Using Toulmin’s Model to Analyze an Argument, Essay Example

The article discusses the settlement with a dispute over a Baby Einstein video that had been put out by Disney.  Through a combination of deceptive advertising and the willingness on the part of parents to both buy into the technological hype and believe in product that the company was selling the product had become popular among parents. However, a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics has indicated that the idea of the video contradicts the benefits of children at that age.

This seems to indicate the importance of understanding the complexity of raising children.  The contradiction of being a parent and wanting to allow a movie to raise children is something that should be looked at critically.  If parents are willing to buy into the idea that a movie can raise their children, it becomes simple for these companies to push their products in this way.

Contrary to being able to enhance the cognitive capabilities of young children as claimed, the “Baby Einstein” videos that were distributed by Disney were actually not beneficial to children, and had a negative influence on their attention spans. The primary reason that parents bought into the idea of the videos was a combination of a time management, competition, and an overzealous faith in technology.

I agree with this claim. The need for parents to have something to keep their children busy has become important.  Something that claims to be able to do this, while simultaneously educating them, is definitely tempting because of this.

The warrant, or assumptions, in this piece includes the generalization of parents as those who are obsessed with time and technology insomuch as a vast number of them would buy this video.

The backing, or support for this warrant includes a Time article that presents evidence that a large amount of these videos were bought by parents for this very reason.

Yes, it is first demonstrated that there is a connection between the amount of these videos that were bought and the degree to which parents had trust in the industry.  This is laid out within the argument.

The support, or types of evidence that are identified to support the claim include:

1. The recommendation of the Pediatrics Society that these videos have negative effects.
2. The growing number of individuals who bought the video, despite not knowing if there would be any side effects.

iii. The admission on the part of Disney that this was the case through the settlement of the lawsuit.

Some of the words that would be considered qualifiers include:

1. About (7)
2. Apparently (2)

Yes, the author indicates near the end that parents simply want their children to be intelligent.

This article was actually persuasive.  Despite the fact that it did not offer much in the way of rebuttals, the argument was well sourced and seemed to be authoritative.

Toulmin’s model helped me to better understand not only the context of the article, but the underlying structure of its argument.  By pushing me to go through each of these individual questions, I had to go back over the important parts of the article, which ultimately served to solidify my understanding of it.