Toulimin Model: The Gentrification Debate (In-Class)

For the past 30 years, a debate has raged over the effects of gentrification. Gentrification, the process of reshaping urban, working-class (often ethnic) neighborhoods by means of an influx of more affluent residents, has been a contentious issue in every large city in America. Working-class neighborhoods, as diverse as Los Angeles’ Silverlake, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, and Atlanta’s Pittsburgh, have been transformed into newly desirable, up-and-coming locales. Proponents argue that gentrification economically revitalizes neighborhoods by infusing then with fresh development dollars and higher-income residents. Opponents say that all of this comes at the expense of long-time, often poorer, residents, who are forced out due to rising costs and/or eviction. For this in-class assignment, you will utilize the Toulmin Model to construct a rhetorically-sound claim for or against the process of gentrification. This claim will be supported by two distinct sets (I & II) of grounds, warrants, backings, etc.

Use THIS template to present your claim in outline form.

Done in class on 2.28