your quotation is copied down correctly from the text. Make sure you didn’t change any of the wording.

Read your quotation aloud to make sure it makes sense as written.

Make sure your quotation contains sufficient detail so that you can picture what it is telling you.

Evaluating Evidence using the RACS filter test

You are a good friend

R A C S You are not a good friend

R A C S“you are very good forming relationships with people”

“Turning in homework on-time has always been a struggle for you.”

“Last night, you called your friend from middle school to see how he was feeling. His grandmother has been very sick and you wanted”

“When your friend called back, you screened his call because you were busy doing homework.”

“You always ask people about how their day is going and about what’s going on with them at school and at home.”

Essential Question Strongest Piece of Evidence ClaimAre you a good friend?

Is using Facebook productive?

Is Mario brave?

“You always ask people about how their day is going and about what’s going on with them at school and at home.”

“you can advertise new and different music by attaching audio clips to profile pages. This helps to promote musicians.”

“he jumped in the river to save his dog from drowning”

Making my ClaimStep #1: Look back at your essential question and your strongest piece of evidence.

Step #2: Reconfigure the question into a statement that supports your strongest piece of evidence.

The Clarification• CLARIFICATION: A more specific explanation

of the claim that does the following:– Includes a transition (To clarify, In other words, More

specifically)

– Explains the shady terms in the claim – Provides a reason claim is true of which the

evidence is an example.Claim: Mario is brave.

Clarification: In other words, he risked his life for a loved one.

Are you a good friend?Does it include a transition? Is the evidence an example of the reason?Does it explain the shady terms in the claim?Does it provide a reason that the claim is true?

Claim:

Clarification

Evidence: For example, in the text about _________, it states,

Justification:

I am a good friend.

“You always ask people about how their day is going and about what’s going on with them at school and at home.”

me

Are you a good friend?Justification map

CLAIM: I am a good friend.

CLARIFICATION: To clarify, I care about the well-being of others.

EVIDENCE: For example, in the text about me it states ““You always ask your peers about how their day is going and about what’s going on with them at school and at home.”

If I consistently make an effort to talk to people about their school and home lives, then

Thus, I am a good friend.

this suggests that I show an interest in the day-to-day experiences of my peers.

If this is true, one can infer that I care about the well-being of others.

ClaimClarification

Paraphrased Evidence

Missing Link

Are you a good friend?Directions: Create full sentences from your justification map

Claim:

Clarification

Evidence: For example, in the text about _________, it states, ““You always ask your peers about how their day is going and about what’s going on with them at school and at home.”

Justification: This is compelling evidence because

I am a good friend.

To clarify, I care about the well-being of others.

me

if I consistently make an effort to talk to people about their school and home lives

in the day-to-day experiences of my peers.

this suggests that I show interest

If this is true, one can inter that

I care about the well-being of others. Thus, I am a good friend.

Paraphrasing of evidenceMissing

link

Clarification

Claim/Concluding sentence