Describe Spences Claim in the Passage Above

Learning Objectives

  • Clarify the types and uses of evidence and supporting details in paragraphs

Principal Ideas in Paragraphs

A paragraph is composed of multiple sentences focused on a single, conspicuously-defined topic. At that place should be one master idea per paragraph, so whenever a writer moves on to a new idea, the writer will offset a new paragraph. For example, this paragraph defines what a paragraph is, and now nosotros volition offset a new paragraph to deal with a new idea: how a paragraph is structured.

Paragraphs are actually organized much similar how persuasive papers are organized. Just like an essay has a
thesis statement followed past a body of supportive evidence, paragraphs take a topic or key sentence followed by several sentences of support or caption.

Afterwards the topic or fundamental sentence introduces the principal idea, the remainder of the sentences in a paragraph should support or explicate this topic. These additional sentences might item the author’due south position on the topic. They might besides provide examples, statistics, or other bear witness to support that position. At the end of the paragraph, the writer may include some sort of conclusion or a transition that sets up the next idea in the essay.

Using the Thesis to Organize Paragraphs

While your main merits should guide the entire argument, fundamental ideas included in the thesis statement can be used in topic sentences to guide your paragraphs.

Using the sample thesis statement, “Social media sites similar Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube take been indispensable tools to young activists from Tahrir Square to Wall Street,” the statement might be outlined equally follows:

  1. Introduction: Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have been indispensable tools to young activists from Tahrir Square to Wall Street.
  2. Twitter helped organize people with
    1. the Arab Jump
    2. Occupy Wall Street
  3. Facebook contributed to
    1. the Arab Jump
    2. Occupy Wall Street
  4. YouTube hosted videos of people who participated in
    1. the Arab Spring
    2. Occupy Wall Street
  5. Conclusion: The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements used of social media to organize people and share ideas.

In the outline in a higher place, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are used to separate the body of the essay into 3 main sections, then those sections are subdivided into Egypt and the United States. Alternately, you could divide the body of the essay into two chief sections—one for Egypt and the other for the United States—and then subdivide by Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The resulting outline would look like this:

  1. Introduction: Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have been indispensable tools to young activists from Tahrir Square to Wall Street.
  2. Arab Spring
    1. Twitter
    2. Facebook
    3. YouTube
  3. Occupy Wall Street
    1. Twitter
    2. Facebook
    3. YouTube
  4. Conclusion:  The Arab Leap and Occupy Wall Street movements used of social media to organize people and share ideas.
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With both of these outlines, the writers established a clear progression from the thesis statement and would assistance the reader to see how each key idea furthers the main merits.

Supporting Ideas and Details

A text’s thesis statement helps guide its overall organization and the development of the topic sentences that will found the body paragraphs. Now let’s examine what makes a paragraph work.

Watch It

First, watch this video and pay close attention to the relationship betwixt a topic or primal judgement and supporting details. Using the metaphor of a firm, the narrator of the video establishes the difference betwixt major and modest details.

(The video has instrumental guitar for audio, but no spoken words, then can be watched without sound if desired.)

You can view the descriptive transcript for “Supporting Details” here (opens in new window).

The following image shows a flowchart of a visual relationship between the overall thesis, topic sentences, and supporting ideas:

Effigy two. The topic is the full general subject, the master idea is the primary bespeak made about the subject field, and supporting details help develop the main idea. For case, in a paper about the flu shot, the topic is the flu shot, the main thought would exist the importance of getting information technology, and the supporting details would be statistics well-nigh its effectiveness and details about how the vaccine prevents the spread of the flu.

Think, readers frequently expect the topic or cardinal sentences to be at the commencement of the paragraph. Sometimes the paragraph’southward purpose in a larger piece of writing necessitates that its topic judgement occurs elsewhere.

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This image shows where a topic sentence might reside in the paragraph, in relation to the rest of the supporting details:

Flow chart. At top: Locations of the topic sentence. From this, 5 vertical sequences. 1) Topic sentence, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail. 2) Introductory detail, topic sentence, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail. 3) Introductory detail, introductory detail, topic sentence, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail. 4) Supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, topic sentence. 5) topic sentence, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, supporting detail, topic sentence.

Figure iii. The topic sentence is oft included at the beginning of a paragraph, as shown in the offset column. But sometimes the topic sentence is located inside the paragraph, or even at both the start and end of a paragraph, as shown in the final column, to reinforce or reiterate the key concept.

How does the construction of a torso paragraph support a thesis?

Person with the word "point" above their head.

Figure 4. The PIE method consists of outset pointing out the principal idea, illustrating and explaining that idea.

Many authors employ the PIE format to structure their essays.


PIE = bespeak, illustration, caption

The point furthers a thesis or claim, the analogy provides support for the point, and the explanation tells the audition why the evidence provided furthers the point and/or the thesis.

For example, allow’s consider an essay written past a college pupil, Tareq Hajj. He argues that his university should not use a plus/minus grading scale because the proposed scale does not include a higher weight for A+ scores/. In his argument he makes the
point
that

“Without the A+, students with high grades in the class would be less motivated to work fifty-fifty harder in order to increase their grades.”

He
illustrates
with a quote from a professor who argues,

“‘(students) have less incentive to try’” (Fesheraki, 2013).

Hajj so
explains
that


“non providing [the about motivated students] with additional motivation of a higher grade … is caitiff.”

Through his explanation, Hajj links back to his claim that,
“A plus-minus grading scale … should not be used…”

because information technology is

“inequitable.”
The PIE structure of his paragraph has served to help him support his thesis.


Using Evidence

Ever heard the phrase “everyone is entitled to his stance”? It is indeed true that people are free to believe whatsoever they wish. Still, the mere fact that a person believes something is not an statement in support of a position. If a text’s goal is to communicate a person’s ideas effectively, it must provide valid explanations and sufficient and relevant prove to convince its audition to accept that position.

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What are the types of evidence?

Whatever text should provide illustrations for each of its points, but it is especially of import to provide reliable prove in an academic argument. This evidence can be based on
master source textile or data
(the author’southward own experience and/or interviews, surveys, polls, experiments, that she may have created and administered). Show can also stem from
secondary source material or data
(books, journals, newspapers, magazines, websites or surveys, experiments, statistics, polls, and other data collected by others).

Let’s say, for example, that you are reading an argument that higher instructors should allow students utilise jail cell phones in grade. Primary source material might include a survey the writer administered that asks students if policies forbidding cell phone usage actually stops them from using their phones in grade. Secondary sources might include articles well-nigh the issue of cell phone usage in class from scholarly or academic journals.

How do authors use rhetoric in their writing?

You’ve likely learned in the by about different types of rhetorical techniques that writers use when making claims in their writing. These rhetorical appeals are referred to by their Greek names:logos
(the appeal to logic),
desolation
(the entreatment to emotion), and
ethos
(the appeal to authority).

The rhetorical appeals logos, pathos, and ethos.

Figure 5. Paragraphs consist of supporting evidence to persuade readers about the accuracy of their thesis statement. This prove is supported past appeals to readers past using logos, ethos, and pathos.

Logical Appeals (Logos)

Authors using logic to support their claims will include a combination of different types of testify. These include the post-obit:

  • established facts
  • case studies
  • statistics
  • experiments
  • analogies and logical reasoning
  • citation of recognized experts on the issue

Ethical Appeals (Ethos)

Writers use their own dominance as thinkers and scholars to support their claims. They may draw from different sources as evidence for their claims. These may include the following:

  • personal anecdotes based on substantial personal experience
  • illustration of deep knowledge on the issue
  • citation of recognized experts on the issue
  • testimony of those involved first-hand on the upshot

Emotional Appeals (Pathos)

Authors using emotional entreatment might back up their claims with some of the aforementioned kinds of evidence listed above, but they effort to invoke an emotional response in their readers. These include the post-obit:

  • personal anecdotes that readers may chronicle to
  • compelling narratives
  • emotional or stirring testimony of those involved first-hand on the issue

As you tin can run across, there is some overlap on these lists. One technique might piece of work simultaneously on multiple levels for unlike readers. Regardless of what kind of evidence you use, an effective paragraph will guide the reader with a clear topic judgement that articulates the claim and so uses show, analogy, support, and discussion to convince the reader.

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Describe Spences Claim in the Passage Above

Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/englishcomp1/chapter/supporting-claims/