Analyzing Evidence from Text

Finding evidence is only half the job. The other half is telling your reader exactly why that piece of evidence supports your idea. Think of it as three linked steps.

Skipping the last box is the most common mistake. Writing "she is brave" and then just dropping in a quote does not tell your reader how the quote proves the claim. You have to say it out loud, in your own words.

A quote is a piece of text copied word for word. You use quotation marks around it to show these are the author's exact words, not yours.

Read this short passage:

"Maya's hands shook, but she stepped onto the stage anyway and picked up the microphone."

Claim: Maya feels nervous but still acts brave.

Quote as evidence: "Maya's hands shook, but she stepped onto the stage anyway."

Explanation: Shaking hands show that Maya is scared. Stepping onto the stage anyway shows she does the brave thing even though she is scared. That is exactly what being brave means.

Notice the explanation does not just repeat the quote. It tells the reader what the shaking hands mean and how that connects to the word "brave."

A paraphrase is a detail from the text written in your own words instead of copied exactly. You still must get the meaning right.

Same claim: Maya feels nervous but still acts brave.

Paraphrase as evidence: Even though Maya was scared, she walked onto the stage and grabbed the microphone.

Explanation: This shows Maya did not let her fear stop her from doing something hard. That is why the claim about her being brave makes sense.

A quote is useful when the exact wording matters, like a strong or unusual phrase. A paraphrase is useful when you want to explain an idea in fewer or simpler words. Either one can support your claim, as long as your explanation connects it clearly.

You may have practiced finding proof in the text before, such as in Textual Evidence and Analysis. This lesson builds on that skill by asking you to explain the "why," not just point to the "where."

Read this sentence from a story: "The dog whined and pressed close to the boy's leg every time thunder cracked."

Claim: The dog is scared of thunder.

Now pick your evidence. You could quote it directly, or paraphrase it as: the dog stayed near the boy's leg and made sounds each time thunder hit.

Then write your explanation. A strong answer might say: whining and staying close to a person are things a scared animal does, so this shows the dog is afraid of the loud thunder sound.

When you cite proof like this in your own writing, it helps to practice with short passages first, the same way you did in Citing Text Evidence, before moving on to longer texts.

Claim: An idea or conclusion you state about a text.

Evidence: A detail from the text that supports a claim.

Quote: The exact words from a text, copied and placed in quotation marks.

Paraphrase: A detail from a text restated in your own words.

Explanation: The part where you tell why the evidence proves the claim.

Conclusion: The final idea you reach after looking at the evidence.

Read a short paragraph and write one claim about a character or event. Underline one sentence that could be evidence, then write two or three sentences explaining why it proves your claim. Try the same paragraph twice, once using a quote and once using a paraphrase, and compare which one feels clearer.

Related lessons

• Using Text Support for Analysis