Argument Claims

English II

Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

• An argumentative/persuasive paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

Argument Claim Qualities

• Claim Notes• Your thesis is the answer to your research question• Clear and direct; narrow• Debatable• It is ONE sentence that summarizes your paper.• It may be a long sentence, or a short sentence, and anything

in between.• It is always the last sentence of your introduction paragraph.• It is NOT a detailed description of your paper – it’s the BIG

IDEA sentence.

Questions to ask when developing your claim:

• What is the topic you want to write about?• What is the main opinion/point on this topic?• What is the strongest reason supporting your

issue?• What is another strong reason supporting your

issue?• What is the main argument against your issue?• What is a possible title for your essay?

Types of claims

• Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example: What some people refer to as global warming is actually nothing more than normal, long-term cycles of climate change.

• Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example: The popularity of SUV's in America has caused pollution to increase.

Types of Claims Continued…

• Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something.

Example: Global warming is the most pressing challenge facing the world today.• Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue

for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example: Instead of drilling for oil in Alaska we should be focusing on ways to reduce oil consumption, such as researching renewable energy sources.

OWL Purdue Online Writing

Good examples

• At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on limiting pollution.

• Illegal drug use is detrimental because it encourages gang violence.

• America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars because it would allow most citizens to contribute to national efforts and care about the outcome.

OWL Purdue Online Writing

Rate the following thesis statements on a scale of 1 (weakest) to 5 (strongest) and write a brief statement

to explain your answer.

• Money is the root of all evil.• The grading system in Earth Science doesn’t

accurately reflect the students’ intellectual achievements.

• Teenagers bring guns to school for a variety of personal and environmental reasons.

• William McKinley was president of the United States from 1897-1901.

• Buckingham Palace plays no significant role in the government’s workings.

Rate the following thesis statements on a scale of 1 (weakest) to 5 (strongest) and write a brief statement

to explain your answer.

• Nothing beats the taste of freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning.

• There are many different causes for school violence.

• I think violent video games can increase aggressive behavior in teenagers and children.

• There is too much government interference in our society to allow the average citizen to truly feel free.

• Ranchers don’t support the wolf reintroduction program because wolves kill.