Claims
Claim, Evidence, and Inference in a Persuasive Message
Claim, evidence, and inference are easier to separate when you identify what is asserted, what supports it, and what…
The reading room
All articles
Browse explainers and close readings about claims, sources, images, language and the habits that shape how information lands.
Sources
Who Is Speaking, and How Would They Know?
Assess a source by asking how it knows: distinguish direct observation, specialist knowledge, and repeated accounts…
Images
How a Caption Shapes What a Picture Seems to Show
Learn how photo captions steer interpretation, spot clues in wording and layout, and decide when an image pairing…
Language
When a Description Quietly Becomes a Verdict
Loaded language can steer a reader before an argument is made. Learn to spot its rhetorical work, trace its…
Habits
The Pause Before You Forward It
Pause before you forward a message to decide whether to share it, add a useful qualification, or hold it back when it…
Our point of view
A strong impression is not the same as strong evidence.
We look at how a message earns attention, where its support comes from and what a careful reader can reasonably conclude.