Section 21

“Hanging around their trailer one day, I see them handle each other with immense patience even when their computer takes forever to load and they can’t find the files they’re looking for…”

• This claim could be considered “evaluative”, considering the viewer picked up on the amount of patience the couple has for one another while in their home. By stating this claim, he is making an argumentative point which could be supported by evidence, considering they are still patient with one another while dealing with the circumstance of their computer taking time to load.

‘“He loves me a lot,” she answers. “I’ve never known love like this. He is…awesome.”’

• The claim stated by Charlene when asked about the love Steve has for her could be considered to be a “comparative claim”, considering she is comparing the love Steve has for her to all of the other people whom she has been loved by.

“These most recent years, Steve is funnier…”

• In the claim regarding Steve’s humor in the recent years, a conclusion can be drawn that the claim is “evaluative”, considering an evaluation was done regarding his humor in prior years, to his current humor in present day.

‘“I can feel him slipping down—it’s like this…vortex, this hole. And I try to grab him, like, ‘No! Don’t go down there!’ He can still get really depressed.”’

• The claim at hand can be seen as a “casual claim”, as it asserts proof of the cause and effect situation of when Steve slips into his “vortex”, he can feel very depressed.

‘“She saved my life,” Steve says of Charlene, without my asking.'”

• When Steve claims that Charlene saved his life, he is making an “evaluative claim”, as he has evaluated his life with Charlene in it, and the evidence points to her making his life significantly better.

“Of the soldiers coming home with PTSD now, he says, “You need time. You need time, and perspective.” Decades after his service, the VA rated Steve at 100 percent PTSD disabled, but he’s found his way to his version of a joyful life.”

• The claim above can be considered to be “factual”, as a first hand account was given from someone who had currently experiences and lives with PTSD. Steve knows the way PTSD can affect your life and lifestyle, and his advice to veterans coming home with the same mental struggle is factual. The VA rating Steve as a 100% PTSD disabled person is a fact, considering there is most likely documentation to support this claim.
  

“Although, he qualifies, he saw guys get thrown around in explosions the way Caleb got thrown around in explosions, but he can’t say how their lives turned out in the long run because in his war, with that less-advanced gear, those guys usually died.”

• This claim could be considered to be “illustrative”, as Steve had first hand experience of the accounts that occurred during war, and saw the men of being “thrown around by explosions”, and how the catostrophic blow ended the lives of many men.

“At that elevation, with that vantage point, it’s one of the most defensible pieces of land in town.”

• The claim above can be deemed “evaluative”, as the author of the article saw the photos of the couple’s land first hand, and made the claim himself given what he saw in the photos.

“In the Vines’ household in Alabama, at any unpredictable time of night, the nightmare starts in Iraq.”

• This claim could be categorized as “casual”, as the cause of the nightmares was the war, and the effect is the prevailing PTSD symptoms Steve still experiences.

“The desert sun is blinding, invasive; all eyes blink roughly with under-eyelid dust. It smells like blood, even before the shot slices through the Humvee and strikes Caleb in the chest. The vehicle stops, the other four guys get out, hollering, the rest of the unit firing their weapons, that awful echo at the end of an M16 round. Someone’s yelling for the medic and an indiscernible string of noises seeps out of Caleb’s mouth while he’s dying. He’s dying. He’s bleeding warm and fast, and he’s not going to make it.”

• In the claim regarding the traumatic event, the conclusion can be drawn that the text provides an “illustrative claim” effect, allowing the reader to sympathize with what the solider went through and saw happen first hand. With the descriptive language, the scene can be set and the reader is able to envision this moment in their minds.

‘“Still don’t get how I can so vividly dream of somewhere I’ve never actually been.”’

• The claim above is evaluative, showing how the event impacts Brennan although he did not witness it first hand himself.