How do you trace an argument, telling the central claim apart from reasons and evidence, and how do you judge whether the reasoning is sound?
Analyzing argument and claims in informational texts on the Ohio English II test: identifying the central claim, the reasons that support it, and the evidence behind the reasons, distinguishing a claim from a fact and from an opinion, recognizing a counterclaim, and evaluating whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence relevant and sufficient.
How to analyze argument on the Ohio English II test: identifying the central claim, reasons, and evidence, telling a claim apart from a fact, recognizing a counterclaim, and judging whether reasoning is valid and evidence is relevant and sufficient. The test rewards evaluating reasoning, not just summarizing it.
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What this skill is asking
An argument is a text built to persuade, and analyzing one means taking it apart into its working pieces and judging how well they hold together. On Ohio's State Test for English Language Arts II, argument items ask you to identify the central claim (the position the author wants you to accept), the reasons that support it, and the evidence behind the reasons, and then to evaluate the reasoning: is it valid, is the evidence relevant, is there enough of it? Ohio's Learning Standards place this under Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, the strand about delineating and evaluating an argument. The high-value items do not stop at summarizing the argument; they ask whether it works. This page covers the parts of an argument, the claim-fact-opinion distinction, the role of a counterclaim, and how to judge support.
The parts of an argument
The first move on an argument item is to sort the text into these parts, because most questions depend on knowing which sentence is the claim and which is merely evidence for it. The claim is usually statable as "the author wants me to believe that ..."; the reasons answer "why?"; the evidence answers "how do you know?". This sorting also clarifies the central idea, because in an argument the central idea and the central claim are the same thing, which links to central ideas in informational texts.
Evaluating the reasoning
This is the analytic move the standard cares about most, and it transfers directly to your own writing in the extended response, where you must supply relevant, sufficient evidence for your own claim, a connection made concrete in writing a claim or controlling idea.
Counterclaims and how authors handle them
Try this
Q1. What is the difference between a claim and a piece of evidence in an argument? [Recall]
- Cue. A claim is the debatable position the author wants accepted; evidence is the factual support (a study, statistic, or example) behind a reason for that claim.
Q2. An author claims a city should ban plastic bags and supports it only with one shopper's story. Evaluate the support. [Short explanation]
- Cue. A single anecdote is relevant but not sufficient to support a citywide policy claim; the evidence is too thin and unrepresentative. The argument needs broader data, so the support is weak even if the claim has appeal.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of ODEW exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Ohio English II EOC (style)1 marksAn author argues that schools should start later, gives the reason that teenagers need more sleep, and cites a study showing later start times raise attendance. In this argument, the study is the: (1) central claim (2) reason (3) evidence supporting the reason (4) counterclaim.Show worked answer →
Answer: (3). The central claim is that schools should start later; the reason is that teenagers need more sleep; and the cited study is the evidence that supports the reason. Sorting an argument into claim, reason, and evidence is exactly what the standard asks under Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.
A counterclaim (4) would be an opposing view the author addresses ("some say later starts disrupt buses"). Knowing which part is which lets you answer questions about how the argument is built.
Ohio English II (2-part)2 marksTwo-part item. Part A: Is the author's evidence sufficient to support the claim? Part B: Select the sentence that best shows a limit or gap in the evidence.Show worked answer →
Part A: judge whether the evidence is relevant (it bears on the claim) and sufficient (there is enough of it). An argument that rests on a single example or an unrepresentative source is not well supported, even if the claim is appealing. Part B: choose the line that reveals the gap, often a sweeping conclusion drawn from one case.
The standard rewards evaluating reasoning, not just restating it. The two parts must agree: Part B should show the very weakness Part A names. Avoid judging the claim by whether you agree with it; judge the support.
Related dot points
- Analyzing central ideas in informational texts on the Ohio English II test: stating the controlling idea of an article or essay as a full sentence, distinguishing the central idea from supporting details and from the topic, tracing how the central idea is developed across paragraphs, and writing an objective summary that captures it.
How to analyze central ideas on the Ohio English II test: stating the controlling idea of an informational text as a full sentence, telling it apart from a detail or the topic, tracing how it is developed, and writing an objective summary. The central idea is the nonfiction cousin of theme.
- Analyzing author's purpose and rhetoric in informational texts on the Ohio English II test: determining the author's purpose and point of view, distinguishing purpose (to inform, persuade, or explain) from topic, and analyzing rhetorical choices such as word choice, tone, and the appeals to logic, emotion, and credibility (logos, pathos, ethos) and their effect.
How to analyze author's purpose and rhetoric on the Ohio English II test: determining purpose and point of view, telling purpose apart from topic, and analyzing word choice, tone, and the appeals to logic, emotion, and credibility. The test rewards explaining how a rhetorical choice advances the purpose.
- Analyzing text structure and organization in informational texts on the Ohio English II test: recognizing common structures (cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, chronological or sequential, claim and support) and explaining how an author's structural choice, including the order of paragraphs and the placement of a key idea, advances the central idea or argument.
How to analyze text structure on the Ohio English II test: recognizing cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, chronological, and claim and support structures, and explaining how the organization helps the text make its point. The test rewards effect, not just naming the structure.
- Making inferences and citing text evidence on the Ohio English II test: drawing a logical inference from what a text states and implies, distinguishing an inference from a guess and from a restatement, citing the strongest evidence that supports an analysis, and handling evidence-based two-part items where Part A is the inference and Part B is the supporting line.
How to make inferences and cite evidence on the Ohio English II test: drawing a logical inference, telling it apart from a guess or a restatement, and citing the strongest supporting line. The evidence-based two-part items make this the most tested habit on the whole test.
- Comparing and synthesizing paired informational texts on the Ohio English II test: reading two texts on a shared topic, analyzing how their central ideas, claims, evidence, or emphasis agree and differ, synthesizing them into a combined understanding, and supporting each point with evidence from the correct source, which is also the reading skill the extended-response writing task depends on.
How to compare and synthesize paired informational texts on the Ohio English II test: analyzing how two texts on a topic agree or differ in central idea, claim, or evidence, combining them into one understanding, and proving each point from the right source. This reading skill underpins the extended response.
Sources & how we know this
- ELA II course resources — ODEW (2025)
- Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts — ODEW (2025)