{"id":339,"date":"2020-07-21T18:47:08","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T18:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-publicspeaking\/?post_type=chapter&p=339"},"modified":"2022-07-26T16:22:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T16:22:20","slug":"persuasive-strategies-using-logos","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-publicspeaking\/chapter\/persuasive-strategies-using-logos\/","title":{"raw":"Persuasive Strategies Using Logos","rendered":"Persuasive Strategies Using Logos"},"content":{"raw":"
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\nDefine persuasive strategies using logos.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nRecall that logos refers to the use of logical reasoning in an argument.\r\n\r\nUsing ideas of philosopher Stephen Toulmin, who studied how arguments work in everyday communication, we can break up an argument into different parts to help understand how they are structured\r\n\r\nThere are six elements for analyzing or presenting arguments that are important to the Toulmin method. When you\u2019re preparing a speech, you can include these elements to ensure your audience will see the validity of your claims.[footnote]Toulmin, Stephen. The Uses of Argument.<\/em> Cambridge University Press, 1958.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nThese are the six parts of an argument in Toulmin\u2019s model:\r\n
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  1. Claim<\/strong>: conclusions whose merit must be established. For example, if a person tries to convince a listener that he is a British citizen, the claim would be \u201cI am a British citizen.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Data<\/strong>: the facts appealed to as a foundation for the claim. For example, the person introduced in Part 1 can support his claim with the supporting data \u201cI was born in Bermuda.\u201d The data is your evidence or proof supporting the claim.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Warrant<\/strong>: the reasoning that connects the data to the claim. In order to move from the data established in Part 2, \u201cI was born in Bermuda,\u201d to the claim in Part 1, \u201cI am a British citizen,\u201d the person must supply a warrant to bridge the gap between Parts 1 and 2 with the statement, \u201cA man born in Bermuda will legally be a British citizen.\u201d Toulmin stated that an argument is only as strong as its weakest warrant and if a warrant isn\u2019t valid, then the whole argument collapses. Therefore, it is important to have strong, valid warrants.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Backing<\/strong>: facts that give credibility to the statement expressed in the warrant; backing must be introduced when the warrant itself is not convincing enough to the readers or the listeners. For example, if the listener does not deem the warrant as credible, the speaker would supply legal documents as backing statement to show that it is true that \u201cA man born in Bermuda will legally be a British citizen.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Rebuttal<\/strong>: statements recognizing the restrictions to which the claim may legitimately be applied. The rebuttal is exemplified as follows: \u201cA man born in Bermuda will legally be a British citizen, unless he has betrayed Britain and become a spy of another country.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Qualifier<\/strong>: words or phrases expressing how certain the author\/speaker is concerning the claim. Such words or phrases include possible<\/em>, probably<\/em>, impossible<\/em>, certainly<\/em>, presumably<\/em>, as far as the evidence goes<\/em>, or necessarily<\/em>. The claim \u201cI am definitely a British citizen\u201d has a greater degree of force than the claim \u201cI am a British citizen, presumably.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThe first three elements (claim, data, and warrant) are considered as the essential components of practical arguments, while the final three elements (backing, rebuttal, and qualifier) may not be needed in all arguments.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_3130\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"500\"]\"Flow Toulmin's model of argumentation[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
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    A Deeper Dive<\/h3>\r\nThe following video introduces the components of the Toulmin model.\r\n\r\n