I have found three examples for the three types of claims that we reviewed in class today.
1.) Claims of Judgement
2.) Claims of Fact
3.) Claims of Policy
Just as a review, I'll provide three statements, and then I'd like to hear your interpretations concerning which claim type they abide by. I have chosen to do so because these are statements that I find may be somewhat tricky and may have overlapping claims.
Statement #1: That little girl just might have the sweetest laugh in the world!
Statement #2: The conflict will end tonight.
Statement #3: She should have the correct answer on her paper.
Are these even examples of claims? Do you all feel that claims have to do with the verb tense in which they are stated? A bit of clarity would be appreciated. Thank you!
(Samantha Maliha)
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7 comments:
I think that most of these statements appropriately illustrate each type of claim. The first one demonstrates a claim of judgement, the second, a claim of fact. However, I am not sure about the third statement. It seems to be more of a claim of fact. It's like saying 'she should get the correct answer because in the past she always got this type of question right' or something like that.
Also, I don't feel that the verb tense can always indicate which type of claim something is. The first statement could have been in the past tense and still remain a claim of judgement (though now that I look at it, the wording is a bit awkward to begin with). The claim of fact seems to mostly consist of statements that are in the future or present. If it is in the past, it turns into data. A claim of policy only seems to consist of verbs such as 'should' and other command-like verbs.
I would also like to mention something I thought of. All of these claims can be found together in every type of situation. For example, let's say your mom is saying that you should clean your room. She states a claim of policy, while at the same time, she is making a claim of fact. The claim of fact is in her head, stating, "I know that I have to nag him about this" because she knows from past experience that you won't clean your room without being told. She has also formed a claim of judgement. When she is thinking of all the times she has had to remind you before to clean your room, she is thinking something along the lines of, "He is an irresponsible child."
Any thoughts?
Mary, I'm kind of confused about how you would actually word each of those "room cleaning" scenarios. Would you mind posting some examples? Thanks.
(Emily Thompson)
I agree with Mary that the first statement is a claim of judgment/value, since it asserts an opinion or subjective evaluation about the girl's laugh rather than focusing on verifiable phenomena or the future.
I am not sure about the second statement, though. Mary suggested it seems like a claim of fact, and I do understand the rationale behind her thinking. However, recall Mr. Lazarow's example from class: "It looks like it is going to rain." Due to the wording of this statement, specifically the words "looks like," it is a claim of fact which involves the thought process, "In the past, dark clouds have always signified imminent rain, and there are dark clouds now, so therefore it looks like it's going to rain." However, recall second that, in class, we established that if the same statement about rain simply said, "It IS going to rain", then it would be a completely different claim. Sam's second statement reads, "the conflict WILL end tonight" rather than "it looks like the conflict will end tonight." While the latter seems like a claim of fact, isn't the former additionally like a claim of judgment, meaning that it is a combination of the two types of claims? Isn't the assertion that "the conflict WILL end tonight" also a partially subjective evaluation, thus making it a claim of judgment as well?
Sam's third statement causes my mind to chase itself in circles, which means it's a great statement for our purposes. Is the statement, "she should have the correct answer on her paper" actually the kind of "claim" we are talking about in the Toulmin Method? At first thought, I agree with Mary that it is similar to a claim of fact. However, the word "should" confuses me for some reason. Is the statement more of a command rather than a claim? Would this mean that it is actually similar to a claim of policy? Yet I don't think that it is a claim of policy because a certain course of action is not being advocated by the writer. On the other hand, I also wonder if the statement is a claim of judgment, which I don't really think so, unless the statement is interpreted as implying that the "she" described is intelligent, in which case the statement WOULD become a claim of judgment. But we aren't supposed to consider "implied" judgments when reading claims, are we? Now I'm REALLY chasing myself in circles. I apologize for this "self-confusion" that I am caught up in. Perhaps someone could provide further thoughts or clarifications to help me through my confusion? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Regarding Mary's "clean your room" example, I think one of my questions above applies directly to one of the things Mary mentioned in her example. She stated that the claim, "you should clean your room" is partly a claim of judgment, namely the judgment that the child needing to clean his/her room is irresponsible. I follow Mary's reasoning perfectly, but I bring up the same question I brought up in the jumble above -- are we supposed to consider "implied" judgments when we evaluate what type of claim a statement is? Isn't the belief that the child is irresponsible simply an implication of the mother's thought train, thus making it irrelevant to the actual claim, "you should clean your room"? Any thoughts? I'm probably not making too much sense right now, and I would gladly offer further explanation if others would provide their thoughts and clarifications in return. :]
(Janet Lee)
I think that in most cases, verb tense is determined by, and not the cause of, the type of claim that is being represented. Even if verb tense were to determine the type of claim of a fact/statement etc., many times, the type of tense (like the type of claim) is subject to overlapping and confusion. For example:
Now, the puppy will wag its tail.
Is it present or future or both? In my opinion, it doesn't usually matter that much. The present, past and future statements are pretty stable but still have some "wiggle room," especially concerning claims of policy and judgment.
My own take on Statement #3. In Latin, contrary to fact clauses take the subjunctive mood, meaning the statement would be a possibility/judgment and not a concrete and physically verifiable fact. Statement #3 in conditional form would state "If she should have the correct answer on her paper, the answer would be 25." Additionally, Hayakawa (kind of) references to this. "An inference...is a statement about the unknown based on the known." (24) It is not factual report which is "verifiable...[and] exclude, as far as possible, inferences, judgements..." (23)
Does this make any sense? I wasn't sure if I misinterpreted the third statement to make it "fit" into the conditional analogy...
P.S. Sorry if my comments seem to overlap with Janet's. I wasn't aware that we were posting at practically the same time. :)
I think my train of thought is along the same lines as Janet's. I'm not exactly sure where the line between "implied" judgment and judgment is, and I'm not sure whether implied judgments are allowed in claims. Mr. Lazarow mentioned in class today that grounds should be explicitly stated, no implying, etc. With that in mind, since the claim is the basis of the whole essay, would that mean that implications should be left out and the claim should be explicitly stated?
I'm kind of confused, maybe because we're discussing sentence examples that probably wouldn't be used in an essay (i.e., "he should clean his room); although, I know I should understand the simple things before I move into more complex things. I would appreciate thoughts and clarification in this area.
(Emily Thompson)
I greatly appreciate all of your thoughts. Thank you to everyone.
Based on all of your conclusions, I have been able to deduce that Statement #1 is a claim of judgement/opinion. Both statements #2 and #3 remain quite nebulous, however.
Let's say two men are seated beside one another in an audience. On stage, an altercation errupts between two actors. The showing is temporarily paused for the sake of safety procedures. The first man leans over to the second, fearful that the entertainment for the night has ended, and asks, "What's going to happen?" The second replies, "The conflict will end tonight." Yes, this is a far-fetched example, yet I feel it brings to light several indispensable factors. If the first man finds the second to be very trustworthy, then this statement has somewhat become a claim of fact to him, has it not? If the second man had a reputation of being an unreliable source, the claim would seemingly appeal to the spectrum of judgement. This is simply human nature. Yet simultaneously, the claim is posed in a futuristic light. The second man is making a sort of prediction, which would allow it to become applicable to the "claim of policy" category. I apologize, for I have just realized that I have not, in fact, cleared up any confusion.
In regards to Statement #3, I feel that I can rule out the "claim of fact" option because anyone is prone to make an error at some point in time, no matter what their intelligence capacity may be. The speaker might have the desire to describe the girl's wisdom upon speaking this phrase, or he/she may desire to predict the girl's result, or future. I am thoroughly confused.
More thoughts are welcome!
(Sam Maliha)
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