A STUDENT sits on a couch working on some posters at a table.
STUDENT: Hey, there. I’m trying to determine the relationships among claims, reasons, and evidence when writing an argument. Take a look. It can be so confusing, claims, reasons, evidence. Aren’t they all kind of the same thing? Not exactly. Sure, they all go into your perfect argument, but they each play a different part. The claim...
The STUDENT holds up a card with the word Claim written on it.
STUDENT: That’s the big idea or ideas that you have decided to argue. Here’s my claim: more people should live in cities. But you can’t just put out a claim and expect people to believe them. You need to give reasons.
The STUDENT holds up a card with the word Reasons written on it.
STUDENT: Reasons tell people why you think your claim is correct. For example, two of my reasons for my claim are: people who live in cities have less impact on the environment, and cities are filled with fun things to do. A claim can be connected to a reason using the word because: more people should live in cities because they are filled with fun things to do. And finally, everyone’s favorite, you have your evidence.
The STUDENT holds up a card with the word Evidence written on it.
STUDENT: These are the nitty-gritty details, the facts that will support your reasons and persuade people to accept your claim. For example, I need to support my first reason: cities have less impact on the environment. I can give evidence about how much energy each person in a city uses, or how much land they use. Those can all go into the paragraph that supports this reason. For the second reason, that cities are filled with fun things to do, I need other evidence. I could describe all the activities that are available in a city.
The STUDENT puts the poster back down on the table.
STUDENT: Okay, I’d better get back to work. I have lots of pieces to fill in.
The STUDENT starts working on another piece of paper.
STUDENT: Make sure when you’re writing an argument, you take the time to have all three of these things ready to go. And feel free to try my method, I can promise you, it helps.