Chapter 7 was about structuring arguments. The chapter gave an introductory about inductive reasoning, which is the process of generalizing on the basis of a number of specific examples. It then went on to talk about other types of reasoning such as deductive reasoning, which reaches a conclusion based off assumptions. Part of deductive reasoning includes syllogisms. The chapter also gives a “Classical Oration” of structuring arguments. The order goes in Latin as Exordium, Narratio, Partitio, Confirmation, Refutatio, and Perorratio. This is also known as introduction, background, lines of argument, alternative arguments, and conclusion. The chapter also talks about two other types of arguments such as the Rogerian Argument and the Toulmin Argument. The Rogerian argumentation is based on a willngess to think about opposing positions and to describe them fairly. The Toulmin Argument is based more on making claims which are debatable and controversial statements.
A part of the text that is of particular interest is the Toulmin Arguments. These arguments are controversial and debatable. The book gives examples such as “It’s time to legalize the use of medical marijuana.” This is basically just a claim. The Toulmin argument is the kind that uses syllogisms to support this claim. Examples to support this claim include personal experience, anecdotes, facts, and authorities. The support and claim must be connected and persuasive in order for this argument to be effective.
An example of the Toulmin argument I have come up with is an example based from Facebook experiences. For instance, the claim would be, “Around fall to winter is mating-season while February to March is breaking-up season.” This is a claim. Reasons that support this claim can be personal, anecdotes, and facts. The personal experience would be me seeing many of my friends going from “single” to “in a relationship” around certain times and vice versa for other times. An anecdote would be many of my friends have seen similar updates on their Facebook page. The facts can be 20 out of 200 friends changed went into a relationship around fall and winter while 20/200 friends went to single in February. The authorities can be the people who went in a relationship and justify that they usually feel more lonely around the fall and winter and tend to try and find someone to be with around that time and usually get tired of being in a relationship around February. (399)
