Claims and the other side

A real claim names something the writer does and the effect it creates, so a reader could reasonably disagree with it.

"The old man feels lonely" is just a statement about the character, not about the writer's choices, so it is closer to a summary.

The choice “Add that the writer uses the empty house to show the old man's growing loneliness” names a technique (the empty house) and an effect (showing loneliness), which is exactly the structure of a claim.

Because someone could argue the empty house shows something else, like freedom, this sentence is genuinely arguable.

The choice “Add that the writer uses the empty house to show the old man's growing loneliness” is correct because it turns a vague feeling statement into a text-based, arguable claim.

Adding "definitely" only makes the sentence sound more certain; it does not add a technique or an effect, so it stays vague.

Adding daily details is more summary, which moves further away from an arguable claim rather than closer to one.

Shortening the sentence removes information and still leaves an unsupported statement with no reference to the writer's craft.

Only the choice “Add that the writer uses the empty house to show the old man's growing loneliness” links a specific writer's choice to a specific effect on meaning, which is the required structure.

The choice “Add that the writer uses the empty house to show the old man's growing loneliness” is the only choice that produces a genuinely arguable, text-based claim.

A summary simply restates what happens in the story, while a claim names a writer's choice and its effect on meaning.

This sentence only reports an event from the plot: the character runs away after an argument, with no mention of technique or effect.

The choices “The writer uses the broken clock to suggest the family's sense of time has stopped” and “The repeated image of rain suggests the character cannot escape her sadness” and “The writer's use of short sentences in the final scene increases the tension felt” all mention something the writer does (an image, a repeated symbol, short sentences) and link it to an effect on the reader or meaning.

Because A cannot be disagreed with, since it is simply what happens, it fails the test for being a claim.

The choice “The main character runs away from home after her parents argue at dinner” is the summary sentence, while the others are arguable claims.

This names the broken clock as a technique and states an effect, so it is a claim, not a summary.

This links the repeated rain image to the character's sadness, which is an arguable interpretation, not plot retelling.

This connects a stylistic choice, short sentences, to a specific effect, tension, making it a claim as well.

Only the choice “The main character runs away from home after her parents argue at dinner” lacks any reference to technique or effect, describing only what happens in the plot.

The choice “The main character runs away from home after her parents argue at dinner” is correct because it is a plain summary statement.