What Is A Claim In Writing Examples Of Argumentative Statements

Argumentative claims don’t have to be complex, but they do have to be more than just a fact-based statement that is obviously true. Instead, claims should be statements that are up for debate. As a writer, your goal is to effectively argue in favor of your claim. Review the examples below to develop a better understanding of what is a claim in an essay.

* statement – If you open an essay by stating, “I own a cell phone,” this is not an example of a claim in writing. Assuming that you do, in fact, own a cell phone, this is just a statement of fact. It is not something that is arguable.
* claim – If you open by stating, “Every middle school student should have their own cell phone,” this is a claim. This is not something that everyone agrees upon. Your paper will need to focus on supporting this claim with evidence.

In order to back up a claim in writing, you will need to provide evidence. Evidence is information that provides proof of or support for an idea. Your claim statement should be a logical conclusion that you reached as a result of reviewing and understanding valid, reliable evidence. Rather than expecting readers to simply believe that your claim is true, you’ll need to provide them with evidence they can consider to reach their own conclusion.

There are many types of evidence:

* direct observation of a phenomenon or occurrence
* primary research, such as an experiment or content analysis
* synthesis of secondary research, such as a literature review
* information gathered from investigative interviews
* facts, statistics or other data
* expert opinions
* examples of past behavior

It’s important to be aware that the fact you can find evidence in favor of your claim does not necessarily mean that your claim is a factual statement. There is also just as much evidence against a claim as there is evidence for them. The idea of making a claim in writing is to present a logical, fact-based argument for the claim that you are making.