CPN 100: Exploring Claims

Creating a sound and reasonable argument is a crucial part of college writing, and claims are the clearest, most direct parts of an argument. Effective writers build arguments logically by interpreting evidence and then presenting those arguments to audiences in respectful and even tones. Some writers may leave an argument implicit rather than explicit, but often the most successful arguments are as explicit as possible and take a clear stance on an issue or debate. As you encounter different writers’ claims, you should be able to place them in relation to each other to best understand where, why, and how much they agree and disagree.

With this in mind, the exploring claims assignment may require you take a stance on a debate relevant to contemporary culture, consider how different arguments relate to one another and identify your own position in relation to those discussions, or identify a topic that you feel particularly invested in and construct an argument in relation to that topic. Alternatively, an assignment on Exploring Claims might ask you to trace how authors cite the same sources with different contexts, uptake, or source use. However your course approaches exploring claims, it is important to think critically about your topic, read what other writers have claimed about the topic, and finally consider how evidence is interpreted, cited, or used in the service of furthering discourse or claims. If the claims you are asked to explore are your own, then it may be additionally important to think about your own organization, sequencing, and/or building upon evidence into claims in your own essay.

In CPN 100, students explore, develop, and compose a focused, well-supported analytical piece of writing using a small number of carefully selected sources and making claims of their own whether those are about the topic, sources, or the original use of evidence in the claims of other writers.

Through the Exploring Claims assignment, students will:

• Use composing processes and tools as a means to discover, relate, and reconsider ideas;
• Demonstrate the ability to trace, interpret, and understand the role of evidence and cited sources in the claims related to their own formal arguments or the research of others’ claims;
• Be able to produce coherent texts that demonstrate comprehension of claims, evidence, citation, and argument.

Things to Keep in Mind about Exploring Claims

To make and support an original claim successfully, writers must consider their audiences’ relationship to the issue, the subject of the argument. Some audiences may oppose a writer’s stance, and others may be indifferent to the issue entirely. A successful argument will show its readers why they should care about an issue as well as why that argument is valid.

Evidence helps a writer build a strong argument. Writers need to learn about issues to find recent, reliable, relevant, and accurate sources of information to support their ideas and prove to their audiences that they are knowledgeable about the issue. An argument can use different types of evidence – statistics, empirical research studies, interviews, other writers’ words – to prove a single claim. Additionally, a good argument will feature clear logic and explicitly interpret evidence so the audience can follow the writer’s reasoning.

Finally, good arguments will often acknowledge counterarguments. An appreciation of opposing perspectives in an argument can convince audiences that a writer has considered the issue thoroughly and can therefore earn an audience’s respect, a crucial element to a successful argument. A mature writer will concede opposing perspectives’ valid points, which in turn shows readers that the author is fair and open-minded while avoiding binary thinking and adding nuance to their own argument.