INTRODUCING TEXTUAL EVIDENCE IN YOUR BLOG Supporting your ideas with evidence
You should use evidence to help strengthen your thesis and any assertion you make that relates to your thesis. Here are some ways to work evidence into your writing: • Offer evidence that agrees with your stance up to a point, then add to it with ideas of your own. • Present evidence that contradicts your stance, and then argue against (refute) that evidence and therefore strengthen your position. • Use sources against each other, as if they were experts on a panel discussing your proposition. • Use quotations to support your assertion, not merely to state or restate your claim
USING QUOTATIONS AND PARAPHRASING You may incorporate textual evidence right into the sentence with the use of quotation marks, but your quote from the text must make sense in the context of the sentence. April is so wildly confused that she actually “…hated Caroline because it was all her fault” (page 118). Another way to introduce textual evidence is to tell the reader you are doing so. According to the author, “Reading and writing are two skills every person will need in the workplace” (page 42). Additional examples of this style are listed: • • • • • • • • • •
As noted on page 79, For example, When the author states,”….” An example of this occurs when the main character says, “…” As stated in the text, The author illustrates this point when she states, Toward the end of the story Ken says, “…” For instance, As Kurt Vonnegut points out, In the words of …
3. Here is a list of common verbs used to introduce textual evidence: argues writes concludes reveals comments maintains suggests insists counters states claims demonstrates notes implies
observes explains
See the back of this page for more detail about using textual evidence
1. Summary If a key event or series of events in the novel support a point you are trying to make, you may want to include a brief summary, making sure that you show the importance of the event or events by clearly connecting your summary to your point. Below is a good summary (with its importance clearly pointed out) from an essay on The Pearl: The doctor lies about why he cannot treat Coyotito (SUMMARY). His comments to his servant show how he is motivated by greed (IMPORTANCE/CONNECTION). 2. Paraphrase You can paraphrase when you need the details of the original, but not necessarily the words of the original: paraphrase to put someone else's words into your own words. Below is an example (also from the paper on The Pearl) of how to "translate" original material into part of your own paper: Original: "The pictures were religious, even the large tinted photograph of his dead wife, who, if Masses willed and paid for out of her own estate could do it, was in Heaven." Paraphrase: The doctor is so stingy that he uses his inheritance from his dead wife to pay for prayers to be said for her, instead of paying for them from his own funds. 3. Specific Detail Various types of details from the text support the main idea of your response. These details add credibility to the point you are trying to make. Details should be short, and incorporated into your own sentences. Below is a list of some of the details which could have been used in the paper about the doctor. "dressing gown of red watered silk" "memory and longing for France" "tiny cup of eggshell china" 4. Using Direct Quotations Quotations can illuminate and support the ideas you are trying to develop. Occasional use of quoted material will make your points clearer and more convincing. As with all the textual evidence you use, make sure you explain how the quote is connected to your point -- let the reader know the significance of the quotations you use. Below are guidelines and examples that should help you use quotations effectively: A. Brief quotations (fewer than three lines) should be carefully introduced and integrated into the text of your paper. Put quotation marks around all briefly quoted material, as in this example: On the wall of his room is a "large tinted photograph of his dead wife, who, if Masses willed and paid for out of her own estate could do it, was in Heaven" (701). Make sure you give page numbers when necessary. Notice that in this example the page numbers are in parentheses after the quotation marks, but before the period. B. Lengthy quotations should be separated from the text of your paper. Quotes of more than three lines should be single spaced and indented five spaces from the left margin, with the right margin the same as the rest of your paper. The quote should be tied in some way to the paragraph before it, either through an introductory sentence, or by integrating it into the actual text of your sentence.