EVIDENCE Proving Your Point
EVIDENCE
Proving Your Point
Today’s Agenda
Types of Evidence Providing Evidence Qualities of Evidence Developing Evidence Writing Assignment Creating an Outline Going from Outline to a Draft
Types of Evidence
Reasons Examples Facts Details Statistics Personal Experiences Anecdotes Quotations
Internal vs External Sources
Internal – knowledge you have acquired through personal experience
Anecdotes, personal stories External – knowledge you have acquired
through research Statistics, facts
Developing Evidence
Research vs Personal Experience Citations – External Sources Memory – knowing what to research vs
what you know
Research
Not Wikipedia – on its own The Internet – the best and worst place
for information Trust nothing on Facebook
Internet Research
Links to other established sources Use personal accounts as personal
accounts – not authoritative statements Do not rely on personal accounts from
others. Use them to illustrate a point, but find other
sources Starting point, not an ending Don’t be lazy
Note Taking
Especially important Refer to personal thoughts as well as
information Concrete moments in the reading Reminders of what was written
Providing Evidence
Arranged according to your thesis Lasting impressions Placed in order
Arranging Evidence
Should make sense logically Should make sense dramatically
Possible Arrangements
Chronological Spatial Emphatic Simple-to-Complex
Chronological
Ordered on time Easy to understand Good with narration Flashbacks and forwards
Spatial
Ordered by location Easy to lose readers along the way Systematic approach
Emphatic
Psychological momentum Builds from least relevant to most
relevant
Simple to Complex
Simplest concepts written first Escalating in complexity Pretty obvious, right?
Qualities of Evidence
Unified Relevant Specific Adequate Dramatic Accurate Representative Documented
Unified and Relevant
Collected makes sense for the task at hand
Specific
Engages readers Avoid vagaries
Adequate
A variety of evidence Does the whole actually prove the
thesis?
Dramatic
“Bring the drama” Engages readers Understand what you’re trying to say
Accurate
Don’t lie Different from “selective editing”
Representative
Exceptions don’t prove the rule Shows the typical situation
Documented
Not just academically honest Supports your case Lean on another’s authority
Writing Assignment
Write a story describing a time that you felt “moved.” Explain what in particular was important to you in that moment. Try to convince me to feel as you felt using different types of evidence.
Patterns of Development
Description Narration Illustration Division-Classification Process Analysis Comparison-contrast Cause-effect Definition Argumentation-persuasion
Description
Provides details of an incident
Narration
Tells a story of an incident Much more involved telling than simply
describing it
Illustration
Provides concrete examples to illustrate the point
Division-Classification
Divides the telling into various stages Classifies evidence into those stages
Process analysis
Step by step accounts Explores what should be done or what is
done
Comparison-contrast
Compares/contrasts two incidents Builds up authority with similarity of
incidents Can also show how differences in
incidents prove your point
Cause-effect
Why an incident occurs The consequences of said incident
Definition
Explores what exactly is meant semantically by evidence
Argumentation-persuasion
Makes a proposal Makes the case for x, y, or z to be
implemented or believed
Presenting Your Evidence
Outlines
Purpose
An Outline should break your paper into manageable pieces.
Expandable Assume half to two-thirds as long as the
paper itself
An Example
Primary Heading Subsection Subsection
Quotation Primary Heading
Quotations
From your note taking For college writing, focus around a
particular quote Introduce -> Quote -> Explore-
>Transition
An Easy Format
Introduce Where are you going?
Quote The quotation itself
Explore How the quotation fits your thesis and
introduction Transition
On to the next point
Introductions
Transition from the transition Prepares reader for the quotation
Quote
Most direct and meaningful parts Do not take out of context Prove what you’re trying to say Try to avoid block quotes, except where
necessary to build context
Explore
Show how the quotation proves your point
Can be multiple sentences long.
Transitions
Outline will help build these Skip around and go back to them Learn to love subheadings
Writer’s Block
Skip around in the piece Write as you speak