A claim or thesis statement responds to a question raised by a writer in a paragraph or essay, which must be supported with evidence to establish its validity. To write a good claim, you must be a thoughtful writer whereas most students struggle with such a skill.
In one survey, 15 students considered themselves to be very skilled writers, 79 students believed they were proficient writers, 41 students rated themselves as average writers, and only 5 students, which is less than 4% of the sample, rated themselves as poor writers.
Just remember that claim writing is not like a marketing assignment that you can deal with easily. Students face many challenges while writing one, here are the 4 most common challenges:
| Challenge | Possible Solution |
| Clarity and Conciseness | Ensure to keep the claim short and to the point |
| Relevance | Keep the claim directly relevant to the argument made. |
| Consistency and Evidence | Make sure that the claim is consistent with the thesis statement. |
| Engagement | Work on properly defining the scope so you are not too broad or narrow. |
Just like any other student, writing a claim was a challenging task for me as well when I was in college. I had no idea how to begin writing one and above that I never knew what a claim really meant. However, I kept things simple and stayed focused on understanding what is a claim in writing or what is the main claim.
Once I was comfortable with the meaning and explanations, I went on to practice writing claims. To be honest, my claim statements were not that impressive at first but consistent practice and feedback from the class teacher have helped me write an impressive one. Consistency and practice made me good at writing claims. However, I thought it’s an impossible task for me at first.
In its literal meaning, a claim in writing is any assertion, affirmation, or declaration that you make about something. Let’s understand the characteristics and then move to steps on how to write a claim.
A claim in writing possesses the following important characteristics.
It goes beyond simply defining or writing the title of the topic and making a clear assertion before proving it with evidence and reasoning.
For example, if you are writing on the topic of “Social Media,” then you can make a claim or assertion that “social media has severe impacts on mental and physical health.” Now, this would be the main focus or central idea of the essay or paragraph and will drive the subsequent content of your writing.
Additional Points:
For a claim paragraph, it should be the first sentence of the paragraph, whereas for an essay, it should appear in the last sentence of the introduction paragraph.
Always provide solid and credible evidence to support your claim.
You can use graphic organizers to get good at writing claims. Here’s how this simple trick works:
Question: ______________________
Claim: ________________________
Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3
Reason: _______________________
If you are feeling yourself in a fix, fret not! Because we are here to provide you with valuable insights on writing a claim statement that captivates your readers. So, without beating about the bush, let’s get straight to the point.
Select an interesting subject or topic that aligns with your academic background.
Identify your purpose for writing a claim. Decide whether you want to inform, persuade, entertain, or argue on a particular topic. Understanding your intended purpose will set the clear direction of your claim in writing.
Take as much time as possible to conduct extensive research on a particular topic. Read expert books, blogs, and articles, and listen to the lectures to grasp the core of the topic at hand.
After thoroughly developing your understanding of the topic, brainstorm different claims and identify their types. For instance, a claim can be a factual claim, value claim, or policy claim. However, the type of the claim relies upon the nature of the topic and the purpose of your writing.
You may argue that writing a poem analysis essay is difficult but then you’ll not be familiar with the complexities of claim writing. Don’t worry, to learn how to write a claim like a pro, verify whether your claim answers the following questions or not:
Explore different scholarly databases, visit websites, and seek expert opinions to collect reliable and authentic evidence to prove your claim. The evidence can be in the form of facts, statistics, quotes, examples, and citations to familiar and authentic articles.
Pro Tip: Another way to learn how to write a claim effectively is to make sure that the evidence is authentic and credible.
After you have finalized the claim and collected related evidence, now is high time to formulate an impactful claim statement.
Your thesis statement should represent the essence of your key argument, position, and its specific scope and boundary.
Identify and analyze the counterarguments or opposing points and address them in later parts of the topic. Including this part will showcase your critical thinking skills and will bolster your assertions.
Use the active voice and strong verbs that make an impact. In addition to this, starting your claim with a question can be helpful to intrigue the readers.
If you are writing for the sake of an assignment, then consult help with assignment writing service to seek expert feedback. Make necessary changes to improve the preciseness, clarity, and impact of your claim in writing.
Bonus Tips on How to Write a Claim:
This example is taken from the essay “Morality as a Community Affair” by Amitai Etzioni.
Claim:
“Our morality is not innate; rather, it is a product of the community or communities in which we were born, raised, and educated. ”
Evidence:
According to the Common Cause founder, John Gardner, “Families and communities are the ground-level generators and preservers of values and ethics systems. No society can remain vital or even survive without a reasonable base of shared values. . . . They are generated chiefly in the family, schools, church, and other intimate settings in which people deal with another face to face.”
There are three main styles or types of claim statements that you can use to convey your arguments, opinions, or ideas. Here are different types of claim to understand how to write a claim effectively.
The factual claim in writing asserts the definite or objective information supported by observable evidence such as stats, facts, or any other verifiable information.
Fact Claim Examples:
The value claim statement makes judgments or opinions about the value, worth, importance, or quality of something. These claims are subjective and involve personal opinions, beliefs, and judgments.
Value Claim Examples:
The policy claim statement proposes or advocates amendments to particular policies, laws, or practices. These types of claims emphasize what should be done and how something should be addressed.
Policy Claim Examples:
“Government should ban smoking in universities.”
“Authorities should increase the educational budget in the provinces.”
These claim statement examples will surely help you with how to write a claim like an expert.
Here’s a list of some persuasive claim statement examples to help you understand how to write a claim.
Example: “Students should use social media”
These are also some good examples on learning how to write a claim well.
Example: “Students should not use social media”
Now that you have a good idea of how to write a claim, let’s now understand what evidence in writing means.
“The implementation of strict measures against smoking in educational institutions boosts the student’s academic outcomes. According to the research study, it has been seen that all those students who engage in unhealthy activities, such as smoking, often come up with poor academic performance.
Moreover, besides educational damage, they are also vulnerable to fatal diseases such as lung cancer, cardiovascular issues, oral and throat cancer, and respiratory infections.
Therefore, the competent authorities must impose strict penalties to curb all kinds of such dangerous activities that can be detrimental to the student’s academic and professional growth.”
How to write a claim encompasses a quick yet simple answer. That is, it is an assertion, declaration, or main argument that you make about a particular issue or topic. Students often come across claims in writing assignments or any other academic piece of paper.
It is also called a thesis statement or key point that defines your scope, focus, and direction or position you take about the particular topic. Hopefully, you now have a good understanding of claim writing from these explanations, fact claim examples, and more.
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