When you are using textual evidence in your writing, you want to make sure it is your ultimate wingman (meaning, it’s making you look good).
It also shouldn’t include an article about Narwhals that clearly explains everything there is to know about the creatures.
Textual evidence should not include a random Facebook post about narwhals you saw. It could even include information from a trusted zoological study citing the unknown information about narwhals. This evidence could include articles from the New York Times about narwhals only being spotted by so many people in the world. If you were writing an essay on narwhals being the most mysterious animal on earth, you would want to find evidence that supported your claim. When you make a claim in an essay, you are telling your reader, “This is what I want you to think when you’re done reading this”. Textual evidence’s primary function is to defend your claim in writing.Ī claim, or thesis (or your point/opinion), is the compass for the entire essay.
Textual evidence can also be used in research, argumentative, and compare and contrast essays. Textual evidence has many different functions, but primarily it is used to defend the writer’s claims. Through the use of textual evidence, they were able to write about these topics and have an expert’s on the topics to defend their research. My students were not doctors, nurses, or in the medical field at all.
