Exercise 1: Identifying Claims and Arguments

Before beginning this exercise, review the explanation of claims in arguments at the beginning of
Chapter 8. Here again are the three types of claims, each of which is followed by an example:

claim of fact President Bush's tax cut did not prevent an economic recession.

claim of value Solar and wind power are better sources of energy than oil, gas, or coal.

claim of policy Hate crimes should not be considered as a separate category.

Now read these excerpts from newspaper and magazine editorials. In the first space, identify the type
of claim. If there is a secondary claim, indicate that as well. In the second space, write a sentence
stating the writer's claim or argument. The first one has been done for you.

[Barbara Del Pizzo, is a writer who lives in Nyack, New York. The editorial was written during the
Clinton presidency and during Rudy Giuliani's tenure as mayor of New York City.]

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani stirred a furor recently when he called for the abolition of methadone
treatment for heroin addicts in the city-a position that put him at odds with the Clinton
administration's drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey. As a recovering addict, I can say that Mr. Giuliani is
right: Promising addicts free methadone for life is not doing them a favor.

--Barbara Del Pizzo, "An Addict Against Methadone," The Wall Street Journal, November 13, 1998.

List both the Type of Claim and your argument in you answer

Type of claim claim of value;

secondary claim: claim of policy

Argument Treating heroin addicts by giving them methadone is wrong.

Secondary argument: Methadone clinics for addicts should be abolished.

Mayor Giuliani's proposal to abolish methadone clinics is a good idea.

Explanation

The primary claim is one of value because the writer argues from a position of morality, which is
implied in the phrase "not doing them [addicts] a favor." The first part of the excerpt is a claim of
policy, because the writer agrees with Mayor Giuliani's proposal.

[John B. Breaux, a democrat, is Louisiana’s senior senator. Gale Norton was confirmed as Secretary of
the Interior in George W. Bush’s administration. This editorial was written just after her nomination.]
Gale Norton’s confirmation hearings for the post of interior secretary begin today. I recently met with
Ms. Norton, whose nomination I support, to have a frank discussion about how to increase America’s
energy production, including exploring for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

If confirmed, Ms. Norton should make a priority of implementing an aggressive and environmentally
sound policy to encourage domestic production. America must put in place a long-term national
energy policy that includes finding and producing more of its own resources. As Ms. Norton moves to
open up Alaska, she should also study how my home state of Louisiana, and other U. S. wildlife
refuges, have succeeded both in energy extraction and environmental safeguards.

--John B. Breaux, "Let’s Drill for Oil," The Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2001.

List both the Type of Claim and your argument in you answer