WRITING A CLAIM
Writing Mini-Lesson
English I
WHAT IS A CLAIM?
A claim is the main argument of an essay. It is probably the single most important
part of an academic paper. The complexity, effectiveness, and quality of the entire
paper hinges on the claim. If your claim is boring or obvious, the rest of the paper
probably will be too.
A claim defines your paper’s goals, direction, scope, and exigence and 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 (MTV‟s popularity is waning
because it no longer plays music videos) rather than a general one (MTV sucks).
OPINION VS. CLAIM
Opinion
Claim
Twinkies are delicious.
Twinkies taste better than other snack cakes because of
their texture, their creamy filling, and their golden
appearance.
I like dance music.
I think Virginia Woolf is better than
James Joyce.
The governor is a bad man.
Dance music has become popular for reasons that have
nothing to do with the quality of the music; rather, the clear,
fast beats respond to the need of people on amphetamines
to move, and to move quickly.
Virginia Woolf is a more effective writer than James Joyce
because she does not rely on elaborate language devices
that ultimately confuse and alienate the reader.
The governor has continually done the community a
disservice by mishandling money, focusing on frivolous
causes, and failing to listen to his constituents.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPINION AND
CLAIM?
An argument is supported by evidence, which can be debated/challenged. Opinion is
supported by more opinion (and ultimately you end up with something along the lines
of “Well, just because, okay?”).
A claim can be substantiated with research, evidence, testimony, and academic
reasoning.
A claim is something more than statement and support: an arguable claim also goes
on to address the “so what?” question, the implications and why we should care in
the first place.
Remember that not all claims are created equal, and though a claim may be
arguable, the best claims are focused, specific, complex, and relevant.
NOW, WRITE YOUR CLAIM– ENGLISH I
Essay Topic:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men." -- Lord Acton
Synthesize an argumentative essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the
quote by Lord Acton (above) using evidence from both the novel Animal Farm and
the documentary Stalin: Man of Steel. You will need to use specific evidence from
both texts, the novel and the documentary, to support your claim.
NOW, WRITE YOUR CLAIM– ENGLISH I HONORS
Essay Topic:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men." -- Lord Acton
Synthesize an argumentative essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the
quote by Lord Acton (above) using evidence from both the novel Animal Farm and
the novel Lord of the Flies. You will need to use specific evidence from both texts to
support your claim.
PICK A SIDE
Defend: Power does tend to corrupt people.
Challenge: Power does not tend to corrupt.
Qualify: Power leads to corruption, but only under certain circumstances.
BRAINSTORM EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXTS THAT
YOU CAN USE TO SUPPORT YOUR SIDE
ORGANIZE THE EVIDENCE– WHAT IDEAS EMERGE?
NOW, WRITE A CLAIM
Defend: Power does tend to corrupt people because…
Challenge: Power does not lead to corruption because…
Qualify: Power leads to corruption, but only under certain circumstances, including…
REVISING YOUR CLAIM
Can you answer yes honestly to each of the following questions about your claim?
_____ 1. Is it arguable?
_____ 2. Can most reasonable people disagree with it?
_____ 3. Is the topic logical and important? Does it make sense to the reader? Is it significant
enough for a reasonable person to care about it? Does it answer the “so what” question? Does
it explain what it has to do with the average person?
_____4. Is it specific?
_____5. Is it written in the affirmative? Are the words “not” or “never” eliminated?
_____ 6. Is there enough evidence throughout the text to prove the claim – or does the
evidence only exist in some parts? Is there evidence in the beginning, middle, and end of the
text to provide evidence to support the claim – or only in one small part at the end?