Unit 2: Claims and Evidence

16 terms. Say what each one means, then open the card to check.

• Claim

  A statement the writer wants the audience to accept that a reasonable person could question, so it needs support.

  Example. “Our town’s noise rules are too weak to protect people who work night shifts” is a claim; a reader could disagree.

• Thesis

  The main claim of a whole text, usually stated near the start of an essay, that every body paragraph helps support.

  Example. “The county should fund a second ambulance for the valley, because one ambulance cannot reach every call in time” is a thesis.

• Defensible claim

  A claim that takes a position people could reasonably dispute and that can be supported with evidence and reasoning.

  Example. “Students learn more in classes of twenty than in classes of thirty-five” is defensible; “Some classes have twenty students” is just a fact.

• Qualifier

  A word or phrase that limits a claim, such as “most,” “often” or “for students who work after school,” so the claim is precise.

  Example. “Uniforms reduce bullying” becomes “Uniforms may reduce bullying about clothing” once the writer adds qualifiers.

• Claim of policy

  A claim that something should be done, changed or stopped, often stated with “should,” “must” or “ought to.”

  Example. “The county should add a bus route from the east side to the community college” is a claim of policy.

• Reason

  The “because” behind a claim: the main idea a writer offers to explain why the audience should accept it.

  Example. In “The park needs lights, because joggers use it before dawn,” the reason is that joggers use it before dawn.

• Evidence

  Information that supports a claim, such as facts, data, examples, expert statements, observations or personal experience.

  Example. Records showing the walk-in clinic’s wait averaged three hours last winter are evidence for a claim that it needs another doctor.

• Relevance

  How directly a piece of evidence bears on the specific claim it is meant to support, not just on the general topic.

  Example. For a claim that the school needs more bike racks, a count of bikes chained to fences is relevant; the color of the racks is not.

• Sufficiency

  Whether there is enough evidence, from enough cases, to support a claim as broad as the one the writer makes.

  Example. One student’s bad experience is not sufficient to show that the whole tutoring program fails most students.

• Credibility of a source

  How far a source can be trusted, judged by its expertise, its methods, its possible bias and how current it is.

  Example. A county health department report on flu cases is more credible than an unsigned post claiming everyone is sick.

• Anecdotal evidence

  Evidence from one person’s story or a single case; vivid and memorable, but not proof of a general pattern.

  Example. A writer describes her neighbor who was rescued by a volunteer firefighter to show what volunteers do.

• Statistical evidence

  Evidence in the form of numbers drawn from many cases, such as counts, percentages, averages or rates.

  Example. Reporting that 7 of every 10 apartments on a block failed a heat inspection is statistical evidence.

• Expert testimony

  A statement from someone with special training or experience in the subject, used to support a claim.

  Example. An article on concussions in youth football quotes a neurologist who has treated young athletes for fifteen years.

• Commentary

  The writer’s explanation of how and why a piece of evidence supports the claim; it is the writer’s reasoning, not a summary of the evidence.

  Example. After citing a waitlist of 80 families for a program with 40 spots, a writer adds that it turns away two families for each one it serves.

• Summary

  A shorter restatement of what a source or piece of evidence says, with no explanation of why it matters to the claim.

  Example. “The study found that the trail is used by 2,000 people a week” only restates the finding; it is summary.

• Warrant

  The assumption, often unstated, that links evidence to a claim; commentary often makes the warrant clear.

  Example. Claim: the town pool should open at 6 a.m. Evidence: many residents start work at 8. Warrant: the pool should fit the hours residents can use it.