Choosing Evidence for Your Own Paragraph

Finish this sentence before you use anything

• I am using this piece because it ...
• If you cannot finish that sentence, the evidence is not chosen — it is available.
• Evidence chosen for a stated reason produces commentary almost by itself.

Choosing a quotation only because it is nearby is like hiring the first person in a queue as your expert witness.

Three good reasons

• ... it illustrates a claim that would otherwise stay abstract.
• ... it establishes credibility on a subject where readers may doubt you.
• ... it connects your position to a value the audience already holds.

Cutting evidence

• Under time pressure, more evidence feels safer. It is not.
• Each piece you keep must earn the space with a job the others do not do.
• Two pieces doing the same job is one piece and some wasted words.

From reason to commentary

• The reason you chose the evidence is the first sentence of your commentary.
• "I chose this because it shows the cost was known in advance" becomes "This matters because it shows the cost was known in advance."
• The hardest sentence to write turns out to be one you already had.

A check before you move on

• Read the claim, then the commentary, skipping the evidence entirely.
• Do they still connect? If yes, the commentary is doing its job.
• If the commentary only makes sense while looking at the quotation, it is summary.

Write from a survey of 80 students

• A writer wants to use a survey of 80 students.
• Finish the reason for using it before the survey appears.