It must be debatable with inquiry and evidence; it is not a personal opinion or feeling. Claims backed by reasons that are supported by evidence are called arguments. Jared is a Kibin editor, a wanderer, and an ESL teacher. Sufficiency refers to the amount of detail — is there enough detail to support the topic? You not only need to provide evidence of the dangers associated with an increasing global temperature, but you also must provide evidence that it’s not just a symptom of normal fluctuations that occur over time in the climate, but a symptom of human excess. SUPPORTING CLAIM A supporting claim is any argument that, if accepted, will make it easier to prove the primary claim. Take the time to explain the significance of the evidence you introduced in your essay. Support and elaboration consist of the specific details and information, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carly_Fiorina_by_Gage_Skidmore_3.jpg, http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/few/685, CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, identify various forms of support that can be used in a text to validate a thesis, identify use of personal forms of support (narrative, anecdote), identify use of research-based forms of support (facts, statistics, outside authority), identify relationship between the rhetorical context of a text, and the effectiveness of the types of support used. A claim of definition argues how something is defined. Discuss how the evidence supports your claim or argument. These two videos show the connections between the purpose of a piece of writing and the supporting evidence that appears inside the paragraphs. You could make your own claim on the matter if you have the research to back it up. As you might imagine, some types of supporting details work more appropriately than others, given the purpose of the writing overall. Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays. This video draws a helpful distinction between main ideas and supporting details, to show the connection between the topic sentence of a paragraph and other contents in the same paragraph. If you’re going to challenge something that has long been considered fact, you must be able to back it up with research. Many writers work under the advice to “Show, don’t tell.” Good writers help their readers imagine the story by describing the action, providing sensory descriptions, and explaining characters’ thoughts and feelings. To win an argument, you first have to make a claim that is more than just an assertion. As a result, in expository writing, authors need the ability to find and use relevant information: facts, statistics, examples, and anecdotes. Thus, an argumentative essay has a burden of substantiated proof and sources , whereas some other types of essays (namely persuasive essays) do not. Although each of your claims will present an argument, not all claims will take the same approach to those arguments. However, not all arguments are created equal. A claim of cause and effect argues that one thing causes another. Insert the thesis sentence(s) you developed earlier into this first paragraph. So needless to say, your claims should not have a broad focus. 2.4 Support Your Claims.  It describes the techniques of outlining and mapping a paragraph for greater understanding. If we agree that the thesis is the backbone of your essay, then the claims are the vertebrae. This is called the counterclaim. The writer can give support by referring to a known standard or through establishing an agreed-upon standard. Now that you can answer the question that brought you here—what is a claim in an essay?—let’s look at how claims might differ.  But how many people will be convinced by such a claim, all on its own? People will usually take your word for certain kinds of claims. As we explain in this post about essay structure, the structure of your essay is an essential component in conveying your ideas well, and therefore in writing a great essay. The purpose of most essays is to tackle a debatable topic. Again, it must be debatable. Followed by supporting evidence. Be specific about what you’re claiming, and consider breaking your claim into multiple claims if it covers too much area. If your claim is boring or obvious, the rest of the paper probably will be too. There are several different styles of evidence (or proof). But poor record-keeping made it impossible to say how many of them died while waiting for care or how many of them even applied for care. A strong thesis also requires solid evidence to support and develop it because without evidence, a claim is merely an unsubstantiated idea or opinion. A reason tells why a claim is made. If your claims are weak, the gravity of your thesis will be too. As we wrap up this post on claims, let’s circle back and talk about that celestial body around which your entire essay orbits: the thesis statement. To put it simply, scientific, cold facts with no opinions or personal insights count as evidence – what you do with them, how you build them up to support your case, is an argument. Because it provides a unifying theme for the rest of the essay, it typically appears early on—in shorter papers, most often within the first paragraph or two. In Greek Orphic tradition, Thesis, the goddess of creation, is worshiped for creating all of the matter we see in the world today. Some ways that writers “show, don’t tell” include the following: Information is the key to developing support and elaboration in the expository (essay) genres — informational, critical, and argumentative writing. Fiorina's Unsupported Claim about VA Deaths. But while the overall gist of your thesis may be that climate change is bad, claims are the specific arguments that make up your thesis (e.g., widespread drought will lead to an increase in terrorism). You may have noticed a few warnings interspersed with the examples above. Depending on the assignment and subject, you paper could have more than three claims or only one. Mini Lesson: What to Prepare in advance: Download, print, cut, laminate and attach to sticks the FREE resource below. You can talk about the quality of beef all day, but some people genuinely prefer burgers made out of crappy beef. Although each of your claims will present an argument, not all claims will take the same approach. So what is it made of? A thesis is the central claim or main argument of an essay. This is a dead-end claim because it’s purely based on opinion. A claim must be argumentative. That’s what we’ll be talking about today. A claim defines your paper‟s goals, direction, scope, and exigence and is supported by evidence, quotations, argumentation, expert opinion, statistics, and telling details. Any coincidences are accidental. Poets are especially adept at using precise details to focus on specific, concrete, observable things or experiences. Now that we’ve talked about the various ways in which you can approach a claim, let’s talk about how to ensure that your claims are good, no matter which approach you take. That’s because there are certain pitfalls that can tank your claims—and in turn your essay—if you’re not careful. But how many people will be convinced by such a claim, all on its own? There is no argument there. A claim of value requires you to argue how good or how bad your topic is. Good writers supply their readers with sufficient details to comprehend what they have written. Consider a recent example of an unsupported claim from early in the 2016 US Presidential campaign: It may be coincidence that Fiorina was one of the first candidates to withdraw from the race…but then again, maybe not! In the academic writing world, it feels as if we are often worshiping her ourselves. When writing an essay, you typically need anywhere between 3 and 5 clearly structured arguments to support your cause. Rather, you need to develop an interesting perspective that you can support and defend. Construct the first paragraph. Support allows a claim to be verified, proven, and convincing to an audience. A claim must be arguable but stated as a fact. 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