CLAIM, EVIDENCE, AND WARRANT
Women’s mascara
Coffee Creamer
What is a Claim?
Opinion vs. Arguable claims
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Opinions
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A claim persuades, argues, convinces, proves, or
provocatively suggests something to a reader who
may or may not initially agree with you. A claim is
the main argument of an essay. It is probably the
single most important part of an academic paper.
The quality of the entire paper relies on the claim. If
your claim is boring, the rest of the paper probably
will be too.
A claim defines your paper’s goals and direction. It
is supported by evidence, quotations,
argumentation, expert opinion, statistics, and
telling details.
A claim must be argumentative. When you make a
claim, you are arguing for a certain interpretation
or understanding of your subject.
A good claim is specific. It makes a focused
argument.
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Twinkies are delicious.
I like dance music
I think Virginia Woolf is better than James Joyce
The governor is a bad man.
Arguable Claim
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Twinkies taste better than other snack cakes
because of their texture, their creamy filling, and
their golden appearance.
Dance music has become popular because of its fast
beats.
Virginia Woolf is a better writer than James Joyce
because of her simple writing.
The governor has continued to fail his constituents
by mishandling money.
Claim-Data-Warrant Graphic Organizer
CLAIM
The claim is the position on the
issue- the thesis or the main
argument.
DATA
Data means the evidence to
support the claim, for example,
facts, statistics, findings, or
expert opinions.
WARRANT(S)
The warrant refers to how the speaker or
writer interprets the data. The warrant should
show how the data supports the claim. The
speaker may use several warrants, for example
an emotional and ethical appeal to connect
the data to the claim.