Claim-Warrant-Impact
Argumentative Structure
All argumentative structure can be organized into “ClaimWarrant-Impact” format
This is a common way for lawyers, journalists, and, yes,
debaters who argue to put together their arguments
What is it though?
Claim
• A claim is literally what it says-----what
you are claiming to be true
• An example, a claim could be “Dogs are
better than cats”
• Or for a more advanced example,
“Childhood beauty pageants are a
positive experience”
• A warrant is EVIDENCE or LOGIC that supports your
claim
• Usually, a warrant involves a source that is backing
up your point….
Warrant
• For example, if you claim “Dogs are better than
cats” you must have a warrant to back up your
claim. So, you could say “According to the ASPCA in
a 2015 article, more people want dogs as pets than
cats in the United States” (ASPCA).
• For a more advanced example, if you claim
“Childhood beauty pageants are a positive
experience” you can warrant that by using a
source. ”According to an article in The New York
Times, 75 percent of childhood beauty pageant
participants gain positive social and mental skills.”
Impact
An impact is also exactly
what it sounds like…what is
the impact of your argument.
Think of it in the three b’s
“Babies, bombs, and bucks”---we are helping the children
or people (babies), we are
avoiding war (bombs) or we
are saving money (bucks)
Impact Cont…
• If you claim that cats are better
than dogs, then say more people
like them, the impact of that can
be
• “Dogs are more popular due to
their kind nature and can help to
benefit more lives”
Impact Cont…
• If you claim that childhood beauty pageants are positive, back it up by
saying that it provides positive social and mental benefits, you can
impact that out by saying “if children participate in childhood beauty
pageants, they are enriching their lives through the social and mental
benefits they gain.”
• The most important thing about impacts is phrasing it in your own
words and making it matter.
For your assignment…
• Create three Claim Warrant Impacts for your paper (these
will help to be the outline for your major body paragraphs)
• Put them in an MLA document (they do not need to be in
paragraph form unless you want to)
• Upload them to the Canvas assignment!
• Use your research cards to help you make the claims,
warrants, and impacts!
• REMEMBER- YOU ARE WRITING A PAPER ON JUST ONE OF
THE TOPICS YOU CHOSE!