College Composition / Unit 30 CMP 0729 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Warrants and Assumptions
Captions available
The idea
The warrant is what links the grounds to the claim, and it is often implicit, an assumption the writer expects readers to share.
In practice
The texting argument assumes that distraction causes accidents; if readers doubted that, the figures would not support the claim.
Where people slip
Ask whether a warrant is an unproven claim in disguise; an unstated assumption can carry the whole argument.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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