Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Module: Week 7 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 4 — Compose in multiple rhetorical modes, using the appeals and the structure of argument (claim, evidence/grounds, warrant, counterargument, rebuttal). · SLO A

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 7 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with Week 7 meeting Tue Oct 13 and Thu Oct 15, and end-of-week work due Sunday Oct 18, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

This is the last instructional week before the midterm (Week 8 is review + exam), and it is a MAJOR-ESSAY week — your Argument Essay is due. Plan accordingly: this assignment is bigger than the weekly skill-builders, and the midterm follows right behind it.

(A) Module 7 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 7: Argument — Claims, Evidence & Warrants (Toulmin)

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

For six weeks we've built toward this. You learned to read the situation, summarize and respond, build a paragraph, sharpen a thesis, narrate, and analyze how a real text persuades. This week you make the argument yourself. The big idea is the Toulmin model — the X-ray that shows what every real argument is actually made of: a claim (the position you're defending), grounds (the evidence behind it), and the warrant (the unstated assumption that connects your evidence to your claim). Get those three named and you can see why some arguments land, why some collapse, and where your own argument is leaning on something you never said out loud.

We'll also do the thing weak arguers refuse to do: take the other side seriously — anticipate the strongest counterargument, then answer it with a rebuttal — and we'll learn to spot logical fallacies (the cheap shortcuts that look like reasoning but aren't).

The week's big question

"What is my claim, what's my evidence, and what unstated assumption (the warrant) connects them — and what would the smartest person on the other side say back?"

By Friday you'll be able to take any everyday claim apart into claim / grounds / warrant, add a counterargument and a rebuttal, and name the most common fallacies on sight.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Name the parts of an argument — claim, grounds (evidence), and warrant — and explain how the warrant links the evidence to the claim. (Plus backing, qualifier, and rebuttal.)
• [ ] Tell an arguable claim from a non-arguable one — a claim is a position reasonable people could dispute, not a fact and not just a topic.
• [ ] Add a counterargument and a rebuttal — state the strongest opposing view fairly (steel-man it), then answer it.
• [ ] Spot logical fallacies — ad hominem, straw man, slippery slope, false dilemma (either/or), hasty generalization, bandwagon, circular reasoning, post hoc, and the misuse of appeal to authority.
• [ ] See that evidence alone isn't an argument — without a stated or implied warrant, a pile of facts proves nothing in particular.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI work: this week the AI-critique moment gets sharper. Ask a chatbot to "argue for X" and it will hand you a confident-sounding case that often straw-mans the other side, leans on fallacies, and pads with hollow reasoning — and, when it reaches for support, sometimes invents a quotation or a source. Your job is to catch all of it. The tool drafts; the writer judges.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. The Argument Essay is a real time investment — start early, bring a draft to office hours, and don't try to write it the night before. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Find the warrant. Most arguments break at the warrant — the assumption nobody states. Train yourself to ask: "For this evidence to prove this claim, what would I have to already believe?" That hidden belief is the warrant.
• Steel-man, don't straw-man. State the other side's argument so well they'd nod and say "yes, that's it" — then answer it. Beating a weak, distorted version of their view (a straw man) wins nothing.
• A claim is not a fact, and not a topic. "Social media affects teenagers" is a topic. "Schools should ban phones during class" is a claim — someone could reasonably disagree. Argue the claim.
• Evidence needs a warrant to mean anything. A statistic just sits there until you say why it supports your point. The link is the argument.
• Learn the fallacies as moves to avoid in your own writing — not just to catch in others'. The fastest way to lose a reader is to attack a person instead of their argument (ad hominem) or to pretend there are only two options (false dilemma).

You don't need any special background for this week — just a real opinion about something arguable, and the honesty to take the other side seriously. Come to class ready to argue a position and to argue against it. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 7

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Oct 12, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Oct 12."

Subject: Week 7 — make the argument (and take the other side seriously) ⚖️

Hi everyone,

Here's a small experiment. Think of something you genuinely believe should change — a campus policy, a rule, a everyday "this should be different." Now ask yourself two questions most people skip: What's my actual evidence? and What would the smartest person who disagrees with me say back? That second question is where this week lives.

This week — Argument: Claims, Evidence & Warrants — we tackle the big question: What's my claim, what's my evidence, and what unstated assumption (the warrant) connects them? We'll use the Toulmin model to X-ray an argument into its real parts, learn to add a counterargument and rebuttal, and learn to spot logical fallacies — the moves that fake reasoning.

Four things not to miss:
1. The Argument Essay (Assignment 7) is this week's big one — a full essay with an arguable thesis, evidence + warrants, and a counterargument you actually answer. It's worth 100 points and it's a real piece of writing. Start early.
2. Quiz 7, Discussion 7, the Argument Essay, and Studio 7 all close Sun Oct 18. The discussion is a quick AI dialogue you summarize and post — leave time to reply to classmates.
3. Discussion 7 is a live one: "Is using AI to draft an essay cheating, a legitimate writing tool, or both — and where exactly is the line?" Argue it from evidence, and steel-man the side you don't hold.
4. Heads up: the midterm is next week (Week 8). This is the last new-material week before it — the midterm covers Weeks 1–7, and this week's argument concepts are squarely on it.

One promise: argument isn't about "winning" or being the loudest. It's a craft — a clear claim, honest evidence, a stated link, and a fair hearing for the other side. Master that and you'll write more persuasively and think more honestly. That's the whole point.

Bring a real opinion (and a willingness to argue against it) to class on Tuesday.

See you soon,
Prof. Lindgren