Q CLAIMS, EVIDENCE, & EXPLANATION WORKSHEET In much of academic and professional writing, the author makes a CLAIM and supports it with EVIDENCE obtained from research. Here are definitions of both of those terms. CLAIM = A statement that the audience can reasonably disagree with. o Example claims: Ice cream is the best dessert. OR The U.S. government should provide health insurance to everyone in the country. OR Facebook is a monopoly that should be split up. EVIDENCE = Information that is persuasive. Evidence includes: 1) Data (numbers), 2) examples, and 3) expert opinions. Note: Expert opinions are only persuasive if the author can demonstrate what makes the person an expert that the audience should believe. In other words, the audience needs to know what that person’s credentials are e.g. university professor, scientific researcher, C.E.O. with an excellent track record for success, board member, etc. The expert’s potential biases should also be taken into account when evaluating expert opinion evidence. Claims and Evidence are useful building blocks in writing your application paragraph as well, even though outside research is not required for the assignment. • For Paper #1, the claims will be statements you make based on your analysis of your own early educational experiences at home and/or at school. • The critically thinking reader will not automatically assume your analysis of your experience right. Instead, s/he will want to evaluate your evidence for those claims. For instance… o What kind of praise did you frequently hear from your elementary school teachers? Did they reward taking on challenges and trying multiple times to succeed? Or did they reward students who had the correct answers right away, seemingly with no effort? o What kind of reaction did your parents have if you brought home a report card with low grades? o Note: Typically, a CLAIM is considered well-supported if it has at least 2 pieces of evidence backing it up. Sometimes one piece of evidence is enough, but usually, 2 (or more) is better. The third important element in an application paragraph (and many other kinds of academic writing), is EXPLANATION. Explanation is when you share your thought process with your audience. • Let’s say you make the CLAIM that your elementary school teachers encouraged a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset. o One piece of EVIDENCE for this claim is that your teacher, Ms. Jones, gave most of her praise to students who never made mistakes rather than those who made mistakes, but kept trying until they figured something out. o However, it is not enough just to say that Ms. Jones discouraged a growth mindset by praising students who never made mistakes. You need to EXPLAIN how that kind of praise encourages or discourages a growth mindset. How did you come to the conclusion that Ms. Jones’ praise of not making mistakes encouraged a fixed mindset? That line of thinking needs to be shared with your audience. o IMPORTANT: What may seem obvious to you because you have access to all of your thoughts as you read your paper, will not be obvious to your readers, who cannot read your mind. That’s why we typically need test readers at some point during the writing process. o EXERCISE: In approximately 2-5 sentences typed up on the next page, explain how the type of praise Ms. Jones gave her students in the example shared above would encourage a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset. (Tip: Shorter sentences are usually more effective than long sentences because they are easier to understand.) EXPLANATION OF SAMPLE “MS. JONES EXAMPLE”: