From UVA Writing Center

Claims state what you think, reasons explain why you think that, evidence shows how you know what you think is true, and warrants connect your reasons back to your claim. When necessary, warrants can also be used to connect evidence back to a reason. Warrants can be thought of as broader reasons; reasons in themselves are local and specific, while warrants are broader and more general (they have to be in order to stretch from a local reason to a claim, or some evidence back to the reason).

Contents 1 Examples 2 Structure of Warrants 3 Warrant Check Questions 4 When/Where to State Warrants

Examples

Warrants are tricky things to deal with, and not always necessary, so a couple of examples may help show how they work.

Connecting a reason back to a claim

No one should go outside Friday night (claim) if they've been drinking (reason).

Why?

Because anyone who has been drinking and is outside will get eaten by a werewolf (warrant).

Connecting evidence back to a reason

Intoxicated undergrads shouldn't be going outside at night (claim) because they could get eaten (reason).
Clinical studies show four out of five werewolves prefer intoxicated undergrads over cattle and raccoons
because they're easier to catch (evidence).

Why?

Because intoxicated undergrads are much easier to catch than raccoons and more fun to harass than cattle (warrant).

Structure of Warrants

Warrants take the form Whenever X, then Y. This means that a general circumstance (reason) yields a general conclusion (claim), or that a general conclusion (claim) follows from/is because of a general circumstance (reason).

Circumstance to Conclusion

When there is a full moon, the werewolves of Charlottesville eat intoxicated undergrads.

Conclusion to Circumstance

The werewolves of Charlottesville eat intoxicated undergrads when there is a full moon.

Warrants can usually be stated in a way that breaks down into two parts. Think of proverbs, short statements that explain a state of affairs in two parts. There's an Irish saying, Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth. The general circumstancehere is an accidental slip of the tongue (where the tongue slips), and the general conclusion is that even though you didn't mean to say what you said, it's actually the truth of what you believe (it speaks the truth). In other words, a Freudian slip.

Warrant Check Questions

• Can your audience infer your warrant from the text? Depending on how much you share in common with your audience, you may need to state a warrant here and there. If you are writing for an audience with similar cultural assumptions and beliefs, your audience most likely will infer your warrants.
• Is the warrant true? Your audience will not accept a warrant that is not true in all cases. It's not necessarily the case that every single headwrecked undergrad will get eaten by werewolves on every full moon. Warrants are broader, but not limitless.
• Does the warrant actually tie in to the reason and claim? If part of the werewolf argument is that intoxicated undergrads should arm themselves with pistols loaded with silver bullets and slingshots of wolfsbane, the warrant would be unreasonable because intoxicated people have notoriously poor urban sharpshooting abilities.
• Does the warrant speak to the appropriate readership? If the werewolf argument were published in the school newspaper, that readership of undergrads (intoxicated or not) will most likely respond that werewolf population control is definitely necessary for the students' own nightlife wellbeing. However, if the argument appeared in a local paper, there may be a segment of readership who would be more than happy to see intoxicated undergrads be forced to remain inside and out of sight, and may even prefer introducing more werewolves into Albermarle County.

When/Where to State Warrants

Warrants don't always need to be stated. The more likely your audience is to accept your premise, the less likely you will need to state your warrant. However, if your audience needs convincing, your warrant may need stating. Part of your job as a writer is to anticipate your audience's response and counter possible questions with warrants. The warrant is the implied answer to a reader's questioning of a claim or reason.

If the overall argument is challenging, you'll most likely need to explain the warrant in the problem statement before you state your claim. The same general principle holds for local claims; if your support for your global claim may be tough to swallow, you may need to explain the warrant before introducing that supporting information.