As you may recall, an argument can be written (or spoken) with one or more of these purposes in mind:
| to change the reader's point of view |  |
| to bring about some action on the reader's part |  |
| to persuade the reader to accept the writer's explanation or evaluation of a concept, issue, or problem |  |
In a formal, written argument, a person's claim is the position that he or she is trying to communicate and persuade readers to accept. Claims that are worth arguing have certain qualities in common: They are debatable, which means that reasonable people can disagree about the claim, and they are based on facts and reason rather emotion only. Click each of the examples below to see what good claims tend to do, or be.
| The school year should be twelve, not nine, months long. | Over long summer breaks, students forget much of what they learned the previous year. In fact, the first few weeks of the new school year must be spent in review. |
| Reasonable people can, and do, disagree about how long the school year should be. | These are facts that different sides in this debate can agree on. Compare this evidence to the reason Because I really like school, which is emotional, not factual. |
What is NOT a claim? Statements of fact are not claims because they are easily verified by readers as true. In other words, a writer does not need to prove these kinds of statements--they are not debatable. Statements of personal taste or preference also are not claims. These statements cannot be proved or disproved because they originate with one individual and represent that individual's feelings or opinions.
Which of these statements is a fact? Which is an expression of taste or preference? Click on the statements to find out.
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Alligators are reptiles. | There is nothing in this sentence to debate. No one will disagree with this statement because it is simply a fact. |
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Blue is the best color. | What logical reason could support this claim? None. This "claim" is just a statement of personal preference. |
Question
How could you rewrite the statements about alligators and the color blue to make them debatable claims?
You could rewrite the first statement as Alligators should be protected from poachers or Alligators should be hunted more widely to protect people and livestock.
You could rewrite the second statement as Most people find blue to be a soothing color or The color blue suggests sadness in the paintings of this artist.
