Prepare for the Praxis Core Skills for Educators: Reading (5713) exam. Engage with flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each accompanied by hints and explanations. Boost your readiness for exam day!

Multiple Choice

What is a claim in writing?

In writing, a claim is the statement the author makes about a topic that expresses their position or main point. It’s what the piece is trying to prove or persuade the reader to accept, and it’s something that could be debated. The claim is not the evidence or the reasoning itself; it’s the central assertion that needs support. The other parts of a text—the details, examples, data, and explanations—serve to back up that claim. They are the supporting details and the reasoning that connect the evidence to the claim. A description of plot events, meanwhile, belongs to narrative content, not to the claim you’re being asked to identify in an argumentative or explanatory piece. So the best answer is the statement that expresses the author’s main point or position, the claim the rest of the text works to justify.

In writing, a claim is the statement the author makes about a topic that expresses their position or main point. It’s what the piece is trying to prove or persuade the reader to accept, and it’s something that could be debated. The claim is not the evidence or the reasoning itself; it’s the central assertion that needs support.

The other parts of a text—the details, examples, data, and explanations—serve to back up that claim. They are the supporting details and the reasoning that connect the evidence to the claim. A description of plot events, meanwhile, belongs to narrative content, not to the claim you’re being asked to identify in an argumentative or explanatory piece.

So the best answer is the statement that expresses the author’s main point or position, the claim the rest of the text works to justify.