STATION ONE

CLAIM

A statement that is:

* Not otherwise known.

* Contestable.

* Supportable with evidence.

Examples:

1) The Winter Olympics should be held every two years.

2) We should build a memorial for World War II veterans.

3) Hamlet was devoid of Christian values.

 STATION TWO

REASONS

Statements that:

* Explain why you think your claim should be

accepted by you and by your readers.

* Represent judgments that you assume are not shared by

your readers.

Examples:

The Winter Olympics should be held every two years . . .

Reasons:

1) so aging athletes have more chances to compete.

2) to bring more money into the economies of host cities.

 STATION THREE

EVIDENCE

Statements that:

* Describe or otherwise represent facts about the

world that are assumed to be shared with readers.
("You could look it up.")

* Will not be questioned by readers, at least not for the

moment.

* Note: evidence is comprised of representations of

states of affairs that are treated, for the sake of the
argument at hand, as external, foundational facts.

Examples:

The Winter Olympics should be held every two years so aging athletes
have more chances to compete.

Evidence:

A study conducted in 1999

by the Organization of
Olympic Athletes (OOA)
shows that many athletes
peak during non-Olympic
years and, as a result of
aging, can no longer
compete when the games re-
open.
 STATION FOUR

WARRANTS

General principles that:

* Assert a principled connection between a kind of

reason/ evidence and a kind of claim.

* Have two components, a reason/ evidence side and a

claim side.

* Are normally assumed rather than stated.

* Represent shared beliefs and values without which

an argument cannot get off the ground.
 STATION FIVE

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND RESPONSE

Acknowledgments

Statements that:

* Raise or refer to alternative claims, reasons, evidence, or warrants.

* Locate an argument in a field of possible arguments.

* Show readers that you have not ignored their concerns.

Responses

Statements that:

* Accept or reject an acknowledged alternative.

* Offer arguments or mini-arguments against an alternative.

* Explain the complications and limits of your argument.

 STATION SIX

QUALIFICATIONS

Words, phrases, and occasionally sentences that:

* Specify degrees of certainty, limits on the

sufficiency or quality of evidence, etc.

* Limit the range of a claim.

* State conditions required for a claim to apply

(excluding clauses concerning obvious conditions
that go without saying).

* Show readers your sense of the reliability and

range of applicability of your argument.