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Oftentimes when composing an argument, the hardest part of that is to write it a way that is complex enough to serve its purpose but also simple enough that it is universal and understandable by a large swath of one’s audience. The Toulmin model is a very useful tool that can be used to accomplish this goal. It is based off the principal that every argument needs to have three legs on which to stand and when applied in the manner that the Toulmin model suggests, then not only will the argument convey it’s message but will do so in a manner that is organized and coherent. In this essay, I will describe the history of the Toulmin Model and how I used it in my parliamentary debate as the Leader of the Opposition.

The Toulmin Model gets its name from Stephen Toulmin, a British educator who devoted his academic career to understanding how people comprehend and develop arguments based on moral reasoning. He devoted this career to this facet of reasoning because “moral reason is so complex, and has to cover such a variety of types of situations, that no one logical test can be expected to meet ever case” (Fieser, pg. 246). Moral reasoning is so complex, unlike scientific reasoning it does not just rely on having a fact and then explain it, there is also an emotional understanding that must be utilized if the most basic question of “is this the right thing to do” is to be answered. Because he knew this, he developed his own method that he felt could add to the bevy of other methods that aimed at tackling such a complex type of reasoning. This method uses a three-pronged approach to deliver its message; those are having a claim, grounds and warrant. The claim is what the speaker hopes to substantiate when giving his or her argument...

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...eel comfortable with me giving them a smarter way to enjoy their second amendment freedoms.

The Toulmin Model is a very useful method for forming a coherent and cohesive argument. Though it was originally used for moral reasoning, it has since been in logical reasoning as well and I feel it served its purpose masterfully in my own argument. Not only did help me formulate a strong claim on which to build my case. It helped me realize that an unbiased source is always the best even when that source can provide your opponent with ammunition against you and that it is important and necessary to understand the underlying connections that lie between the words we use and how to best use that connection to a speaker’s rhetorical advantage. I am glad that I learned to utilize the Toulmin Model and would recommend it anyone who wanted to succeed in the rhetorical realm.