DEVELOPING A CLAIM / DRAFTING A THESIS STATEMENT
A claim is the argument that drives an essay.
A thesis statement is the concise and powerful articulation of that claim.
One of the first steps in writing a powerful argumentative essay is developing a strong claim.
We can start to do this by moving from fact or information to making a claim or taking a stance
about that fact.
1) Write a sentence that states a fact about your text based on observation: “[My text] has/
shows/contains/features _________________”
2) Write a preliminary claim about your text based on analysis: “[My text] shows/argues
____________________________” (Focus on your ideas – your claim – not your language)
Writing down your preliminary claim is just the first step in developing an interesting and
complex argument. It is useful to complicate your initial claim by asking questions that help us
think through our larger argument.
3) Refine your claim by asking questions that make your statement less general and more
nuanced. Write your answers to some or all of the prompts below (not all of them will apply to
all types of argument, but try your hand at as many as you can):
o How?
o What are the contradictions?
o What would be the end result of this?
o How do I know this?
For further challenge, you might want to think about the larger implications of your argument,
answering the following question:

So What? Why does my claim or argument matter?
4) Having complicated your initial argument through thinking through the questions in #4, write
out a more refined and nuanced claim statement. This can be the starting thesis for your
argument. It is possible that this might end up being more than one sentence, but try to be as
concise as possible.
REVISED CLAIM/ PRELIMINARY THESIS STATEMENT:
Developing a strong claim is an important starting point for writing a persuasive essay. The
next step would be to think about how you would support or prove that claim.
5) Below, start to brainstorm (using a bullet list or a free-write) how you would support the
revised claim you identified above. What evidence would you use? How would organize your
argument?