Prescriptive and descriptive claims

Prescriptive and descriptive claims are “A claim is a descriptive claim if it says what is. A claim is prescriptive if it says what should be.” (Epstein). An example of a descriptive claim would be when you say “my motorcycle is a Yamaha” it is a claim that says what it, is making is a descriptive claim. The other type of claim is a prescriptive claim. These claims tell what a claim should be, not what the claim is. An example of this claim would be “your bike should be a Ducati”. This is a prescriptive claim because it is telling what the motorcycle should be instead of telling you what the motorcycle really is.  I have heard these claims while talking to my friends around San Jose State University so I know that these claims, among others come up everyday and  I even say some of these claims in my daily everyday activities!