Created by the Evergreen Writing Center
The Six Basic Claim Types: *The model for this guide was taken from Steve Hendrick’s Writing Guide for Our Place in Nature
Most thesis statements will likely fit into one of the following categories. Understanding what sort of argument or point you are making will help you organize your paper logically and effectively and will make revision and analysis of your paper easier.
Definitional: X is Y(defined) Example: Rumplestiltskin is an industrialist who knows the secret of how to take common labor and resources and turn them into money.
Categorical: X is Y(undefined) Example: The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella is a supernatural enactor of perfect justice Note: In a definitional thesis, the Y needs to be defined. In a categorical thesis, the Y is a category.
Causal: X Causes Y Example: The Lion King causes children to develop a skewed sense of how animals behave in a natural setting.
Evaluative: X is a good Y Example: Despite his reliance on violence, Robin Hood is a good example for children because he brings hope and relief to the people.
Analogical: X is like Y Example: The wolf in Red Riding Hood is symbolically the same wolf that Toby Keith mentions in his song, “American Soldier”, in that both wolves represent the nebulous enemy which may come aknocking at any time.
Proposal: X should do Y Example: Parents in the 21st century should re-examine the patriarchal and Euro-centric notions that Walt Disney established as the norm in the last century because otherwise children will grow up with limited and dangerous notions about their role in the global community.