Today students worked on an outline. I told students that they could use this outline to write their final essay, using the Toulmin form.
I want to add a bit more to the Toulmin notes:
From Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology, "One of the strengths of the Toulmin model of argument is that it emphasizes that presenting effective arguments involves more than stating ideas as absoluter facts. Unlike the classical model of argument, the Toulmin model encourages writers to make realistic and convincing points by including claims and qualifiers and by addressing opposing arguments in down-to-earth and constructive ways. In a sense, this method of constructing an argument reminds writers that arguments do not exist in a vacuum. they are aimed at real readers who may or may not agree with them.
The Toulmin argument can be organized in the following way:
INTRODUCTION
Introduces the problem
States the claim (and possibly the qualifier)
BODY
Includes a strong concluding statement that reinstates the claim
Possibly states the warrant
Presents the backing that support the claim
Presents the contradictions of rebuttal
Conclusion Included a strong concluding statement that reinforces the claim
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Joseph Paez
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
17 May 2012
Problem: Tempest refuses to accept St.Peter's divine judgment regarding the life he lived on earth and, consequently, also refuses to be consigned to eternal damnation.
Claim: Tempest was mistaken for a sinner; he believed to have good reasons for his actions. The fact that being a poor Black man in a world designed to keep him down, has forced him to do whatever he must in order to survive.
Body: Tempest was living his life in a way he felt was reasonable with the values he grew up in. He felt he was harshly punished by being condemned to hell for his actions on earth. Tempest felt he could justify his so called sins he was being accused of what he believe to be a few minor transgressions.
Warrant: Tempest was a poor black man living in Harlem everything he did was for family, friends, and love ones.
Backing for the claim: “Who cares about the rules, when it comes to doing what’s right.”
Contradictions of Rebuttal: The angel finds himself having some very distinctly mortal experiences that help to alter his view of the judgment set forth by St.Peter
Conclusion: Tempest is consistent in his morality. He stands by his sins because he believes he is a good man and of good character. It is the circumstances of life have meant that he is no saint.
Jesse Pinkney
ReplyDeleteProfessor Wanda Sabir
English 5
17 May 2012
Problem- Tempest refuses to accept St. Peter’s divine judgment regarding the life he lived on earth and, consequently, also refuses to be consigned to eternal damnation.
Claim- Tempest was mistaken for a sinner. He thought he had a valid reason for his actions. The fact that being a poor black man in a world designed to keep him down, has forced to do whatever he must in order to survive.
Body- Tempest was living his life in a way he felt was reasonable with the values he grew up with. He felt he was harshly punished by being condemned to hell for his action on earth. Tempest felt he could justify his so called sins he was being accused of.
Warrant- Tempest was a poor black man living in Harlem. Everything he did was for family, friends, and loved ones.
Backing for the claim- “Who cares about the rules when it comes to doing what’s right.”
Contradictions of Rebuttal- The angel finds himself having some very distinctly mortal experiences that help to alter his views of his view of the judgment set forth by St. Peter.
Conclusion- Tempest is consistent in his morality. He stands by his sins because he believes a good man with good character. It is the circumstances of life have meant that he is no saint.
Ricardo Arvizu
ReplyDeleteJacob Mendoza
Professor Sabir
English 5
17 May 2012
Toulmin Model
Heavens Judgment
What is a sin? Is a sin a law that is meant to be followed in order to keep people from going to hell or is their certain circumstance that allows one to sin for the greater good of man. The book “The Tempest Tales” by Walter Mosley presents this issue with its main character Tempest who refuses to enter hell because he believes that the sins he committed were not actually sins but actions that helped the people around him. He is then sent back to earth to prove that he is a sinner but he not only proves that heaven is unjust, but also cruel. Tempest should have been sentenced to go to heaven because his actions helped the greater good of man but instead he was sentenced to life in prison because he contested heavens rule and he suffered for it. Heaven is unjust because it judges everyone the same but there are special circumstances for certain people like Tempest who needed to sin in order to survive in the real world.
Heaven is unjust because when they sent Tempest back to earth they sent him without any money and left him homeless. Tempest was forced to sin after heaven sent him back to earth so is the sins he committed really acts against god or strategies for survival. For example when he was sent back to earth he “stole” from a charity fund box in order to make ends meet. From heavens perspective he sinned by stealing but from Tempests perspective he was poor so he believed the money was meant for him. Heaven forced him to steal but they also sent an angel along with him who had money, credit cards, shelter and a job so why would they not do the same for Tempest? Heaven helps certain people and abandons others.
Heaven was also proven to judge everyone the same but although race does not exist in heaven it is racially bias when it comes to judging people. When Tempest and angel met they had a discussion with a man named LaVon who explained that some people were born in into struggles people such as the Jews who were oppressed because of their religious beliefs or the blacks because of the color of their skin, he quotes “Is error sin”.
Sources
• Mosley Walter “ TheTempest Tales”
Rcardo Arvizu
ReplyDeleteJacob Mendoza
Outline
I. Claim—assertion, thesis, conclusion to be established
A. Tempest does not deserve to go to hell because the sins he committed were for the greater good.
B. Tempest must be allowed to enter heaven because he had to commit sins in order to survive in his environment.
II. Grounds—evidence, reasons, support
A. Although tempest may have committed sins such as robbery or assault he never murdered anyone but he is still being sent to hell on the hand the police officer murdered him because he was black and he fit a criminal description and the police officer will get sent to heaven even though he killed someone.
B. Tempest stole someone’s medical insurance in order to save Brownies life stealing may be a sin but if it is used to save another life is it really a sin?
III. Warrants—why the reasons support the claim; principles or assumptions
A. Deductive—meanings of terms, parallel argument
B. Inductive—representative sample
C. A generalization of why the evidence supports the claim.
IV. Backing—implicit assumptions that show the warrant is reliable and/or evidence to support grounds
V. Modal Qualifiers
A. Words like probably, in most instances, typically—they show when, how, and why the claim is reliable
VI. Rebuttals—counterarguments or exceptions to
Lola Levi
ReplyDeleteFatima Oliver
Tiffanya Richardson
Xinia Sanchez
Saba Ghanem
Professor Sabir
17 May 2012
1. Your claim: Two wrongs don’t make a right.
2. A qualifier: Tempest life has been an injustice being born poor and black, but does that give him a right to sin and still go to heaven? Although his life circumstances have been difficult, he had free will to choose the moral thing to do. Tempest has made some poor choices based on Heavens standards but his biggest sin is not asking for forgiveness and atoning for his sins.
3. Your data subdivided into hard facts and reason-based evidence. Both objective and subjective: Tempest bought a stolen insurance card off a pickpocket to help Branwyn go to the hospital. “The doctor said she had not gotten the operation she probably died”.” By saving her life when she was beaten up he did a good deed but the means to which he did were crooked.
4. Your warrant, which renders your data trustworthy
Stating the wrong that tempest commits as stealing the insurance card to save a life, doesn’t justify the punishment that is offered to him to go to hell for eternity.
5. Your backing, which enforces and legitimizes the warrant: The intent of Tempest was ligitatment in the act of showing concern for human life, but he could not prove that stealing for that reason was not sin. Tempest was going for the greater good, by choosing a lesser evil.
Justifiable sin
Sin does not determine damnation to hell. Although Tempest life is full of injustices, being born poor and black, two wrongs don’t make a right. However, when one seeks redemption they should be forgiven. Even though Tempest life circumstances have been difficult, he has free will to choose the moral thing to do. Tempest has made some poor choices based on Heavens standards, but his biggest sin is not asking for forgiveness and atoning for his sins. The intent of Tempest decisions in life are ligitatment in the act of showing concern for human life, but he could not prove that stealing for that reason was not sin. Tempest was going for the greater good, by choosing a lesser evil. Tempest bought a stolen insurance card off a pickpocket to help Branwyn go to the hospital. “The doctor said if she had not gotten the operation she probably would have died” (Mosley 53). By saving her life when she was beaten up he did a good deed but the means to which he did were crooked.
Ronald Parker, Edwin Peabody, Jamie McNair, Adalie Villalobos
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5 11- 12:15pm
17 May 2012
Gates of Hell
1.Claim: What happens to Tempest in heaven is no different than what happens to him on earth.
2.Qualifier: He tries to prove to Saint Peter why sins aren’t sins in his eyes, as he commits more sins while trying to prove his innocence.
3.Data: Before Tempest died he stole from the United Charity Fund and after he died he committed insurance fraud for Brownie.
4.Warrant: Because of the sins Tempest committed he deserves to go to hell.
5.Backing: In our eyes of Christian and Catholics if one commits a sin then he or she has the opportunity to be forgiven. No matter how many sins one commits they still have a chance to go to Heaven by asking for forgiveness. But if one sins and never acknowledges that he or she has sinned then they will be condemned to the gates of hell.
According to the Iphone dictionary, sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. The Miriam Webster Dictionary also says that sin is an offense against religious or moral law or an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible. In the novel Tempest Tales by Walter Mosely, Tempest is a black male that is murdered by 3 white police officers. After receiving his judgment by St. Peter, to be sent to hell for eternity, he is sent back to Earth with an angel named Joshua to help Tempest acknowledge his sins. Tempest believes that the sins that he has committed in his life have been necessary for his survival and out of good intentions. Although Tempest claims that his sins were in good intentions and he does not deserve to be sentenced to hell, a sin is nevertheless still a sin; therefore he deserves to spend eternity in hell.
Two of the major sins that he committed before his death were that he stole from the United Charity Fund and after he died he committed insurance fraud for Brownie. Tempest stole from the fund because he believed that he was using the money for God’s work.
“I know it looks like I stole from the church but really I only took from Reverend Langly. I mean I had seen him down at Bertha Bernett’s Cat House throwin’ away the congregation money on the woman and liquor. And I used that money to pay for my auntie’s groceries while she was out of work and recoverin’ from the pneumonia. The way I saw it, I was takin’ the church’s money away from the devil and puttin’ it to work for God the way it was meant to be used.”
Works Cited
Mosley, Walter. The Tempest Tales. Baltimore, MD: Black Classic, 2008. Print.
"Sin." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 17 May 2012. .
Iphone dictionary, Apple Inc. 2001