In the double-entry journal in table I.13, the student first filled in the left column with phrases from the poem that seemed important or interesting. Then the student explained why each quote seemed important or interesting in the right column. Once students have identified textual evidence that seems important and articulated why it is important, they can look for connections or patterns in the quotations they have found. For example, the student who identified the textual evidence in table I.13 might notice three patterns: (1) some of the textual evidence compares the baseball game to a war, (2) some textual evidence compares the power of the audience to natural forces, and (3) other textual evidence makes Casey seem almost godlike. These patterns together make the events of the poem seem exaggerated. Finally, students should make a general statement that explains the connections or patterns they observed. The student who read “Casey at the Bat” might make the claim “The author of ‘Casey at the Bat’ uses exaggerations to make fun of how seriously some people take sports games.” The student would then arrange the textual evidence into grounds and backing to support the claim, as shown in figure I.4.
After organizing the grounds and backing in their double-entry journals, students should skim or reread the text to search for more textual evidence to use as backing in support of their claim. As shown in figure I.4, the student has added some new quotes from the text that were not included in her double-entry journal. At this point, students should also search for contradictory or conflicting evidence and use it to refine their claims or grounds.
Figure I.4: Organization of an argument using textual evidence from “Casey at the Bat.”
Distinguishing a Claim From Alternate or Opposing Claims
Distinguishing a claim from alternate or opposing claims involves using precise language to refine the meaning of a claim or make it more specific. For example, in the previous example claim, “Batman is the best superhero” (page 23), the term best does not precisely distinguish the claim from alternate or opposing claims. This claim might mean that Batman is the most handsome superhero, or that he is the smartest superhero, or that he is the most resourceful superhero, or that he is the kindest superhero, and so on. These are alternate claims. A villain might define the best superhero as one who doesn’t catch many bad guys (an opposing claim). Depending on how best is defined, “Batman is the best superhero” can mean many different things. Therefore, students need to be able to use precise language to distinguish a claim from alternate or opposing claims. To help students do this, teachers can:
1.Ask students to examine the words used in the claim, grounds, backing, and qualifiers to identify and revise subjective or imprecise terms.
2.Ask students to use words and phrases that signal basic relationships to express meaning more clearly.
Here, we explain and exemplify each strategy.
Revise Subjective or Imprecise Terms
Once students have articulated a claim, given grounds for the claim, provided backing for the grounds, and specified qualifiers, they can examine the wording of the claim to eliminate subjective or imprecise terms. For example, figure I.3 (page 23) illustrated the structure of an argument using the simple claim “Batman is the best superhero.” One of the grounds for that claim is “He has a cool costume.” The term cool is a subjective term: what is cool to one person might not be considered cool by someone else. Table I.14 lists other examples of subjective or imprecise terms that might be used in claims.
Table I.14: Examples of Subjective or Imprecise Language
all
always
amazing
anything
awful
best
cool
every
everyone
everything
excellent
fantastic
fun/funny
great
I think that
important
in my opinion
