Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
Common Core State Standards, Grades 6-8, Writing: History, Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What WHST.6-8.1 Means in Plain English
In subject classes, students argue about the content: was Hammurabi’s Code fair, do the data support the hypothesis. They state a claim, set it apart from opposing claims, order their reasons, back them with accurate data from credible sources, link them with transitions, write formally and conclude.
The strand begins in grade 6, growing from opinion writing (W.5.1), where reasons and facts support a point of view. Now the opinion becomes a claim that answers opposing claims with subject evidence. Grades 9 to 10 (WHST.9-10.1) develop claims and counterclaims fairly, noting the limits of both.
WHST.6-8.1 I Can Statements
I can state a claim and set it apart from opposing claims.
I can back each reason with accurate evidence from credible sources.
I can link my reasons with transitions, write formally and conclude.
WHST.6-8.1 Worked Example
Both students had the same three documents on Hammurabi’s Code; only one turned them into an argument.
Prompt
Was Hammurabi’s Code fair? Write an argument that takes a position, answers the opposing view and uses the documents. Document A, from the prologue: Hammurabi says the laws exist so “that the strong should not harm the weak.” Document B: the laws were carved on a black stone pillar over seven feet tall and set up where people could see them. Document C, laws 196, 198 and 199: a noble who puts out another noble’s eye loses his own eye; if the victim is a commoner, the attacker pays a fine of one mina; if the victim is a slave, he pays half the slave’s value.
Not YetHammurabi’s Code was not fair because it was really harsh. An eye for an eye is cruel and nobody would want that today. Some people think it was fair but I disagree, so it was not fair.There is a claim, but the reason is a modern feeling, and none of the three documents is used. The opposing view gets “I disagree” instead of an answer, “really” and “nobody” slip out of formal style, and the ending only repeats the claim.
Meets the StandardHammurabi’s Code was fairer than rule by a king’s mood, but it was not fair, because the punishment for a crime depended on who the victim was. Supporters of the code point out that its laws were carved on a stone pillar over seven feet tall for anyone to see, so Babylonians knew the rules before they were judged. That is a real step toward fairness, yet a law can be public and still be unequal. Laws 196, 198 and 199 show the inequality plainly: putting out a noble’s eye cost the attacker his own eye, while the same injury to a commoner cost one mina, and to a slave half the slave’s value. The prologue promises that “the strong should not harm the weak,” but these laws let a strong man harm a weak one for a fee. The code, therefore, made justice predictable without making it equal.The claim comes first and is precise enough to argue with. The opposing view gets its best evidence, the public pillar, before the writer distinguishes public from equal. Every reason rests on a named document, yet, but and therefore mark the turns, the voice stays formal, and the last sentence follows from the evidence.
Moves to Use
Make the claim precise enough that a classmate could disagree with it.Give the opposing claim its best evidence before answering it.Name the document behind every reason, by letter or law number.Mark each turn with a transition such as yet, but or therefore.Conclude with a sentence the evidence has earned, in the same formal voice.
Common Mistakes with WHST.6-8.1
Judging the past by feelings alone
“An eye for an eye is cruel and nobody would want that today.”
Try this: Require every reason to name a document and a detail from it, and cross out any reason that only states a feeling.
“I disagree” as the whole rebuttal
“Some people think it was fair but I disagree.”
Try this: Give students the frame “Supporters point to…, but that evidence shows only…” and require a document after the but.
Evidence copied inaccurately
“The code said if you hurt anyone’s eye, you lost your own eye.”
Try this: Have students check each fact in the draft against the document line it came from and underline any detail they cannot find there.
What opposing claim does the strong response answer, and how does it distinguish its own claim?
That the code was fair because it was carved in public for everyone to see. The writer agrees the laws were public but argues that public is not the same as equal.
Which document shows that punishment depended on the victim, and how?
Document C, laws 196, 198 and 199: the same eye injury cost the attacker his own eye, one mina, or half a slave’s value, depending on who was hurt.
Why is “An eye for an eye is cruel” a weak reason under WHST.6-8.1b?
It judges the code by a modern feeling and cites no document, so it shows no understanding of the evidence and draws on no credible source.