Anita and Me - Illustrating and Supporting Points

How to use evidence to support a point:

There are three methods of using evidence from a text: paraphrasing, quoting single words or short phrases, and quoting longer sections of text. Mastering each of these methods will take some practice. One of the easiest ways to use evidence from a text is to paraphrase, which allows you to use your own words to describe or rephrase a part of the text and is thus especially useful for closed-book exams. Paraphrasing is an essential skill for all kinds of writing; it is easy to forget that it also demonstrates your knowledge of the text.

Quoting individual words or short phrases from the text is another method of providing evidence in support of a point. You can really impress by memorising some short, relevant quotations. "Relevant" is the key word here, however: when you use these short quotations, be sure they relate to your point. This method is particularly effective for times when you wish to discuss the details of language choice. It will take some practice to incorporate quotations well, which includes making sentences grammatically correct. As you improve this skill, you can consider combining methods. Your writing will become more flexible when you can mix paraphrase with short quotations in the same sentence. By using a combination of methods, you can avoid writing awkward sentences cluttered with multiple quotations.

The final method is to quote a full sentence or more. Sometimes quoting a short phrase does not make sense in the way that you wish. At other times it can be difficult to include a quotation grammatically and, in these cases, this might be the best method to use. It is a good choice to quote longer passages when you would like to write about a quotation in close detail.

One useful tip for writing well is to avoid quoting single, ordinary words in the hopes of proving that you have read the text. This tactic really only demonstrates that a word has been copied from one place to another. Occasionally, a perfectly ordinary word might be used in a significant way, in which case it is good to quote the word. With the exception of a single, ordinary word being used in an ordinary way, all exact phrases or sentences from the text should be enclosed in quotation marks.

Try this quiz on the best way to use evidence from Anita and Me. The aim of this quiz is to test your ability to quote and to paraphrase; your knowledge of the text is not being tested here. One helpful tip is that it might be easier to eliminate the incorrect answers first!