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Toulmin Analysis

Popular Press Source

My press source is The New York Times and the authors to this article are Jason

Horowitz and Elizabeth Dias. I used the internet to further identify and develop my topic. I

added more information to what I knew about the issue by using bogs and videos. I also used

their website. I chose The New York Times because the jargon used is easy to understand

even on technical topics. The public is entertained and informed on issues of interest

(Natharius, 240), and they are up to date with their stories. Besides, they are written by

professional journalists and articles are issued by other for-profit companies. I searched for

the most controversial topic in the country of Europe and landed on this item. I used their

online magazine, which has the most recent articles appearing first. I considered other

presses, but they were either too vague or too technical for ideas and topics I had little

knowledge on. What made me pick this item is the fact that it is not fake news as the Pope is

quoted speaking. It is a credible online magazine and has a credible source (Woodall, 265).

The authors are credible journalists as well as authors for other big companies as The Vogue

and The Washington Post. The article is free from error – grammar or syntax, and the story is

recent.

What fanned my interest in the research was the timing. Being a consumer from Italy,

this topic has affected Catholic churches since the 90s. In as much as they entertain, it is at

times informative knowing what steps are being taken to stop this. Among other ‘hot-button’

issues, the New York Times elaborates what has been going on in the church. Other sources

are either too shallow or too disengaged in the topics or issues they write about. given that the

information was gotten from the company’s website and the sources include photos and

statements, the article is real. Using Toulmin analysis, the argument consists of parts, which

prove the point that is being argued, without necessarily confirming the declaration as true.

Data and claims made here include those as ‘Bishops and priest have sexually abused nuns. It

also goes on to stand with the fact that is it something that has been happening since the 90s.

This is on the grounds that there are children born to nuns and others seeking abortions. Also

with the movement as #NunsToo and #MeToo show that it indeed is a current problem. What

warrants the claims is the blame Women Church World accuses on ‘the outsize power of

priests.’ Backing these claims are other allegations made by other nuns. Pope Francis also

spoke about Benedict XVI being a ‘strong man’ who removed priests who were accused of

such abuses. There are qualifiers to the claims as not many seem to understand why these

allegations have not been dealt with. It is not new and nuns have on many occasions reported

these cases to no avail. The rebuttal in this claim is keeping the women safe after reporting

such incidents. Coming up with ways to protect the young and women will reduce and even

curb the menace.

It is a credible source as the information is not only high quality but trustworthy

(Turrow, 39). It has got an international readership and worldwide influence. Upon research,

I found out it has won 125 Pulitzer prizes; more than any paper ever has. The writers handled

this article ethically given that they sought to not use their pictures or their locations. The

stakeholders here – the nuns, bishop and priests and the Catholic church have got jobs they

can lose, they can be imprisoned, there are loses of dignity as well as living with a child that

will be a reminder of an abuse. There is however a rhetoric situation surrounding this issue.

Will these molestations and childbearing cases continue in the churches? Also, what

measures are they taking to counteract this?

Works Cited

Natharius, Dennis. “The more we know, the more we see” The Role of Visuality in Media

Literacy. American Behavioural Scientist, 48(2): (2004). 238–247.

Turow, Jack. “Curing Magazine Ills: The portrayal of health care.” Journal of Health

Communication, 35 (4), (1985). 36–51.

Woodall, Daniel. “Sources of health information among Vietnamese American men.”

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 8(3), (2006). 263 – 271