ARGUMENT WRITING
CLAIMS
 What is a claim?
 An argument that is the main idea or thesis
 The claim should be an answer to the writing task:
 Literary or Informational: which type of text more
effectively portrays the Holocaust? After
reading excerpts from texts about WWII, write an
essay that compares a literary and informational
account and argues which better conveys a
Holocaust experience. Be sure to support your
position with evidence from the texts.
 A claim should not have the words “I think” or “my
opinion” as part of the sentence.
CLAIMS
 ___________________ more ef fectively por trays the Holocaust experience of
__________________________ through the use of ___________________,
_________________, and _________________.
 Literar y texts more ef fectively por tray the Holocaust experience of Jews in
hiding through the use of a per sonal per spective, emotions, and a plot conflict.
 The fir st blank is whether you will argue for literar y text or informational text.
 The second blank is for what par t of the Holocaust you will discuss: Hitler’s rise
to power, Jews in the ghettos, the US or Great Britain joining the war, Jews in
concentrati on camps, Jews in hiding, the life of soldier s, or liberation.
 The last three blanks are for the reasons you prefer those texts:
 Literary Text: personal perspective, plot structure (characters, setting, conflict,
resolution, theme), diary or poem structure, emotional language, figurative
language, informal language, the purpose of entertaining or inspiring
 Informational Text: World/historical perspective, text features (photos,
graphs/charts, headings), text structures (chronological, cause/effect,
comparison/contrast), facts, literal or domain -specific language, formal
language, purpose of informing or teaching
SUPPORTING CLAIMS WITH EVIDENCE
 What is logical reasoning?
 An explanation for a claim that makes sense in the mind.
 What is relevant evidence?
 Support from texts that support your claims.
 The support should match your claim.
SUPPORTING CLAIMS WITH EVIDENCE
 Collect evidence from the text using Cornell Notes:
 Begin with the MLA Citation (using the MLA Citation
Guide)
 On the left, write quotes and specific details from the
text that will support your reasons/claim.
SUPPORTING CLAIMS WITH EVIDENCE
On the right, write your explanation for the quotes.
Describe what the quote is about.
Explain how this element helps a reader better
understand this experience of the Holocaust.
This quote shows how the story is based around
Annemarie’s point of view and how she sees the
world. By seeing the story from her perspective,
the reader can connect more personally with the
ways the war affected both Jews and friends of
Jews.
OPPOSING CLAIMS
 Complete the process on the other side with evidence
for your OPPOSING CLAIM.
 So for each characteristic that you determined as a
strength for the type of text you are arguing for, find
the correlating “weakness” in the opposite type of
text.
 So if you are arguing that literary text is better because of
the personal perspective, find an example of the
“weakness” of the worldwide perspective in informational
text.
 Use the LIT VS. IT notes to find the opposing
characteristics.
OPPOSING CLAIMS
 Collect evidence from the text using Cornell Notes:
 Begin with the MLA Citation (using the MLA Citation
Guide)
 On the left, write quotes and specific details from the
text that will show the opposing claims.
OPPOSING CLAIMS
On the right, write your explanation for the quotes.
Describe what the quote is about.
Explain how this element weakens a reader’s
understanding of the Holocaust experience.
This informational text continually refers to “many
Jews”. This focus on a large group of people
makes it difficult for a reader to connect on a
personal level.
INTRODUCE CLAIMS
 Begin with the hook: bring the reader into the “conversation”
 Introduce the overall topic: what is your paper about?
 Transition from the hook to the claim: have at least one sentence
that helps the reader logically go from the hook to the claim.
 State your claim in the end of the first paragraph.
When reading the script version of The Miracle Worker, the
theme of perseverance announces itself in each scene. The
dialogue between Anne and Captain Keller persistently reveals
Anne’s unfailing devotion to her goal. The stage directions
repeatedly describe Anne’s unceasing ef forts at teaching Helen.
Anne’s soliloquies and monologues show how her past motivates
her to not give up on her student. However, when it comes to the
emotional connection between characters, the written drama falls
short. The film version more ef fectively shows the relationships of
the characters through the use of music, spoken lines, and superb
acting.
ORGANIZE REASONS LOGICALLY
 Each body paragraph should begin with a reason you have to
support your claim; these are your topic sentences.
 Topic sentences should begin with transitions to help your
paper flow in a logical order.
 Because the structure of this argumentation task is
comparison/contrast, include opposing claims at the end of
each body paragraph.
 Again, remember not to use “I”, “you”, or “we”.
ORGANIZE REASONS LOGICALLY
 The first body paragraph should begin with the first reason
you have to support your claim; this is your first topic
sentence.
 Ef fective transitions for the first body paragraph include:




First of all,
The first reason…
To begin with,
One way…
 To begin with, literary texts more ef fectively portray the
Holocaust experience of Jews in the ghetto through the use of
figurative language.
 First of all, informational texts more ef fectively portray the
Holocaust experience of Jews in the ghetto through the use of
domain-specific language.
ORGANIZE REASONS LOGICALLY
 The second body paragraph should begin with the second
reason you have to support your claim; this is your second
topic sentence.
 Ef fective transitions for the second body paragraph include:




Second,
The next reason…
Next,
Another way…
 Second, literary texts more ef fectively portray the Holocaust
experience of Jews in the ghetto through the use of a personal
perspective.
 Another way informational texts more ef fectively portray the
Holocaust experience of Jews in the ghetto through the use of
worldwide perspective.
ORGANIZE REASONS LOGICALLY
 The third body paragraph should begin with the third reason
you have to support your claim; this is your third topic
sentence.
 Ef fective transitions for the third body paragraph include:




Third,
A final reason…
Finally,
An additional way…
 A final reason that literary texts more ef fectively portray the
Holocaust experience of Jews in the ghetto is through the use
of a fictional plot.
 Finally, informational texts more ef fectively portray the
Holocaust experience of Jews in the ghetto through the use of
photographs.
ACKNOWLEDGE OPPOSING CLAIMS
 At the end of each body paragraph acknowledge opposing
claims.
 Think about how someone would argue the opposite of your claim.
 Use transition words to begin your acknowledgement of
opposing claims. Ef fective transitions to acknowledge
opposing claims are:





On the other hand,
Although,
Even though,
While it could be argued that…
In contrast,
 Before moving on, refute the opposing claim.
CONCLUDING SECTION
 Begin the concluding section with a transition. Ef fective
transitions for a concluding section include:
 In conclusion,
 In closing,
 As shown above,
 Restate your claim from the introduction in dif ferent words.
 The second most important paragraph; the final chance to
sway your reader.
 Answer the essential question
 Show major learning
FORMAL ST YLE
 Use academic and domain-specific language.
 Do not use slang or text speak.
 Avoid personal pronouns: I, you, we, our, my.
FORMAL ST YLE AND FORMATTING
 FORMATTING
 12 pt. Times New Roman
 One inch margins
 Double space lines (2.0)
 Indent each paragraph
 Header in top right with last
name and page number
 In the upper left-hand corner,
list your name, your
instructor’s name, the course,
and the date, each on a new
line
 No other formatting (bold,
underlines, colors, etc.)
 Save to your personal drive!
 Works Cited
 Citations should be on a
separate page at the end of
the paper.
 Center “Works Cited” as the
title of the page
 List citations in alphabetical
order.
TRANSITIONS
 Transitions should occur within paragraphs, not just when moving from
paragraph to paragraph. They are the glue of the entire writing piece.
 Nearly ever y single sentence should begin with a transition to connect the
ideas; you should be able to take a paragraph apar t and put it back
together based on the transitions.
 Use transitions to:
 Begin a new paragraph/shift to new ideas
 To begin with, another way, finally,
 Introduce evidence
 For example, for instance
 Identify evidence
 In the scene, in the book Night, in this passage, this quote
 Connect or explain ideas
 As a result, since, because, therefore
 Acknowledge opposing claims
 However, on the other hand, although, unlike
TRANSITIONS
To begin with, literary text better portrays the Holocaust
through the use of a personal perspective. For instance, in Number
the Stars, the text states that, “trembling, the two girls rose from
the bed and followed him, brushing past the two remaining of ficers
in the doorway, to the living room. Annemarie looked around.” This
quote shows how the story is based around Annemarie’s point of
view and how she sees the world. As a result of seeing the story
from her perspective and developing concern for the character, the
reader can connect more personally with the ways the war af fected
both Jews and friends of Jews. On the other hand, it could be
argued that informational text of fers readers a more worldwide or
historical viewpoint. An example in the article “Going into Hiding”
points out that, “The punishment for a non -Jew helping Jews was
equally severe. For this reason alone, many Jews decided against
going underground.” While this allows the reader to understand
what was happening during the Holocaust, the continual reference
to “many Jews” does not allow for any personal connection.
TRANSITIONS
To begin with, literary text better portrays the Holocaust
through the use of a personal perspective. For instance, in Number
the Stars, the text states that, “trembling, the two girls rose from
the bed and followed him, brushing past the two remaining of ficers
in the doorway, to the living room. Annemarie looked around .” This
quote shows how the story is based around Annemarie’s point of
view and how she sees the world. As a result of seeing the story
from her perspective and developing concern for the character, the
reader can connect more personally with the ways the war af fected
both Jews and friends of Jews. On the other hand, it could be
argued that informational text of fers readers a more worldwide or
historical viewpoint. An example in the article “Going into Hiding”
points out that “The punishment for a non-Jew helping Jews was
equally severe. For this reason alone, many Jews decided against
going underground.” While this allows the reader to understand
what was happening during the Holocaust, the continual reference
to “many Jews” does not allow for any personal connection.
PEER REVIEW
 On the top of your draft, use the blue pen to write “blue =
self review”. As you go over your draft with your peers,
use the blue pen to make comments of your own directly
on your draft.
 With each new peer, read your draft aloud to them. They
will then give you comments about each designated
section of the peer review rubric.
 After a set time limit, one side of the tables will be
directed to move down in a “speed dating” fashion. This
will allow several different peer reviews for your paper.
PEER REVIEW
 Focus – answers the actual writing task: literary or
informational text?
 Controlling Idea – establishes a claim and sticks to it
throughout the paper
 Reading/research – uses quotes and details from the
Holocaust texts that support the claim
 Development – explanation of evidence is given to support
claim; includes opposing claims
 Organization – new paragraphs, transitions, and topic
sentences are used to organize ideas
 Content understanding – the paper shows knowledge about
the strengths and weaknesses of literary vs. informational
texts
 Conventions – grammar, spelling, formal style, works cited