Claim Statement: Summary
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Do not write an introduction (summary is a skill, not a paper)
The claim should be the first sentence.
Summarize, in your own words and in one sentence, the author’s central claim
o Claim = what the author is suggesting as true
o Claim ≠ the topic
Include the complete title of the article inside quote marks
Include the author’s complete name
Provide relevant author identification
Select a verb that communicates the action of the idea
Checking the Claim Statement:
 Re-read your claim statement to be sure you have accurately and fairly
communicated the main claim with none of your own opinion (even as a hint)
 Avoid this construction: Harold Whitley, ….., he claimed that …
Example of a Claim Statement:
In “The Last Patriot,” James Smith, writer for the New York Times, suggests that
Americans no longer show true patriotic sentiments.