1. English b1a
Claim Types

2. Claim Types
There are five types of claims you can make in a persuasive essay.
Truth/Fact
Definition
Cause
Value
Policy

3. Truth/Fact
Claims of truth or fact argue that something happened or didn’t happen or that something exists or doesn’t exist.
On the surface, these may not seem arguable, but there are some arguable truth/fact claims.
Examples:
Marilyn Monroe’s death was a suicide.
We are currently experiencing climate change.

4. Definition
Claims of definition argue how something is defined or how we should define it.
Examples:
Marriage should be between two consenting adults.
Education is more than just vocational training.

5. Cause
Cause claims argue the primary cause of a particular event. They may also examine effects.
Examples:
Because of Amazonian deforestation, carbon dioxide levels have reached a new high in the southern hemisphere.
Many food additives are causing negative health effects on today’s youth.

6. Value
Value claims make a judgment call about right or wrong, moral or immoral.
Examples:
Harming animals in the process of medical testing is immoral.
Public schools are better than private schools.

7. Policy Claims of policy argue what we should or should not be doing.
Examples:
All students who graduate should participate in graduation ceremonies.
To reduce distraction in the classroom, students should follow a dress code.

8. Claim Types
Working together in small groups, label each claim by type: truth/fact, definition, cause, value, or policy.
While the video evidence is damning, the police were within their bounds, and their actions do not constitute police brutality.
Use of the death penalty is unethical.
To reduce underage smoking, films that contain scenes that involve smoking should receive an “R” rating.
The exhibit at the museum is not art; it is thinly veiled pornography.
Deforestation is one of the leading contributors of global warming.
In light of recent video footage, we can now be reasonably certain that big foot does, indeed, exist.
A lack of proper funding for research led to the disastrous epidemic of AIDS in the 1980s.
As thinking beings, animals are just as valuable creatures as humans.
To enable rehabilitation, convicted criminals should receive counseling as well as prison terms for their crimes.
Despite popular belief, Lee Harvey Oswald did not assassinate JFK.