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-bitter
-defensive
-emotional
-humorous
-judgemental
-optimistic

(Negative and Positive connotations)

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A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.

Closed Thesis - a statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make. It is "closed" because it limits the number of points  the writer will make.
Open Thesis - is one that does not list all the points the writer intends to cover in an essay.

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Weak verbs like shows, tells, is, were, says, etc set up writers for narration, which makes the argument weak in itself. The use of strong verbs can improve an argument substantially.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODwmSYb3Tw

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diagram that illustrates the relationship among the speaker, audience, and subject.

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Virginia has been a university English instructor for over 20 years. She specializes in helping people write essays faster and easier.

Analysis Response Essays Include:

1. Evaluating author's purpose and audience.

3. Analyzing effectiveness of writing for that purpose and audience.

4. Giving personal response.

What You Need to Do

You have two jobs in this sort of essay. Your first job is to think carefully about what the author is trying to say to readers and to decide whether they write effectively to persuade that audience. Secondly, you need to explain how you personally react to the essay. Does this essay persuade you? Give you new ideas? Remind you of something you've seen, read or heard? Have you had a personal experience which gives you an insight into this subject?

Evaluating Purpose and Audience

In order to analyze the essay, you will need to consider the author's purpose in writing and the audience the author intended to reach. You may or may not be a part of that audience. In addition, you will need to consider any events or historical circumstances that prompted the author to write. Here are some questions to answer that can help you develop this part of your essay:

1. Who was the author? What is their point of view on this subject? What about their personal life would make them take this point of view? You might want to research to find out more about the author's life.

2. Why did the author write this? Before you can decide whether the author did a good job of writing the article, or what was effective or ineffective, you will need to decide what the author intended to so. To find out the purpose, think about these questions:

3. When was the article written? What was happening in that moment of time that made the author decide to write? You might want to research the news, events or ideas in the article.

4. Who was the audience for this article? Was the author writing to people who would tend to agree with them on the issue, trying to persuade a group that was neutral, or trying to argue with an audience who disagreed?

5. Where was this published? What sort of a publication was this and who were the readers? What did the readers of this publication think about this subject? Were readers of the article the main group the author hoped to persuade?

6. What is the takeaway for readers? What does the author want the readers to think, believe or do after reading this article?

Often, you will need to include at least a brief summary of the ideas in the article you are discussing. If your audience is familiar with the text, then this can be a one or two sentence reminder:
Example: In Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, King sets forth his idea of a society free from racial discrimination and encourages his audience to not only envision but to work to create this new world.
If your article is not familiar to your readers, you may need to do a more extended summary, but be careful not to get into too many details because you want to make sure most of your paper is analysis and response. Just tell the main ideas. Generally, one paragraph is enough.

Want to include more? Don't forget that you can include more details from the original article as examples to prove your different points of analysis or reasons for your response.

Basic Features

1. Describes author's purpose in writing.

2. Explains historical context and events which prompted the author to write.

3. Analyzes intended audience and what they believe about this subject.

4. Examines how this piece of writing fits into other writing about this subject.

5. Describes the organization of the essay.

6. Tells the claim and sub-claims.

7. Explains the support.

8. Analyzes the type, quantity, quality and relevance of the support.

9. Explains how the author shows they are an authority.

10. Explains how the author makes their writing interesting and effective for this audience.

11. Tells what makes this essay effective or ineffective as an argument.

Analysis Includes

Description: How the paper is written.

Evaluation: How effectively it persuades.

How to Write

There are several ways to effectively analyze an article but every analysis must have two parts: description and evaluation. How do you do this? First, it helps to do a short outline or write notes as you read so that you can see the structure of how the essay is written. Second, answer the following questions. One hint I give students is that if they write the answers to the questions in full sentences, you can actually save a lot of time because those full sentences can be copied and pasted right into your essay.

Description Questions

1. What kind of an essay is it? Types of essays: cause, problem solution, definition, evaluation, analysis, comparison and contrast, personal experience.

2. What sort of claim does it make? Types of claims: fact, definition, cause, value, policy.

3. How is the essay organized?

4. What is the main claim of the essay?

5. What are the sub-claims or reasons to support the thesis?

6. What does the author do at opening and conclusion?

7. What kind of support does the author use? Types of support: Logical: sign, induction, cause, deduction, analogy, definition, statistics, pathos, authority, emotional, values. Don't forget visual proof and stories in the article which attempt to persuade you.

Evaluation Questions

1. Who is the audience? How well does the author appeal to this audience? How does the author establish common ground?

2. Is the organization effective?

3. Is support effective? Relevant? Enough? Logical?

4. What is the purpose of the author in this essay? Is the argument obvious? Extremist? Hidden? Unconscious? Exploratory? Objective Reporting?

5. Is this article a classic argument where the author wants to convince you of their point? Or is it more exploratory and consensual, attempting to look at several sides of an issue and letting the reader decide or leaving the decision tentative?

6. What are the constraints on this issue? What current events, circumstances or attitudes affect the audience and author?

Analysis Sample

Use this sample format to take your questions from description and evaluation above to turn them into a smoothly written paper. The "XXX" is your answer:
Summary:
In "Why I Hate Cats" author John Stephans explains XXX (give a summary of article).
Description:
"Why I Hate Cats" is an XXX essay which makes the claim XXX. The essay opens with XXX and makes the claim XXX in paragraph XXX that XXX. The rest of essay is organized by XXX (very brief description of the outline of essay perhaps telling where the description of problem is, where claims are and where support is located in the paper).
Evaluation:
Because the article was published in XXX, the intended audience is probably XXX and they believe XXX. Stephans wants to convince them XXX. The author establishes his/her authority by XXX. The author assumes an audience who XXX. He (She) establishes common ground with the audience by XXX. The purpose of the author is XXX. The constraints on discussing this issue are XXX.

The support includes XXX. The support is adequate (inadequate) and is relevant (irrelevant) to the author's claim because XXX.

Overall, the article is effective (or ineffective) because XXX.

How to Write

A response answers the question, "What did you think?" It may include one or more of the following:

1. Your personal reaction to the article's ideas.

2. Your reaction to the author's writing.

3. Your opinion about the topic.

4. How your life experience makes you reflect on this topic in a similar or different way from the author.

5. How the current events when you are reading the essay make you view the article ideas differently.

6. How other things you've read, heard about or seen make you reflect on the article.

Part of your reaction will be based on your life experiences and values. In order to evaluate your reaction, you need to think about how your life has been the same or different from the authors. You may want to address those similarities or differences in your response. In addition, you can consider what about the way the author has written the piece makes you respond the way you did. Perhaps you agree with the author's claim, but find the writing dull and ineffective, the examples outdated, or the argument too predictable.

Response Questions

1. What is your personal reaction to the essay?

2. What common ground do you have with the author?

3. What was the original audience of the essay? How are they the same or different from you? Did the author argue effectively for the original audience?

4. What in the essay is new to you?

5. What does this essay make you think about?

6. How do current events relate to this essay?

7. What personal experiences does this essay remind you about?

8. How do other things you've heard or read about relate to essay ideas?

9. What do you like or dislike about the essay and/or the ideas in the essay?

Sample Response

Before reading this essay, my understanding of this topic was XXX. I have XXX as common ground with the author. I am like the original audience because XXX and unlike them because of XXX. My reaction to this essay is XXX. What was new to me is XXX. This essay makes me think XXX. I like/ dislike XXX in the essay.

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Virginia has been a university English instructor for over 20 years. She specializes in helping people write essays faster and easier. 1. Evaluating author's purpose and audience. 3. Analyzing effectiveness of writing for that purpose and audience. 4. Giving personal response. You have two jobs in this sort of essay.

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This fallacy is latin for "after which therefore because of which," meaning that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier. One may loosely summarize this fallacy by saying that correlation does not imply causation.

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LOGOS: the means of appealing to an audience through logical reasoning--reasoning which is true (based on fact) and which follows a logical progression

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What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas. Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and thought since the time of early Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates and has continued to be a subject of discussion into the modern age, for example the ability to recognise fake news.

Critical thinking might be described as the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.

In essence, critical thinking requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information.

Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not.

Critical thinkers will identify, analyse and solve problems systematically rather than by intuition or instinct.

Someone with critical thinking skills can:

Understand the links between ideas.

Determine the importance and relevance of arguments and ideas.

Recognise, build and appraise arguments.

Identify inconsistencies and errors in reasoning.

Approach problems in a consistent and systematic way.

Reflect on the justification of their own assumptions, beliefs and values.

Critical thinking is thinking about things in certain ways so as to arrive at the best possible solution in the circumstances that the thinker is aware of. In more everyday language, it is a way of thinking about whatever is presently occupying your mind so that you come to the best possible conclusion.

Critical Thinking is:

A way of thinking about particular things at a particular time; it is not the accumulation of facts and knowledge or something that you can learn once and then use in that form forever, such as the nine times table you learn and use in school.

The Skills We Need for Critical Thinking

The skills that we need in order to be able to think critically are varied and include observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem solving, and decision making.

Specifically we need to be able to:

Think about a topic or issue in an objective and critical way.

Identify the different arguments there are in relation to a particular issue.

Evaluate a point of view to determine how strong or valid it is.

Recognise any weaknesses or negative points that there are in the evidence or argument.

Notice what implications there might be behind a statement or argument.

Provide structured reasoning and support for an argument that we wish to make.

The Critical Thinking Process

You should be aware that none of us think critically all the time.

Sometimes we think in almost any way but critically, for example when our self-control is affected by anger, grief or joy or when we are feeling just plain 'bloody minded'.

On the other hand, the good news is that, since our critical thinking ability varies according to our current mindset, most of the time we can learn to improve our critical thinking ability by developing certain routine activities and applying them to all problems that present themselves.

Once you understand the theory of critical thinking, improving your critical thinking skills takes persistence and practice.

Try this simple exercise to help you to start thinking critically.

Think of something that someone has recently told you. Then ask yourself the following questions:

Who said it? Someone you know? Someone in a position of authority or power? Does it matter who told you this? What did they say? Did they give facts or opinions? Did they provide all the facts? Did they leave anything out? Where did they say it? Was it in public or in private? Did other people have a chance to respond an provide an alternative account? When did they say it? Was it before, during or after an important event? Is timing important? Why did they say it? Did they explain the reasoning behind their opinion? Were they trying to make someone look good or bad? How did they say it? Were they happy or sad, angry or indifferent? Did they write it or say it? Could you understand what was said?
What are you Aiming to Achieve?

One of the most important aspects of critical thinking is to decide what you are aiming to achieve and then make a decision based on a range of possibilities.

Once you have clarified that aim for yourself you should use it as the starting point in all future situations requiring thought and, possibly, further decision making. Where needed, make your workmates, family or those around you aware of your intention to pursue this goal. You must then discipline yourself to keep on track until changing circumstances mean you have to revisit the start of the decision making process.

However, there are things that get in the way of simple decision making. We all carry with us a range of likes and dislikes, learnt behaviours and personal preferences developed throughout our lives; they are the hallmarks of being human. A major contribution to ensuring we think critically is to be aware of these personal characteristics, preferences and biases and make allowance for them when considering possible next steps, whether they are at the pre-action consideration stage or as part of a rethink caused by unexpected or unforeseen impediments to continued progress.

The more clearly we are aware of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, the more likely our critical thinking will be productive.

The Benefit of Foresight

Perhaps the most important element of thinking critically is foresight.

Almost all decisions we make and implement don't prove disastrous if we find reasons to abandon them. However, our decision making will be infinitely better and more likely to lead to success if, when we reach a tentative conclusion, we pause and consider the impact on the people and activities around us.

The elements needing consideration are generally numerous and varied. In many cases, consideration of one element from a different perspective will reveal potential dangers in pursuing our decision.

For instance, moving a business activity to a new location may improve potential output considerably but it may also lead to the loss of skilled workers if the distance moved is too great. Which of these is the more important consideration? Is there some way of lessening the conflict?

These are the sort of problems that may arise from incomplete critical thinking, a demonstration perhaps of the critical importance of good critical thinking.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide for Students
Develop the skills you need to make the most of your time as a student.

Our eBooks are ideal for students at all stages of education, school, college and university. They are full of easy-to-follow practical information that will help you to learn more effectively and get better grades.

In Summary:

Critical thinking is aimed at achieving the best possible outcomes in any situation. In order to achieve this it must involve gathering and evaluating information from as many different sources possible.

Critical thinking requires a clear, often uncomfortable, assessment of your personal strengths, weaknesses and preferences and their possible impact on decisions you may make.

Critical thinking requires the development and use of foresight as far as this is possible. As Doris Day sang, "the future's not ours to see".

Implementing the decisions made arising from critical thinking must take into account an assessment of possible outcomes and ways of avoiding potentially negative outcomes, or at least lessening their impact.

Critical thinking involves reviewing the results of the application of decisions made and implementing change where possible.

It might be thought that we are overextending our demands on critical thinking in expecting that it can help to construct focused meaning rather than examining the information given and the knowledge we have acquired to see if we can, if necessary, construct a meaning that will be acceptable and useful.

After all, almost no information we have available to us, either externally or internally, carries any guarantee of its life or appropriateness. Neat step-by-step instructions may provide some sort of trellis on which our basic understanding of critical thinking can blossom but it doesn't and cannot provide any assurance of certainty, utility or longevity.

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Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas. Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and thought since the time of early Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates and has continued to be a subject of discussion into the modern age, for example the ability to recognise fake news.

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examples:
- ethos, logos, pathos
-purposeful diction
-imagery
-parallelism

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No matter what walk of life you come from, what industry you're interested in pursuing or how much experience you've already garnered, we've all seen firsthand the importance of critical thinking skills. In fact, lacking such skills can truly make or break a person's career, as the consequences of one's inability to process and analyze information effectively can be massive.

"The ability to think critically is more important now than it has ever been," urges Kris Potrafka, founder and CEO of Music Firsthand. "Everything is at risk if we don't all learn to think more critically." If people cannot think critically, he explains, they not only lessen their prospects of climbing the ladder in their respective industries, but they also become easily susceptible to things like fraud and manipulation.

With that in mind, you're likely wondering what you can do to make sure you're not one of those people. Developing your critical thinking skills is something that takes concentrated work. It can be best to begin by exploring the definition of critical thinking and the skills it includes-once you do, you can then venture toward the crucial question at hand: How can I improve?

This is no easy task, which is why we aimed to help break down the basic elements of critical thinking and offer suggestions on how you can hone your skills and become a better critical thinker.

What is critical thinking?

Even if you want to be a better critical thinker, it's hard to improve upon something you can't define. Critical thinking is the analysis of an issue or situation and the facts, data or evidence related to it. Ideally, critical thinking is to be done objectively-meaning without influence from personal feelings, opinions or biases-and it focuses solely on factual information.

Critical thinking is a skill that allows you to make logical and informed decisions to the best of your ability. For example, a child who has not yet developed such skills might believe the Tooth Fairy left money under their pillow based on stories their parents told them. A critical thinker, however, can quickly conclude that the existence of such a thing is probably unlikely-even if there are a few bucks under their pillow.

6 Crucial critical thinking skills (and how you can improve them)

While there's no universal standard for what skills are included in the critical thinking process, we've boiled it down to the following six. Focusing on these can put you on the path to becoming an exceptional critical thinker.

1. Identification

The first step in the critical thinking process is to identify the situation or problem as well as the factors that may influence it. Once you have a clear picture of the situation and the people, groups or factors that may be influenced, you can then begin to dive deeper into an issue and its potential solutions.

How to improve: When facing any new situation, question or scenario, stop to take a mental inventory of the state of affairs and ask the following questions:

Who is doing what?

What seems to be the reason for this happening?

What are the end results, and how could they change?

2. Research

When comparing arguments about an issue, independent research ability is key. Arguments are meant to be persuasive-that means the facts and figures presented in their favor might be lacking in context or come from questionable sources. The best way to combat this is independent verification; find the source of the information and evaluate.

How to improve: It can be helpful to develop an eye for unsourced claims. Does the person posing the argument offer where they got this information from? If you ask or try to find it yourself and there's no clear answer, that should be considered a red flag. It's also important to know that not all sources are equally valid-take the time to learn the difference between popular and scholarly articles.

3. Identifying biases

This skill can be exceedingly difficult, as even the smartest among us can fail to recognize biases. Strong critical thinkers do their best to evaluate information objectively. Think of yourself as a judge in that you want to evaluate the claims of both sides of an argument, but you'll also need to keep in mind the biases each side may possess.

It is equally important-and arguably more difficult-to learn how to set aside your own personal biases that may cloud your judgement. "Have the courage to debate and argue with your own thoughts and assumptions," Potrafka encourages. "This is essential for learning to see things from different viewpoints."

How to improve: "Challenge yourself to identify the evidence that forms your beliefs, and assess whether or not your sources are credible," offers Ruth Wilson, director of development at Brightmont Academy.

First and foremost, you must be aware that bias exists. When evaluating information or an argument, ask yourself the following:

Who does this benefit?

Does the source of this information appear to have an agenda?

Is the source overlooking, ignoring or leaving out information that doesn't support its beliefs or claims?

Is this source using unnecessary language to sway an audience's perception of a fact?

4. Inference

The ability to infer and draw conclusions based on the information presented to you is another important skill for mastering critical thinking. Information doesn't always come with a summary that spells out what it means. You'll often need to assess the information given and draw conclusions based upon raw data.

The ability to infer allows you to extrapolate and discover potential outcomes when assessing a scenario. It is also important to note that not all inferences will be correct. For example, if you read that someone weighs 260 pounds, you might infer they are overweight or unhealthy. Other data points like height and body composition, however, may alter that conclusion.

How to improve: An inference is an educated guess, and your ability to infer correctly can be polished by making a conscious effort to gather as much information as possible before jumping to conclusions. When faced with a new scenario or situation to evaluate, first try skimming for clues-things like headlines, images and prominently featured statistics-and then make a point to ask yourself what you think is going on.

5. Determining relevance

One of the most challenging parts of thinking critically during a challenging scenario is figuring out what information is the most important for your consideration. In many scenarios, you'll be presented with information that may seem important, but it may pan out to be only a minor data point to consider.

How to improve: The best way to get better at determining relevance is by establishing a clear direction in what you're trying to figure out. Are you tasked with finding a solution? Should you be identifying a trend? If you figure out your end goal, you can use this to inform your judgement of what is relevant.

Even with a clear objective, however, it can still be difficult to determine what information is truly relevant. One strategy for combating this is to make a physical list of data points ranked in order of relevance. When you parse it out this way, you'll likely end up with a list that includes a couple of obviously relevant pieces of information at the top of your list, in addition to some points at the bottom that you can likely disregard. From there, you can narrow your focus on the less clear-cut topics that reside in the middle of your list for further evaluation.

6. Curiosity

It's incredibly easy to sit back and take everything presented to you at face value, but that can also be also a recipe for disaster when faced with a scenario that requires critical thinking. It's true that we're all naturally curious-just ask any parent who has faced an onslaught of "Why?" questions from their child. As we get older, it can be easier to get in the habit of keeping that impulse to ask questions at bay. But that's not a winning approach for critical thinking.

How to improve: While it might seem like a curious mind is just something you're born with, you can still train yourself to foster that curiosity productively. All it takes is a conscious effort to ask open-ended questions about the things you see in your everyday life, and you can then invest the time to follow up on these questions.

"Being able to ask open-ended questions is an important skill to develop-and bonus points for being able to probe," Potrafka says.

Become a better critical thinker

Thinking critically is vital for anyone looking to have a successful college career and a fruitful professional life upon graduation. Your ability to objectively analyze and evaluate complex subjects and situations will always be useful. Unlock your potential by practicing and refining the six critical thinking skills above.

Most professionals credit their time in college as having been crucial in the development of their critical thinking abilities. If you're looking to improve your skills in a way that can impact your life and career moving forward, higher education is a fantastic venue through which to achieve that. For some of the surefire signs you're ready to take the next step in your education, visit our article, "6 Signs You're Ready to Be a College Student."
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally published in December 2012. It has since been updated. RELATED ARTICLES:

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6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now

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No matter what walk of life you come from, what industry you're interested in pursuing or how much experience you've already garnered, we've all seen firsthand the importance of critical thinking skills. In fact, lacking such skills can truly make or break a person's career, as the consequences of one's inability to process and analyze information effectively can be massive.

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Four examples of common logical fallacies.-- Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/ . Make your own animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to develop cool animated clips and animated presentations for your website, office meeting, sales pitch, nonprofit fundraiser, product launch, video resume, or anything else you could use an animated explainer video.

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A process of reasoned inquiry; a persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion.

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Means " to lead to" in Latin; induction is as logical process wherein you reason from particulars to universals, using specific cases in order to draw a conclusion, which is also called a generalization.

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Deduction is a logical process whereby one reaches a conclusion by starting with a general principal or universal truth (a major premise) and applying it to a specific case (a minor premise). The process of deduction is usually demonstrated in the form of a syllogism:
Major Premise: Exercise contributes to better health.
Minor Premise: Yoga is a type of exercise.
Conclusion: Yoga contributes to better health.

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1. introduction: introduces the reader to the subject under discussion (claims introduced)
2. narration: provides factual information and background material on the subject at hand or establishes why the subject is a problem that needs addressing (body paragraphs)
3.confirmation: usually the major part of the text, the confirmation includes the proof needed to make the writer's case.
4. refutation: addresses the counterargument. It is a bridge between the writer's proof and conclusion.
5. conclusion: brings the essay to a satisfying close (bold statement to end the argument)

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Logical fallacies are potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument. They often arise from a failure to make a logical connection between the claim and the evidence used to support it.

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Evidence is the quotes, facts, statistics, or examples used to prove your argument.

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The warrant expresses the assumption necessarily shared by the speaker and the audience.

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A logical fallacy that uses the claim as evidence.

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Also called an assertion or a proposition, a claim states the argument's main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable

Claim of Fact - a claim of fact asserts that something is true or not true.
Claim of Policy - a claim of policy proposes a change.
Claim of Value - a claim of value argues that something is good or bad, right or wrong.

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Claim Definition

A statement essentially arguable, but used as a primary point to support or prove an argument is called a claim. If somebody gives an argument to support his position, it is called "making a claim." Different reasons are usually presented to prove why a certain point should be accepted as logical. A general model is given below to explain the steps followed in making a claim:

Premise 1
Premise 2
Premise 3 ...
Premise N
Therefore,
Conclusion

In this model, the symbol and the dots before it signify that the number of premises used for proving an argument may vary. The word "therefore" shows that the conclusion will be restating the main argument, which was being supported all the way through.

With the help of a claim, one can express a particular stance on an issue that is controversial, so as to verify it as a logically sound idea. In case of a complex idea, it is always wise to start by classifying the statements you are about to put forward. Many times, the claims you make stay unnoticed because of the complex sentence structure; specifically, where the claims and their grounds are intertwined. However, a rhetorical performance, such as a speech or an essay, is typically made up of a single central claim, and most of the content contains several supporting arguments for that central claim.

Types of Claim

There are many types of claim used in literature, and all of them have their own significance. The type that we will be discussing here has great importance in writing and reading about literature because it is used frequently to build arguments. It is called evaluative claim.

Evaluative claims involve the assessment or judgment of the ideas in the original piece. They have been divided further into two types: ethical judgment and aesthetic judgment. As the name implies, aesthetic judgment revolves around deciding whether or not a piece of writing fulfills artistic standards.

You can easily find evaluative claim examples in book reviews. This type is about assessing an argument, or the entire essay on ethical, social, political, and philosophical grounds, and determining whether an idea is wise, good, commendable, and valid. The evaluative and interpretive claims typically consist of well-versed viewpoints. Where interpretive claims strive to explain or clarify the views communicated in and by the text, evaluative claims study the validity of those views by drawing comparison between them and the writer's own opinions.

Claim Examples

Interpretive Claims

Example #1: Animal Farm (By George Orwell)

The great thing about Animal Farm by George Orwell is that it has presented all animals equal in the eyes of the laws framed by them. They framed Ten Commandments when they expelled Mr. Jones from Manor Farm, and this rule, "All animals are equal," became a shibboleth for them.

This interpretive claim presents an argument about the exploration of the meanings, and the evidence that is given within quotation marks has been interpreted as well.

Similarly, "To be or not to be..." is an evidence of the excessive thinking of Prince Hamlet in the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare. If a person interprets the play, he has evidence to support his claim. Papers on literary analysis are treasure troves of examples of claim.

Evaluative Claims

Example #2: Animal Farm (By George Orwell)

As the majority of the animals were in the process of framing rules, it was understood that, although rats and several other animals were not present, whatsoever had four legs is an animal, and therefore is equal to any other animal. Hence, a general rule was framed that whatever walks on four legs is good. Later on, birds (having two wings and two legs) and other non-four-legged animals were also considered as animals. Therefore, all are equal.

Now this argument clearly shows the judgment given at the end, but it is after evaluation of the whole situation presented in the novel. This is called evaluative claim.

Function of Claim

The role of claims in writing any narrative or script is essential. If used correctly, they can strengthen the argument of your standpoint. The distinction between different types of claim can be highly confusing, and sometimes complicated. For instance, a composition that claims that Vogel's play gives out a socially and ethically impolite message about abuse, can also assert that the play is aesthetically flawed. A composition that goes on developing and advocating an interpretive claim about another script shows that it at least deserves philosophical or aesthetical interpretation. On the other hand, developing an evaluative claim about a composition always remains in need of a certain level of interpretation.

Hence, the dissimilarities are subtle, and can only be identified after close and profound observation; but all things considered, they are important. Thus, lest it is suggested you do otherwise, you must always leave the evaluative claims for conclusions, and make your essay an interpretive claim.

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Claim - Examples and Definition of Claim

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A statement essentially arguable, but used as a primary point to support or prove an argument is called a claim. If somebody gives an argument to support his position, it is called "making a claim." Different reasons are usually presented to prove why a certain point should be accepted as logical.

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A counterargument challenges your thesis, but with the right evidence and the use of concessions and refutations, it could make your argument much stronger.

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When you write an academic essay, you make an argument: you propose a thesis and offer some reasoning, using evidence, that suggests why the thesis is true. When you counter-argue, you consider a possible argument against your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning. This is a good way to test your ideas when drafting, while you still have time to revise them. And in the finished essay, it can be a persuasive and (in both senses of the word) disarming tactic. It allows you to anticipate doubts and pre-empt objections that a skeptical reader might have; it presents you as the kind of person who weighs alternatives before arguing for one, who confronts difficulties instead of sweeping them under the rug, who is more interested in discovering the truth than winning a point.

Not every objection is worth entertaining, of course, and you shouldn't include one just to include one. But some imagining of other views, or of resistance to one's own, occurs in most good essays. And instructors are glad to encounter counterargument in student papers, even if they haven't specifically asked for it.

Counterargument in an essay has two stages: you turn against your argument to challenge it and then you turn back to re-affirm it. You first imagine a skeptical reader, or cite an actual source, who might resist your argument by pointing out

a problem with your demonstration, e.g., that a different conclusion could be drawn from the same facts, a key assumption is unwarranted, a key term is used unfairly, certain evidence is ignored or played down;

one or more disadvantages or practical drawbacks to what you propose;

an alternative explanation or proposal that makes more sense.

You introduce this turn against with a phrase like One might object here that... or It might seem that... or It's true that... or Admittedly,... or Of course,... or with an anticipated challenging question: But how...? or But why...? or But isn't this just...? or But if this is so, what about...? Then you state the case against yourself as briefly but as clearly and forcefully as you can, pointing to evidence where possible. (An obviously feeble or perfunctory counterargument does more harm than good.)

Your return to your own argument-which you announce with a but, yet, however, nevertheless or still -must likewise involve careful reasoning, not a flippant (or nervous) dismissal. In reasoning about the proposed counterargument, you may

refute it, showing why it is mistaken-an apparent but not real problem;

acknowledge its validity or plausibility, but suggest why on balance it's relatively less important or less likely than what you propose, and thus doesn't overturn it;

concede its force and complicate your idea accordingly-restate your thesis in a more exact, qualified, or nuanced way that takes account of the objection, or start a new section in which you consider your topic in light of it. This will work if the counterargument concerns only an aspect of your argument; if it undermines your whole case, you need a new thesis.

Where to Put a Counterargument

Counterargument can appear anywhere in the essay, but it most commonly appears

as part of your introduction-before you propose your thesis-where the existence of a different view is the motive for your essay, the reason it needs writing;

as a section or paragraph just after your introduction, in which you lay out the expected reaction or standard position before turning away to develop your own;

as a quick move within a paragraph, where you imagine a counterargument not to your main idea but to the sub-idea that the paragraph is arguing or is about to argue;

as a section or paragraph just before the conclusion of your essay, in which you imagine what someone might object to what you have argued.

But watch that you don't overdo it. A turn into counterargument here and there will sharpen and energize your essay, but too many such turns will have the reverse effect by obscuring your main idea or suggesting that you're ambivalent.

Counterargument in Pre-Writing and Revising

Good thinking constantly questions itself, as Socrates observed long ago. But at some point in the process of composing an essay, you need to switch off the questioning in your head and make a case. Having such an inner conversation during the drafting stage, however, can help you settle on a case worth making. As you consider possible theses and begin to work on your draft, ask yourself how an intelligent person might plausibly disagree with you or see matters differently. When you can imagine an intelligent disagreement, you have an arguable idea.

And, of course, the disagreeing reader doesn't need to be in your head: if, as you're starting work on an essay, you ask a few people around you what they think of topic X (or of your idea about X) and keep alert for uncongenial remarks in class discussion and in assigned readings, you'll encounter a useful disagreement somewhere. Awareness of this disagreement, however you use it in your essay, will force you to sharpen your own thinking as you compose. If you come to find the counterargument truer than your thesis, consider making it your thesis and turning your original thesis into a counterargument. If you manage to draft an essay without imagining a counterargument, make yourself imagine one before you revise and see if you can integrate it.

Gordon Harvey (adapted from The Academic Essay: A Brief Anatomy), for the Writing Center at Harvard University

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When you write an academic essay, you make an argument: you propose a thesis and offer some reasoning, using evidence, that suggests why the thesis is true. When you counter-argue, you consider a possible argument against your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning.

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A fallacy that occurs when someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue is cited as an authority.