Spot the problem
Each sentence below is loosely derived from a different published article in humanities. The source appears once the answer is revealed.
Each sentence breaks the Toulmin model in some way. Diagnose which element is the weakest link — the answer (and its source article) is revealed after a correct pick or two incorrect ones.
“Because one survey found that readers who finished a single short story reported feeling more empathy for the main character, it follows that reading fiction in general makes people kinder in their everyday lives.”
Which Toulmin element is the problem?
Diagnose the weakest link in the argument.
“Across several studies, readers reported feeling strong empathy for characters in novels even when those characters were very different from them, and even when readers knew the events in the story had never actually happened.”
Which Toulmin element is the problem?
Diagnose the weakest link in the argument.
“Because a few readers in one study said that reading a single novel changed how they thought about a social issue, it is certain that every novel will change every reader's political views, no matter the book, the reader, or the setting.”
Which Toulmin element is the problem?
Diagnose the weakest link in the argument.
“Since readers sometimes feel empathy for villains in a novel, it follows that fiction has no moral effect on readers at all, and that authors should stop worrying about how their characters are portrayed.”
Which Toulmin element is the problem?
Diagnose the weakest link in the argument.
“The claim that readers feel stronger empathy when a novel is written in the first person, from the main character's point of view, is supported by close studies of how readers respond to narrative voice. It is also supported by recent sales figures showing that first-person memoirs sell more copies than third-person biographies.”
Which Toulmin element is the problem?
Diagnose the weakest link in the argument.
“Although a large body of research shows that readers' empathy for characters depends on many factors — including the reader's own background, mood, and reading habits — teachers and critics should keep assuming that every reader responds to a given novel in exactly the same way.”
Which Toulmin element is the problem?
Diagnose the weakest link in the argument.