This assignment requires an outline + works cited (no essay).
Topic:
The topic for the Toulmin Essay will come from your textbook argument readings.
Since you have read 4 articles on each of the following topics, you have been exposed to a number of arguments. Your Toulmin outline will present an argument related to one of the following topics. Each of these topics has lots of sub-topics, any of which are perfectly acceptable for the essay. Your argument must address one following topics, and you must use at least one idea from one of the textbook readings in your essay.
--Should Every American Go to College? (or be encouraged to go to college?)
--Is It Ethical to Buy Counterfeit Designer Merchandise?
--How Should We Solve the Opioid Problem?
--How Free Should Free Speech Be?
--Does Our Reliance on Social Media Bring Us Together or Drive Us Apart?
Sources:
You will need
3 sources
total for this essay:
--2 sources
must come from the
TCC databases.
--One source will come from the
textbook readings.
--in order to come up with points for the support portion, you will need to look up some facts.
Use the TCC databases to research some information on your topic. Use/read 2 sources and document those sources in the works cited.
--MLA 8 style
Works Cited is required.
Format:
– You will be creating a sentence outline that follows the Toulmin argument format. The outline must include 6 sections, and each section has between 1 – 3 subpoints.
Thesis/Claim:
-
The thesis/claim must be debatable. A significant deduction will be taken for non-debatable thesis statements. Test your claim/thesis with an antithesis to ensure it is debatable. A debatable claim/thesis can be reasonably argued from either side. When in doubt, choose the less usual side to argue.
Majority arguments:
A majority argument is one that is heavily weighted toward one side. This means that a majority of people would agree with one side over the other.
For example:
The statement that college degrees can lead to success is a majority argument.
If you have a majority argument,
your support points should be non-obvious/stronger
than other non-majority arguments.
Obvious points would include:
College is required to become a doctor / College teaches a number of topics / A college education increases one’s knowledge / Many jobs require college degrees
Agood Student
Campbell
ENG 112
Current date, year
Toulmin Outline: Speech Should not be so Free
Claim:
Hate speech should not be protected by the first amendment right to free speech; instead, people who use hateful words should be subject to criminal prosecution and imprisonment.
Note the main idea of each Support paragraph (A, B, C) – Write brief sentences.
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I.
Support
A. Derogatory words about someone’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or culture
can incite physical attacks and violence (Williams).
B. Not all speech is protected under the First Amendment, and hate speech should be included in the list of illegal types of speech/expression (McMasters).
C. If race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and disability are legally protected from discrimination, they should also be legally protected from hate speech.
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Briefly summarize Warrant (A) and Backing (B) - one sentence each.
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II. Warrant and Backing
A. The government and constitution should serve to protect its citizens from harm.
B. Hate speech is more harmful than many illegal activities, and the government should condemn and
Reduce to 1 main idea sentence per Ethical Appeal step: Step 1 (A), Step 2 (B), Step 3 (C)
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prosecute harmful behavior.
III. Rebuttal
A. Free speech advocates would argue that outlawing hate speech would lead to a slippery slope of restricting any unpopular expression (AAUP 173).
B. Maintaining the ability to express one’s ideas, even if they are unpopular, is important to a democratic society.
Summarize the main idea of the Qualifier in 1 sentence (A)
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C. However, hate speech is not just unpopular; it is harmful and damaging to a civil society.
IV. Qualifier
Note your main prediction about the topic in one sentence (A)
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A. Hate speech laws would not be necessary if schools taught the importance of civility and controlling one’s mouth from kindergarten through high school.
V. Prediction
A. Due to slippery slope arguments, it’s unlikely that the government will restrict speech.
Works Cited
American Association of University Professors (AAUP). “On Freedom of Expression and Campus Speech Codes.”
Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology, edited by Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell, Bedford/St, Martens, 2016, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016, pp 172-174.
McMasters, Paul K. “Must a Civil Society Be a Censored Society?”
Human Rights, vol. 26, no. 4, Fall 1999, p. 8.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=2638679&site=ehost-live.
Williams, Patricia J. “Our Toxic-Speech Epidemic.”
Nation, vol. 308, no. 10, Apr. 2019, pp. 12–13.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=135594909& site=ehost-live.