Claim, Warrant, Impact

Transcription

1 Claim, Warrant, Impact

2 Building Strong Paragraphs For argumentative writing, three important terms to know are claim, warrant and impact. A claim is your position. For instance, your answer to the following question: Should American citizens be allowed to own firearms? Your claim might be: "No, I don't think Americans should own firearms" or "I support the right of American citizens to own firearms." A warrant is a reason or piece of evidence that supports your claim. For instance, your warrant might be "Americans should not be allowed to own firearms because each year, firearms cause thousands of deaths in America. Impact is something that good that will happen if people listen to you or something bad that will happen if they don't. For instance, your impact might be: "If Americans weren't allowed to have guns, there wouldn't be as many murders in the United States.

3 Claims Claims, as their name implies, a claim is a statement you are advancing as true. Even when you re not reading evidence, a claim is any declarative statement that you are trying to establish as true within the debate. So, if you are debating about immigration reform, and your strategy for the debate requires you to win that immigration reform is good because it improves the economy, your claim is simply immigration reform is good because it improves the economy.

4 Claims Here are some claims: Cigarette vending machines should be outlawed. Cytochrome is important in cell respiration. All students should be required to take computer science. Arthur killed Daphne in self-defense. Claims have two parts: the topic and what is asserted about the topic: TOPIC ASSERTION Cigarette vending machines > should be outlawed Arthur killed Daphne > in self-defense All students > should be required to take computer science

5 Warrant Warrants are what you use to create legitimacy for your claims. They are the reasons why the claim is true. You should dedicate a substantial amount of your time to debating about warrants. Warrants can be just about anything, as long as they re arguments that support the accuracy of the claim. The more specific the explanation is, the better off you will be.

6 Warrant For example, if you want to support the claim that immigration reform is good for the economy, you could say: Immigrants provide a necessary labor force to produce needed goods Immigrants pay taxes, resulting in more net revenue for the government Immigrants open businesses and make investments, increasing jobs Immigrants compensate for Baby Boomers leaving the workforce and keep entitlement programs solvent or plenty of other reasons Warrants are almost always better if they are supported by a piece of evidence.

7 Impact Impacts are why someone should care about your argument. In other words, why is this point important? For example, in this hypothetical argument about immigration reform, you would say: immigration reform is good because it improves the economy, articulate one or more reasons why you believe this is true, and then explain why having a strong, growing economy is important. You might then explain economic liberty is fundamental to respect for human rights. Or, you might simply want to explain that economic growth prevents poverty and improves quality of life. Exactly why economic growth is important is up to you, but make sure you have a reason. That s your impact for the claim, immigration reform is good

8 Putting it Together Each of these three steps (CLAIM, WARRANT, IMPACT) should be included in every paragraph you make in an argument. Remember, nothing should go into your essay without you considering and articulating WHAT you are claiming, HOW we know it is true, and WHY the reader should care. This will make sure your arguments are always fully-developed, your judge understands them, and they earn you maximum clout in the debate around your chosen topic.