Module 9 How to Support a Claim with Evidence

What is a Claim?

You have been asked to answer an open historical question, one which is perhaps controversial and on which reasonable people may disagree. You will answer the question using a four part structure: The Claim (one part) and The Evidence Burger (three parts).

More About the Claim

Your claim will be the first sentence of your paragraph
It will answer the question in one direct sentence and will incorporate key words from it
It will be an opinion
It is like a thesis statement in an essay or a topic sentence in a paragraph

What is an Evidence Burger?

An evidence burger is the main structure used in analytical writing. It forms the part of a body paragraph that comes AFTER the claim and has three parts.

The TOP 1-3 sentences provide the context/introduction. Contextual knowledge is used to situate the evidence in time and place and to establish the historical context. For example, who, where, when and what does the reader need to know in order to understand the first piece of evidence?
The MIDDLE 1-2 sentences provide the evidence used to support your claim. You may quote the document directly or paraphrase. If you quote directly, please be concise: reduce the quotation to just those bits you need to prove your point. Rule of thumb: quote when your interpretation depends on the actual words or phrasing. Otherwise, paraphrase in your own words. Whether you quote directly or paraphrase, please cite the source of the evidence in parenthesis; for example: (Doc A).

The BOTTOM 3-4 sentences provide your commentary/analysis. The commentary/analysis is an explanation as to why or how the evidence supports your claim. In other words, the reasoning as to why you feel the evidence you chose is the best or strongest evidence to support your thesis/topic sentence. Your commentary/analysis should demonstrate what the evidence means, and/or why it matters to the the claim.

Evidence Burger.png

Signal Phrases and Sentences Starters

Below are some signals phrases you can use to introduce the quote (the MIDDLE part of the evidence burger).

______________ states , “__________________________________________” (evidence/quote)

According to ____________________, “_______________________________” (evidence/quote)

In ________________’s view, “____________________________” (evidence/quote)
___________ agrees when he/she writes, “___________________________” (evidence/quote)

Paraphrasing can use the same structure as the above examples, but will state the information from the evidence in your own words.

Below are some commentary/analysis sentence starters (the BOTTOM part of the evidence burger).

Based on this evidence, it appears that______________________________________.
This source provides some insight into the nature of __________________________.
The evidence points to ____________________________________________________.
It’s important to note _________________ since _______________________________.