Review on Arguments and Claims

Which one of the following statements is an arguable claim?

• William Shakespeare's plays are so much better than Oscar Wilde's plays.

• Evidence suggests that a man named Francis Bacon actually wrote some of Shakespeare's plays.

• William Shakespeare play "Romeo & Juliet" is a romantic tragedy.

Answer explanation

A CLAIM is something the stater believes is true, but others might not agree with. Most people believe Shakespeare wrote all 36 of his plays, but some historians have tried to use historical evidence to prove an educated statesman, Francis Bacon, actually wrote them instead. This would be a claim because not everyone believes it's true, but someone could try to use facts to convince others it's true.

Why are the other answers wrong? "Shakespeare's plays are better than Oscar Wilde's plays" is an OPINION statement because of the word "better". You can't use evidence to back a statement that something is "better" than something else.

"Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy" is a FACT. Claims are not facts themselves but use facts to try to prove they are true, so it's not a claim.

Which of the following statements is an arguable claim?

• Personal Finance should be a mandatory class in high schools.

• Personal Finance class is harder than Health class.

• One part of personal finance is taxes.

Answer explanation

Someone could try to use factual evidence to prove why a class should be "mandatory" for all high school students. Therefore, that is a CLAIM statement. Remember, claims use facts but are not facts themselves.

In contrast, the answer "Personal Finance class is harder than Health class" is an OPINION statement because "harder" depends on the person. One class might be hard for one student but easy for another student. There is no way to prove it.

"One part of personal finance is taxes" is a FACT statement. It just is. This is not a claim because it's not something you can debate.

Which of the following statements is an arguable claim?

• Arizona's state government should spend more tax money on public education than on helping small businesses.

• Doug Ducey is the governor of Arizona.

• Out of all fifty states, Arizona has the worst state government.

Answer explanation

"The government should spend more money on public education than on helping small businesses" is an arguable CLAIM because the claimer could use facts as evidence to back up this argument. The claimer could point out how few tax dollars are spent on children in this state compared to other states as a reason for why more tax money should be spent on education.

In contrast, "Doug Ducey is the governor of Arizona" is an obvious FACT. It's not a claim because you would not debate it with someone. Everyone knows it's true.

"Arizona has the worst state government" is an OPINION because of the word "worst". The word "worst" has different meanings for different people.

Which of the following is an arguable claim?

• Students would be happier if there wasn't a dress code.

• Pistor Middle School has a dress code.

• If this school allowed students to wear what they wanted, the number of behavior problems would decrease.

Answer explanation

"If this school allowed students to wear what they wanted, the number of behavior problems would decrease." is the correct answer because someone could use RESEARCH as EVIDENCE to try to prove why behavior problems would decrease.

The claimer could point to other schools in the U.S. that got rid of their dress code and had fewer behavior problems following that change.

For the incorrect answers, "Students would be happier" is not an arguable claim because you could not use evidence to try to prove something would make people "happier". "Happy" means different things to different people.

"Pistor Middle School" has a dress code is a fact. No one can debate that. It's obvious.

Which of the following is an arguable claim?

• Reading a physical book is a more pleasant experience than reading the book on a screen.

• Making books available virtually like on Amazon Kindle has benefited the environment.

• Amazon's Kindle was first introduced in 2007.

Answer explanation

"Making books available virtually like on Amazon Kindle has benefited the environment" is an arguable CLAIM because the claimer could use factual evidence for why virtual e-books have helped the environment. For example, paper books require trees to be chopped down. That could be a reason to prove why Kindle books help the environment.

The "2007" statement is a fact. There is no debating there.

In the other answer, the word "pleasant" is an opinion word.

Which kind of statement is the following?

"Disney World is superior to Disney Land."

• Fact statement

• Opinion statement

• Arguable Claim

Answer explanation

"Superior" is just another way of say "better". This is an opinion because what is "superior" depends on an individual person's preferences.

Which kind of statement is the following?

"The government should give big tax deductions to companies that have half their employees carpooling or taking public transportation."

• Fact statement

• Opinion statement

• Arguable claim

Answer explanation

This is very clearly an arguable claim. Someone could argue that carpooling or taking public transportation like the bus will massively help reduce air pollution due to fewer cars driving daily. Facts could back this up, but the statement itself is not a clear fact. Thus, it is a claim.