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The Claim
In the Toulmin model for argument, the claim is the thesis that the writer or speaker is trying to prove. Thus the claim and the thesis are one and the same.
The claim must be a direct statement of fact, value, or policy.
The claim cannot be a question. Rather, it is the answer to the question, “What are you trying to prove?”
For the purposes of this course, the claim (a complete sentence) must be underlined or italicized. (Underlining and italics mean the same thing—
Don’t do both.
The claim is a complete sentence, and every word in that sentence forms the claim.
Examples:
Incorrect:
I believe that the U. S. should adopt a single payer health care system.
Unnecessary words that are not part of the claim.
Incorrect:
The U. S. health care system is a mess. We should adopt a single payer system.
Two different claims, one of fact and one of policy.
Correct:
The U. S. should adopt a single payer health care system.
A claim of policy.
As does every thesis, a claim contains a controlling idea that limits what will appear in the essay. Everything in the essay must support that controlling idea.
Since the predicate is the active part of the sentence, the controlling idea is often found there.
Example:
Claim: Women still face discrimination in the classroom.
Subject: Women
Verb: face
Controlling idea: discrimination in the classroom. The essay will be about discrimination in the classroom—and nothing but discrimination in the classroom—as that classroom discrimination relates to the subject women.