1 single-spaced pageThis assignment asks you to choose any text from The Short Prose Reader and analyze it applying the Toulmin Model of Argumentation. The only “forbidden” text is William Zinsser’s “Simplicity” since we have already analyzed it in class.
Introduction: Please identify the text and its author, summarize the argument of the text, and provide your thesis statement. In the thesis, please specify whether you will rate the author’s argument as effective or mediocre based on the presence of all the elements of the Toulmin Model or lack of some of them.
Body: Pinpoint all the elements of the Toulmin Model that you have found in the text. Feel free to quote, paraphrase, and summarize. You can have as many paragraphs as you like.
Conclusion: Restate your thesis in different words, and try to engage the reader by saying what we can learn about argumentation from this text, what can make or break an argument, what counts as successful argumentation, etc
