Whenever a writer is trying to substantiate his opinion it is paramount that they pile facts that support their ideas and beliefs. Readers will only value this opinion if a third-party piece of evidence is provided in a logical and clear order. When you are using evidence to back your thoughts it is important to make sure that all the facts are verifiable. Use these worksheets to learn how to substantiate your claims with valid reasons and evidence to support it.
Building Knowledge through Evidence – You will need a work of nonfiction that is informational to work along side with this sheet.
Reasons and Evidence – Highlight the main points the author makes and see if you can understand where she is going with it.
Plants and Animals – What are the differences between the two?
Supporting Points – This is more of an organizer for your thoughts.
True or False? – Are these myths or facts?
Did Men Really Land on the Moon? – John thinks the U.S. Moon landing was a hoax.
George Frederick Handel – Read the article. Fill in the chart.
Supporting Points 2 – Read about a famous person or a historical event. Write a diary entry from the point of view of the famous person, or of someone who witnessed the historical event.
Understanding Reasons and Evidence – Choose an informational text. Complete the chart below to help you better understand the topic.
Where Does Food Come From? – Plants are food-producers. Think about what you had for breakfast this morning. Oatmeal is made from oats, which is a plant.
The Cheetah – The cheetah's body is built for speed. It has long, slim, muscular legs that can cover a lot of ground with each stride.
Reasons and Evidence – What evidence does the narrator offer that the meadow was "pleasant?"
Tough Times – What evidence does the author offer to demonstrate that the girls are, in fact, poor?
Drawing Conclusions From Evidence – Choose a story that you have read recently. Complete the chart below to describe one of the characters in the story.
Whenever you are reading a paper, it is important to find out the evidence that backs up the author's argument. Here are some ways to help you identify the evidence of an author's argument.
Facts are known and proven information. A fact is an important element of the author's argument. This is because facts make the information more credible and authentic. Facts do not need any additional validation. They are already proven to be true. Facts are the biggest evidence of the author's argument.
Stats refer to the numerical data and information that backs up the argument of the author. Stats can be easily found in an essay by spotting numbers. Statistics can be obtained through several ways like surveys, interviews, polls, research, etc. To identify stats in an essay, spot numerals that are relevant to the topic.
Anecdotes are short narratives that may come from the experiences of the author himself. Anecdotes also act as evidence for the author's argument.
Examples are very useful evidence for the author. They can be used to further explain the importance of the topic. Examples can help a lot in supporting the argument of the author. Examples can be usually found besides the general statements.
Textual evidence is found quite often in many written essays and papers. Textual evidence is the most common type of evidence that supports the author's argument. Textual evidence adds more credibility to the paper. They include quotations and paraphrases of different people. They can be found easily as each textual evidence is given a reference of its own. You can mostly spot a quotation easily as they are encapsulated inside inverted commas. Other references are given at the end of the paper.