Toulmin Model

Dallas Urban Debate LeagueDecember, 2007

Basic Elements

Data Claim

Warrant

Basic Elements

Data Claim

Warrant

Basic Elements

Fact – Verifiable Assertions“25 million Africans suffer from AIDS”

Value – Qualitative Assertions“PHA to SSA is a moral imperative”

Policy – Assertions that action is required“The USFG should increase PHA to SSA”

Claim

Basic Elements

Data Claim

Warrant

Basic Elements

Data Claim

Warrant

Basic Elements

The evidence supporting the claim• Testimony• Statistics• Observations

“The president's AIDS initiative, like his invasion of Iraq, is a go-it-alone affair that ignores the clear global consensus on how to fight AIDS. In launching his own initiative, Bush has shifted the bulk of U.S. money away from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international organization that has funded projects in 128 countries and is widely recognized as the best way to distribute AIDS funds. "Bush is starving the fund," says Dr. Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "It's despicable, frankly."

- Geraldine Sealey, 2005

Data

Basic Elements

Data Claim

Warrant

Basic Elements

The inferential leap that connects the Data to the Claim or the “Because” in an argument

C: Us approach to AIDS preventions in Africa is hindering efforts to fight HIV spread.

D: US is starving international donor groups of funds and assistance.

W: Increasing US support for donor groups in SSA increases coordination and helps fight AIDS.

Warrant

Basic Elements

Explains the reasoning for the Warrant• Analogy, generalizations, authority, example, etc.

“Experts agree gag rule increases AIDS”“Empirically, prevents finds from going to

effective NGOs”“Makes coordination impossible”

Backing

Basic Elements

Data Claim

Warrant

Backing