C laim
E vidence
R easoning
How To Build An
Argument
What is an argument?
Evidence
Claim
Reasoning
Argument
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An argument is “a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong.”
The 3 basic building blocks of all arguments are: claim, evidence, and reasoning. In this resource we will use all 3 to build an argument together.
A claim (also known as a “thesis statement”) is a statement about what is true. It is your stance on the issue; your statement of understanding.
All arguments start with a claim. Let’s look at an example:
Do you see how this is a statement / declaration about what is true?
Claim
“A liberal arts education prepares students for their careers better than other forms of education.”
Claim
In a strong argument all claims must be supported by evidence. Evidence is the data, numbers, observations, or quotations that “prove” your claim to be true. Evidence must be cited using trustworthy sources. Let’s build on our original example:
Do you see how our evidence is the proof that we use to support our claim?
Evidence
“A liberal arts education prepares students for their careers better than other forms of education. A recent study completed by Harvard University psychologists showed that liberal arts graduates achieved higher scores on average in 9 out of 10 tests of critical reasoning skills (2018).”
Evidence
Claim
Reasoning is the glue. It is the logic that connects the claim with the evidence. Let’s build on our example:
Do you see how our reasoning is the logic that ties it all together?
Reasoning
Reasoning
“A liberal arts education prepares students for their careers better than other forms of education. A recent study completed by Harvard University psychologists showed that liberal arts graduates achieved higher scores on average in 9 out of 10 tests of critical reasoning skills (2018). Since critical reasoning is one of the most important skills in the 21st Century, we can conclude that liberal arts prepares students for their careers better than other forms of education.”
Evidence
Claim
That’s it!
�Refer back to this resource whenever you’re trying to build on analyze an argument!
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