STATEMENT OF OPINION AND ASSERTION,
CLAIMS OF FACT, VALUE AND POLICY, AND
LITERARY APPROACHES
ENGLISH | Third Monthly | Chapter 3 | 10 – St. Ezekiel Moreno
Opinion and Assertion
 Opinion – a statement that involves the
person’s feelings, emotion, and
preferences. It cannot be proven.
Expressing a Personal Opinion:
 In my opinion….
 I feel that….
 I would say that….
 Speaking personally….
 As I see it…
 Well, if you ask me…
 In my view….
 I think that….
 Assertion – a statement that is
somewhat true and somewhat false. A
confident and forceful statement of fact
or belief. It is also considered a
declaration.
Claims
 Claim – a clear assertion of one’s belief,
proposition, or opinion.
 Identifying one’s claims is an essential
skill when expressing opinion on a
certain issue especially in the field
writing.
 May serve the purpose of convincing or
persuading readers or a specific
audience to agree with a specific stand
or rationale on an issue
Claims of Fact, Value, and Policy
 Claim of Fact
– assertion that something is true or
false.
- It is objective and verifiable (with data)
 Claim of value
– a proposition that is based on the
worth of something. It evaluates or
judges whether or not something is
good, right, just, moral, and ethical.
– presents an assertion to whether
something is good or bad
– is one concept or idea better that
another?
– emphasizes and weighs the benefits
of the subjects matter
– is also debatable in nature
– kind of similar to an opinion
 Claim of Policy
– an assertion that support a particular
course of action
– usually uses the modal verbs should
and must (obligation)
Parts of Critique (Critical Analysis)
Introduction
Summary
Analysis
Conclusion
Analysis
 Critical Approaches (Literary Criticisms)
– sometimes called “lenses”, are the
different perspectives we can consider
in analysing or interpreting a text
Literary or Critical Approaches
 Structuralist/Formalist Approach –
holds the true meaning of a text can be
determined only by analysing the
literary elements. Elements:
o Literary elements
o Literary devices
o Structure
o Language
 Historical approach – understanding of
the historical and cultural traditions
 Moralist Approach – study literature
from the moral perspective therefore to
determine whether a work conveys a
lesson or message
 Feminist Approach – focuses on female
presentation in literature
 Reader-Response Approach
dependent upon readers’ response to it
 Marxist Approach – examines the
relationship of a literary product to the
actual economic and social reality of its
time and place including:
o Class stratification
o Class relations
o Dominant Ideology
It tries to understand how power,
politics, and money play a role in
literary texts
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