Claims & Arguments
What is the main argument or position the author wants the reader to believe?
Claim
A short story or personal example used to support a claim.
Anecdote
The author’s use of credibility or trustworthiness.
Ethos
The strategy where writers introduce Title, Author, Genre, and Summary.
TAGS
Is this a topic or a claim?
“Teenagers and summer jobs.”
Topic
A statement that reasonable people could disagree with.
Argument
Evidence that uses numbers, data, or graphs.
Statistics / Quantitative evidence
Appeal to logic or reason.
Logos
A writing structure meaning Answer, Cite, Explain, Summarize.
ACES
Is this a topic or a claim?
“Teenagers should have summer jobs.”
Claim
Evidence, reasoning, and examples are used to __________ a claim.
Support
Information or testimony from an expert.
Expert evidence
Appeal to the audience’s emotions.
Pathos
Words that connect ideas like “however,” “therefore,” or “for example.”
Transitions
True or False: A claim is something people can disagree about.
True
A claim that acknowledges another viewpoint before responding to it.
Counterclaim
True or False: Evidence should always connect back to the author’s claim.
True
The relationship between speaker, audience, and subject.
Rhetorical situation
A sentence that clearly states the writer’s argument.
Thesis
What do we call the main point an author wants the reader to believe?
Claim/thesis
The logical explanation that connects evidence to the claim.
Reasoning/commentary
Which is evidence?
A) “Jobs are important.”
B) “60% of teens worked in 1978.”
B - Statistics
When we analyze how an author writes to influence the reader, what type of analysis are we doing?
Rhetorical analysis
A sentence that explains how evidence proves the claim.
Commentary / Explanation
Which is stronger?
A) “Tennagers should have summer jobs because it is important”
B) “Summer jobs teach teens responsibility and life skills that will benefit them in ways school alone cannot”
B - Clear, not vague