Section Five: Parts of an Argument

Parts of Effective Argumentation Typically, readers should expect and easily identify the parts of a writer’s argumentation, all revolving around a central idea. If this structure falls apart at any point, the reader should be unconvinced of the writer’s position/central idea.

Regardless of what some self-acclaimed cable television radio, and internet sports, political, or religious “experts” may seem to believe, argument is not just arguing.

Central Idea The central idea is a position (an opinion) on an issue. For example, “The age for driver certification should be raised to 25.”

Claims Claims are the building blocks of argument. These are the position statements in support of the central idea/position of the paper. For example, “Drivers in the current range of age for driver certification are not psychologically ready to take such a dangerous role in public.”

Reasons Reasons provide the “why” for the claim. This is a structure of logic built under a claim to support it. For example, “Drivers in this younger age range of 16-24 are prone to accidents and make poor decisions in dangerous situations.”

Warrants Warrants are uncontested principles that connect the evidence to the reason. Warrants need to be held in common by the writer’s audience or they will not work. For example, “Safety on our nation’s roads is one of our most important considerations when setting policy for America.”

Evidence Evidence can come in different forms. These are bits of information in proof of the reasons. For example, “Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers across the United States. For both men and women, drivers aged 16 to 19 years of age have the highest average annual crash and traffic violation rates of any other age group” (California Department of Moving Vehicles

Counterclaims In addition to the reader assessing a writer’s central idea, claims, evidence and warrants, the reader must also assess how the writer handles the counterclaims, or opposing arguments, to the writer’s position

Evidence and Counterclaims