results, and factual information she had collected into three related categories. She then created three grounds or reasons for the claim, each of which describes one of the categories of backing.
Write Qualifiers
Finally, students can use nonsupporting information they find to construct qualifiers for their claim. That is, they can specify situations in which their claim might not apply or address potential objections to their claim as part of their argument. For example, the student who claimed that electric cars reduce pollution and environmental damage found three pieces of information that did not support that claim (see the right column of table I.9). She might construct the following qualifiers using that information:
Once qualifiers have been constructed, the student can present his or her argument using the organizational structure shown in figure I.2 (page 22).
Citing Textual Evidence
Citing textual evidence involves using specific quotations or information from a text to support a claim. The CCSS require students to “defend their interpretations or judgments with evidence from the text(s) they are writing about” (NGA & CCSSO, 2010b, p. 23). Here, we present two ways that teachers can help students use textual evidence to support and defend their arguments:
1.Ask students to find textual evidence to support an existing claim.
2.Ask students to use textual evidence to construct a claim.
Here, we provide detail about each method.
Support an Existing Claim
At times, students need to support an existing claim with textual evidence. When this is the case, first ask students to annotate the text, marking any evidence that might support the claim. Consider, for example, a student who needs textual evidence to back up the following claim: “In the poem ‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ Emily Dickinson personifies death to show that we should not fear it.” The student begins by highlighting all words or phrases in the poem that use personification, a device that attributes human characteristics to nonhuman entities, as shown in table I.11.
Table I.11: Personification in “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson (1890/1960)
| Because I could not stop for Death— He kindly stopped for me— The Carriage held but just Ourselves— And Immortality. | Or rather—He passed us— The Dews drew quivering and chill— For only Gossamer, my Gown— My Tippet—only Tulle— |
| We slowly drove—He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility— | We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground— The Roof was scarcely visible— The Cornice—in the Ground— |
| We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess—in the Ring— We passed the Fields of Grazing Grain— We passed the Setting Sun— | Since then—’tis Centuries—and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity— |
After highlighting all instances of personification, the student arranges the textual evidence into categories, which become the grounds for the claim. The textual evidence itself is the backing for each of these grounds. Table I.12 illustrates how the student might sort his textual evidence.
Table I.12: Textual Evidence From “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson (1890/1960)
| Grounds | Backing |
| Dickinson portrays Death as a kind person. | “Death” (line 1) is capitalized like a person’s name. The speaker refers to Death with the pronoun “He” (line 2) instead of the pronoun “it.” The line “He kindly stopped for me” (line 2) makes Death seem courteous and thoughtful—the speaker could not stop for herself, so he does it for her. |
| The speaker embraces Death as she would a suitor. | Death picks up the speaker in a “Carriage” (line 3) as if he is courting her. The carriage held “but just Ourselves” (line 3), which makes the two seem like lovers. The phrase “His Civility” (line 8) portrays Death as gallant or chivalrous; he is taking care of the speaker. From the repeated use of the pronoun “We” (lines 5, 9, 11, 12, 17), we can infer that the speaker has accepted her union with Death. |
| The speaker seems relaxed by the fact that death is out of her control. | The line “We slowly drove” (line 5)—as well as the repeated use of the phrase “We passed” (lines 9–12)—makes the journey to death seem painless and relaxing. The speaker is able to look one last time at the world she is leaving behind. The setting sun is also personified as a man: “He [the sun] passed us” (line 13). Because the only other inhuman thing personified in the poem is Death, it could be that the gradual beauty of a sunset also symbolizes death. |
Highlighting potential evidence, narrowing it down, and sorting it into grounds is an excellent way for students to support a pre-existing claim with textual evidence. Sometimes, however, students must collect textual evidence and use it to construct a claim.
Construct a Claim
When students need to construct a claim based on textual evidence, they must first find textual evidence that seems interesting or important. One of the best ways to do this is to annotate the text by marking important or interesting quotes with pencil, highlighter, or sticky notes and then organize the quotes in a double-entry journal, as shown in table I.13.
Table I.13: Double-Entry Journal for Textual Evidence From “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1888)
| Quotations |
|
