Claims made in a written text

At the end of the module, the student is expected to:

1. Identify claims explicitly or implicitly made in a written text:
a. Claim of fact
b. Claim of policy
c. Claim of value

What is a claim?
Critical reading enables you to distinguish the explicit and implicit
information provided by the author. Explicit information is information that
is clearly stated in the text. Implicit, on the other hand, are ideas suggested in
the text but not directly stated. This is where the ability to make inferences
based on clues within the text is applied.
Through proper identification of explicit and implicit information, the critical
reader can properly evaluate the claim/s made by an author. Claims state the
point or position of an author regarding a certain topic. The claim statement
is further proven by supporting details from various resources and reliable
evidence. This is the most important part of a written text as it does not only
limit the scope of the topic but it also gives a concise summary of the writer’s
thoughts and argument.
Tiongson gave the following characteristics of good claims:
1. A claim should be argumentative and debatable. It is expected for a
written text to yield objections and opposite perspectives to appear for
readers of a text that supports a certain stand on a topic. Completely
factual texts are not considered debatable.
2. A claim should be specific and focused. With the statement of claim
limiting the scope of the written text, it must be noted that claims must be
focused on a single topic alone to arrive at an equally concise and specific
result or conclusion.
3. A claim should be interesting and engaging. It should capture the interest
of readers at first glance and encourage a healthy discussion on the topic,
whether or not they’re from different points of view.
4. A claim should be logical. The evidence supporting the claim must be
reasonable at its best.

Course Module
Claims of Fact
As discussed in the previous chapter, one of the essential parts of an
argument is the claim, or the idea that the author wants you to perceive as
true. In line with this are three types of claims:
This type of claim states the existence of something, a definition or
classification, as well as facts or inferences of a certain topic. This type of
claim asserts something that exists, has existed or will exist based on data.
There are three types of factual claims that are generally referred to as
objective:
1. Factual/historical
2. Relational
3. Predictive
Along with this claim are the support requiring the following:
1. Sufficient and appropriate grounds. This evidence may be in the form of
reliable authority, recent data, accurate and typical data as well as clearly
defined terms.
2. A clear distinction between fact and inference.
One example of a claim of fact is the following statement:
Excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to many illnesses.
The reader may assume that due to previous researches done on the topic of
alcoholism, it has brought about numerous cases of illnesses from people
who excessively consume alcohol. Supporting evidence may come from
doctors or experts who have handled such cases, patients who have suffered
from illnesses due to excessive alcohol intake, and even other researches on
the effects of alcoholism.

Claims of Value
Claim of Value, on the other hand, refers to statements that appeal to a
person’s taste and morals or the sense of what’s good and what’s bad. This
type of claim weighs the values according to which is more desirable. Claim
of value deals with topics concerning moral, philosophical, or aesthetic
aspects.
Proof of this claim requires the following:
1. Establishing standards of evaluation (i.e. a warrant that defines what
constitutes instances of the relevant value)
2. The priority of the value in this instance.
3. Establish the practical or moral advantage of your standards
4. Use of examples to clarify abstract values
5. Use of credible authorities for support.
The famous saying, honesty is the best policy, is one good example of a claim
of value. To prove the statements validity, the author may elaborate on the
 examples that shows how honesty holds advantage over other policies and
how it has been proven to be effective.

Claims of Policy
Lastly, the Claim of Policy calls for some form of action. It states what the
reader should or ought to do about a particular situation/topic. This type of
claim usually involves sub-claims of fact and value.
Proof of this claim requires the following:
1. Making proposed action clear
2. Justification of need
3. A workable plan
4. Advantages or benefits of the action
5. Consider opposition or counter arguments
To attract more nontraditional students, this college must review and revise its
course offerings.
The given statement above is an example of a claim of policy. It calls on
action for the college referred to, regarding its course offerings to arrive at a
workable conclusion which is to attract more nontraditional students. The
author may choose to elaborate on this course of action to prove that this
claim can work for the college.

References
Claims. Retrieved from:
http://department.monm.edu/cata/mcgaan/classes/cata335/o-
claims.335.html
The Formal Debate. Retrieved
from: http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu/jrernest/5120_issues/fact_valu
e_policy.html
Tiongson, et.al. (2016), Reading and Writing Skills.

Course Module