Assembling Reasons and Evidence

Assembling Reasons and Evidence

• Reasons and Evidence: Reasons are the supporting arguments you provide to justify your claim. Evidence is the information or data you use to back up those reasons. In literary research, evidence often comes from the text itself, but it can also include biographical information, historical context, and critical interpretations from other scholars.   

• Using Reasons to Structure Arguments: The order and arrangement of your reasons contribute to the overall logic and flow of your argument. Consider how each reason builds upon the previous ones and how they collectively support your main claim.   

• Evidence in Literary Research: In literary research, evidence often takes the form of quotations from the text, but it can also include summaries of key passages, references to specific scenes or events, and observations about the author's style or language.   

• Evaluating Evidence: When presenting evidence, consider its accuracy, precision, sufficiency, authoritativeness, and clarity. Ensure that your evidence is relevant to your claim and that you have presented it in a way that is understandable to your audience.   

• Evidence and Interpretation: Evidence in literary research is often open to interpretation. It's important to explain how your evidence supports your reasons and claim, acknowledging that other interpretations might be possible.

Example:

To support my claim about Klara's narrative voice, I will need to assemble reasons and evidence from Klara and the Sun.  For instance, one reason could be that Klara's outsider perspective as an AF allows her to make unique observations about human behaviour, challenging readers to reconsider their own assumptions and biases.  To support this reason, I would provide evidence from the text, such as instances where Klara misinterprets human emotions or social cues due to her limited understanding, or moments where her observations highlight the contradictions or absurdities of human behaviour.  I would analyse these textual examples, explaining how they demonstrate Klara's unique perspective and contribute to the novel's exploration of human relationships and consciousness.   

Preparation Activity: Assembling Reasons and Evidence

Reading: Chapter 7: Assembling Reasons and Evidence

Instructions:

1. Develop your argument: Review your research question, claim, and the types of claims from the previous chapters. Refine them if necessary. Create 3-4 reasons that directly support your claim.

2. Find evidence: For each reason, find 2-3 pieces of evidence to support it. Evidence can be facts, statistics, examples, quotations, or data. Be sure to choose evidence that is relevant, reliable, and appropriate for your argument.

3. Explain your reasoning: For each reason, explain how your evidence supports it. Show the connection between the evidence and the reason, and explain how the reason, in turn, supports your main claim.

4. Consider warrants: For each reason, consider whether you need to state a warrant. If your audience might not understand how your reason supports your claim, you will need to provide a warrant to explain the underlying principle connecting them.

5. Organise: Arrange your reasons and evidence in a logical order. Consider which reasons are most important or persuasive and how you can best structure your argument to lead your audience to your conclusion.

6. Submission: A detailed outline of your argument, including your claim, reasons, evidence, and explanations of your reasoning.

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Class Outline: Assembling Reasons and Evidence

Objectives:

• Guide students in selecting and using evidence to support their research arguments.

• Familiarise students with different types of evidence and their appropriate use in different fields.

• Foster critical thinking and discussion around evaluating the quality and relevance of evidence.

Activities:

1. Recap: Briefly review the concept of research claims and reasons from previous weeks.

2. Presentation: Discuss the importance of evidence in research arguments. Introduce different types of evidence, such as:

   • Facts, statistics, and data

   • Examples and case studies

   • Quotations and paraphrases from experts

   • Visual evidence, such as images, charts, and graphs

3.  Analysis: Show examples of how evidence is used in different fields of research. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different types of evidence and how to evaluate their quality and relevance.

4. Group activity: Divide students into small groups and provide each group with a research argument that lacks evidence. Have the groups brainstorm and select appropriate evidence to support the argument.

5. Presentation and discussion: Have each group present their revised argument with evidence to the class. Discuss the choices they made and how the evidence strengthens the argument.

6. Wrap-up: Summarise key takeaways from the session, emphasising the importance of using strong and relevant evidence to support research arguments.

Reading for Next Week: Chapter 8: Warrants