When you're writing, the first step in critical thinking is to clearly identify the claim that you, the author, will make. Your claim is your position on the topic. It is the idea that you, the author, will assert and attempt to convince your audience to accept.

Here's an example: "Prison overcrowding in America has become a national disgrace." Clearly, this writer has a strong position or point she wishes to make about prison overcrowding.

Once you have identified your position or claim, you must then find evidence or support to back it up. The reason is this: A claim backed up by facts is considered "supported"--solid and strong. Facts are things that can be verified as true and thus facts are considered reliable and objective.

However,  a claim backed up by opinons is considered "unsupported." The reason is that opinions are subjective and cannot be verified as true or false.

When stating a claim in your essay, ask yourself, "What facts or evidence can I use to support my position?" 

How to Answer the Question

Your ability to answer that question will determine whether your claims are supported or unsupported. Let's return to our example.

Prison overcrowding in America has become a national disgrace. Once again the greed of capitalism has run roughshod over common sense and the United States Constitution. Private corporations running prisons can mean only one thing--profits, no matter the cost to our society. In fact, America has become the "Prison Nation."

Does the support in this paragraph consist of facts or opinions? If you said opinions, you're right. The author of this paragraph does not provide any specific facts to support the claim about scientists.

Instead, the author provides only general opinions about scientists. As a result, at this point, we cannot accept the author's claim or position as a valid one.

Tools for the Essay Writer