MODULE 7

• Textual evidence


  Information gathered from the original source or other texts that supports an argument or thesis
• Two sides to every argument

  • Claim
  • Counterclaim
• Claim


  A statement of the writer's point or argument for something
• Counterclaim


  A rebuttal, or argument opposing the claim
• Determining textual evidence

  1. Make claims and counterclaims

  2. Introduce reasoning behind arguments

  3. Present evidence to support claims
• Reasons alone carry little weight without evidence, as an audience is unlikely to be persuaded to accept a claim on the basis of reasons alone
• Two forms of textual evidence

  • Explicit
  • Implied
• Explicit textual evidence


  Information that is directly stated in a text
• Implied textual evidence


  Information that can be gathered through clues given thought the text
• Textual evidence often requires a large amount of critical thinking, especially when dealing with implied evidence
• Types of evidence

  • Facts and statistics
  • Opinions from experts
  • Personal anecdotes
• Characteristics of good evidence

  • Unified
  • Relevant to the central point
  • Specific and concrete
  • Accurate
  • Representative or typical
• Finding evidence in fiction and non-fiction texts

  1. Read and understand the question or claim

  2. Closely read the text to find the answer

  3. Note inferences and quotations from the passage that support the answer or claim

  4. Analyze the evidence

  5. Cite the evidence
• Textual evidence comes from a text (fiction or nonfiction) that you can use to illustrate your ideas and support your arguments