3.2 EFFECTIVE ARGUMENTATIVE CLAIMS

Central to every argument is a claim. This is the position taken by the person making the argument. This is what he or she is hoping to prove, to persuade the audience to believe. The claims for the examples we just discussed could be summarized as:

Galileo: The earth revolves around the sun.

Stowe: Slavery is inhumane and should be eliminated.

Carson: DDT has dangerous, long-term effects on humans and the natural world.

Yousafzai: Education should be available to everyone, regardless of gender.

If you think carefully about these claims, you’ll notice something a bit odd: at this point in time, the claims put forth by Galileo, Stowe, and Carson seem indisputable. It is a verifiable scientific truth that the earth revolves around the sun. Slavery is absolutely inhumane and was long ago outlawed in the United States. The use of DDT was banned in the United States in 1972. It’s a testament to the power of these arguments that these issues are no longer subject to debate.

However, what made all of these arguments effective was that at one point each of these claims was controversial and the subject of debate. In the case of Yousafzai’s claim that education should be available to everyone regardless of gender, the matter might seem indisputable to you, but in her homeland it is still a matter of ongoing debate. And that’s what makes her stance so powerful.

So, the first step in crafting a strong argument is developing an arguable claim. After all, what’s the point of trying to persuade someone of something that’s already a proven fact? Finding an arguable claim is also about more than just personal preference. “I like popcorn better than pretzels” is a statement of preference about snack foods, but it’s not arguable if the speaker of the statement is merely stating his viewpoint. What is there to prove? And accusations are generally counterproductive: “Anybody who prefers pretzels to popcorn has bad taste” might sum up how you feel when the buttery aroma of popcorn hits your nose in the movie theater, but framing the argument as an attack on people who disagree ignores the issue at hand, which is to weigh the benefits of popcorn versus pretzels. However, if you changed these opinions and judgments to something like “Popcorn is a more nutritious snack than pretzels,” now there’s a claim that you can support, and that can serve as the basis of an argument. You would consider what “nutritious” means in terms of calories, fat, vitamins, or various other measures. Does nutritious mean healthful, or simply providing a lot of nutrition (calories)? It’s an arguable claim.

KEY QUESTION

When writing or analyzing a claim, be sure to ask yourself:

  • Is the claim arguable to begin with?