Making An Argument Claims Reasons and Evidence To
- Slides: 6
Making An Argument Claims, Reasons and Evidence
To what extent has the Seahawks’ success been positive for Seattle? • Your answer to this question is a “CLAIM”. You essence you are claiming that something is true. • Sample Simple Claims based on the question. • 1. The Seahawks’ success has been completely positive for the Seattle area. • 2. The Seahawks’ success has been completely negative for the Seattle area. A more complicated claim. The Seahawks’ success has generally been positive for Seattle, but there have been some negative consequences, too.
Let’s make our arguments more sophisticated. • All good arguments and claims have reasons and evidence to support them. • When you know the reasons that support your claim, you want to mention them briefly in your main claim. Your main claim is your thesis if you are writing an essay. The reasons for your claim will be the Topic Sentences in your body paragraphs. Your evidence will be used in your body paragraphs to support your reasons, which support your main claim/thesis.
Claim 1 – Seahawks good for Seattle • Reason 1 – Good for the economy (Evidence – sales, jobs, taxes) • Reason 2 – Good for local athletes. (Evidence – role models, involvement) • Reason 3 – Good for morale of the community (Evidence – Sonics gone, Mariners sketchy, need something positive) • Revised Claim with reasons: • The Seahawks’ success the last few years has been positive for the Seattle economy, for local athletes and for the morale of the area in general. • If you are to turn this claim into an essay, each of the reasons would become a topic for a body paragraph.
Claim 2 – Seahawks success negative for Seattle • Reason 1 – Success has distracted people from reality. • Evidence: car accidents on rise during games, lower rate of watching news on Sundays • Reason 2 – Led to arrogance of the local population • Evidence: Twitter and Facebook posts are increasingly negative and condescending, increase of assault against non-Seahawks fans • Revised Claim/Thesis with reasons: • The Seahawks’ recent success has been negative because it distracts Seattleites from reality and makes Seattleites overly arrogant.
More complicated claim A more complicated claim. The Seahawks’ success has generally been positive for Seattle, but there have been some negative consequences, too. Revised and more complicated claim: While the Seahawks’ success had some negative consequences (like distracting the locals from serious issues), in general, the Seahawks’ success has been positive by developing the local economy, helping local athletes and boosting the morale of the people in the Puget Sound.
