Claim And

Counterclaim
 RWS

•CLAIMS •COUNTERCLAIMS
 01 A Claim

02 A Counterclaim
CONTENTS
03 Purpose of Claim and Counterclaim

04 Ways to establish Counterclaims

A Claim-counterclaim pattern of
organisation refers to he structure
of an argument where there is more
than one side to a debate. It is ver y
common in academic writing.
A Thesis is....

-What you believe and intend to

prove in your essay
-Answers the prompt
-Includes the“why”

Prompt: Who is to blame for the

complications in ACT II?
Example: Romeo is to blame for the
complications in ACT II because he is
thinking using the bottom half of
the chain of being.

Bad: Romeo is to blame.

(this is wrong)
PART 1
A Claim
A Claim is....

• A position on a topic presented in

your paper
• The claim is the author's central
argument that they are trying to
persuade the audience to believe.
• Claim is argument for an opinion.
2 examples of Claim

Example #1 Example #2

Bad: Romeo is to blame. Bad: The characters in Buried Onions

Good: Romeo is lustful for Juliet and are flat.

not in love, which goes against Good: Buried Onions presents simple
Elizabetha beliefs. caricatures of Mexican Americans, and
the characters, particularly the
protagonist Eddie, are flat.
PART 2
A Counterclaim
A Counterclaim is....

• Rebuttal to a claim
• generally the last thing you
address in your argument, before
the conclusion in a written paper.
• When you address it, be sure to
include the author and source of
the opposing viewpoint
Do you think counterclaims can improve your writing skills?

Yes! because in order to have a strong argument, you also

need to give an opposing point of view, or other
counterclaim. This provide more support for your argument
by showing you did through research and considered other
point of views than your own.
Example of counterclaim

Prompt: What kind of character is Eddie and why?

Bad: Some disagree that Eddie is a flat character.

Good: Despite Soto’s protagonist Eddie being a flat character, some may think he
make several key decisions which would otherwise indicate that he is, in fact
complex.
Counterclaim are beneficial
• They acknowledge your reader’s intelligence
• They enhances your credibility
• They sharpen and clarify your thesis
• They provide a new way to argue your position
PART 3
Purpose of claim and
counterclaim
What is the purpose of the claim and
counterclaim?

A cc o r d in g t o s tu d y .c om , c laim is th e
au t ho r 's c e n tr a l a r g u me n t th at t he y ar e
tr y in g t o p e r s u ad e th e a ud ie n c e to b e lie v e .
C o un t e r c la ims ar e a r g u me nt s o f t he
op p os in g s id e w h ic h t he a u th or w ill a d d r e ss .
PART 4
Ways to establish
counterclaims
Ways to establish counterclaims

- It shows others view to be faulty

* Faulty factual assumption

* Faulty analytical assumption
* Faulty values
* True but irrelevant

THIS MAKES YOUR ARGUMENT

STRONGER!!!
SAMPLE THESIS:

Thesis: Students in highschool need to

study the causes of racism.
1. Faulty Factual Assumption
Racism is a thing of the past; therefore, students don’t need
to study it.
• The Factual assumption in this example is that racism is a
thing of the past.
• It shows that racism continues to be a problem.
• and/or show that students must understand the past as well
as the present to function adequately in civil society.
2. Faulty Analytical Assumption
Learning about racism might make students more racist.
• The analytical assumption is that learning about racism can
make you racist.
• Show that cause(s) of a problem is not the same as causing
or creating the problem.
3. Faulty Values
It does not matter that students are racist.
• The faulty value is that it does not matter if students are
racist.
• Show that it DOES MATTER!!
4. True but irrelevant
Students are already familiar with racism; they don’t need to
study it in school.
• Acknowledge that while many students are, in fact, already
familiar with racism, they still need to learn what causes it.
5. Your argument gets stronger
Previous generations didn’t study the causes of racism, so
students now, don’t need to
• Show that previous grations did not function adequately in
civil society because they had problems with racism.
Therefore, the fact that they didn’t learn about the causes
of racism, together with this other information, actually
supports the claim that students do need to learn what
causes racism.
DONE
THANK YOU!!