Evidence: Facts That Are Used to Support Or Prove a Point

Evidence: Facts that are used to support or prove a point. (Facts are specific/focused/detailed. Things to look for include but are not limited to numbers, names, events, places, etc.)

Tasks in analyzing evidence: 1. State the point of that section, in a complete sentence. What is the author trying to prove here? 2. Find 2 or 3 key pieces of evidence used to support that point. 3. Explain how the fact supports that point, and how that point supports the thesis.

Here is a version of the outline we’ve been working with, including one fact from each of the main sections and an attempt to link that fact to the main point and to the thesis. Some points are now expressed differently, based on the work done in class and after class.

Please note that we can often sum up a major section’s relation to the thesis simply by saying it provides a certain type of evidence. For example, this article is basically broken down into two main sections, not counting the first ten or so paragraphs and the last seven. These two main sections look at traditional agriculture and at modern agriculture, and give lots of facts to support the claim that each kind is wasteful and destructive.

Please note also that in all cases for steps 2 and 3, showing the relation to the main point and the thesis, I have given the relation first using terms that do not mention the topic at all. This is what I was talking about in the instructions for Step 3 of the paragraph outline. I then provide an explanation for clarity in parentheses. I do not require that you do this in the essay, but it’s very useful for understanding how an argument is put together.

A version of the thesis: Agriculture, and especially modern, oil-based agriculture, is both wasteful and destructive, and must change.

I. Energy, which ultimately comes from plants, cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be wasted. (Paragraphs 1 – 4) 1. Fact: Plant energy is essential for life. 2. Relation of fact to main point: Shows why the main point matters (Why we cannot afford to waste energy.) 3. Relation of main point to thesis: Demonstrates why a key concept in the thesis is essential. (Waste) II. Grains concentrate energy, which causes environmental and social destruction. (Paragraphs 5 – 9) 1. Fact: 50% of world’s wealth used by 6.3% of the world’s population (U.S.) 2. Relation of fact to main point: Establishes two key propositions. (Shows that energy can be concentrated, and that concentration leads to violence.) 3. Relation of main point to thesis: Explains two key mechanisms or processes (why agriculture is important, and how it is destructive). III. Traditional agriculture has been wasteful and destructive (Paragraphs 10 – 24) 1. Fact: Only 1% of grasslands remain compared to 10% of other biomes (types of ecosystem) 2. Relation of fact to main point: Provides support through contrast with non-related examples. (Regions used in agriculture are destroyed faster than other areas.) 3. Relation of main point to thesis: Provides historical evidence for main claim. IV. Oil-based agriculture is even more wasteful and destructive (25 – 42) 1. Fact: We use 10 calories’ worth of fuel for every 1 calorie of food we actually eat. 2. Relation of fact to main point: Provides statistical support for main claim (wasteful). 3. Relation of main point to thesis: Provides contemporary evidence for main claim. V. Solutions must consider energy balance (43 – 50) 1. Fact: We produce twice as much protein each day in the US as we actually need (“per capita protein production in the United States is about double what an average adult needs per day.” – paragraph 47) 2. Relation of fact to main point: Shows that main point is viable (we can get along with less) 3. Relation of main point to thesis: Establishes one key proposition in thesis (how we can change)