Julita Ali Okolie

WRT 1020, Section 2; College Composition II

Dr. William Shea

Fall, 2015 Thursday, 7-10 p.m.

Weekly Analytical/Reflective E-Journal Entry

October 15, 2015

Readings:
Writing Analytically, chapter 4 (Reasoning from Evidence to Claims),
Writing Analytically, chapter 5 (Making Interpretations Plausible)

Journal Entry #5

Think hard about evidence. In argumentation what is the function of

evidence? How do you recognize evidence? What is its purpose? How can
you use evidence to aid your writing?

I argumentation, evidence refers to facts, documentation, or testimony used

to strengthen a claim, support an argument, or reach a conclusion.
Evidence isn't the same as proof. "Whereas evidence allows for professional
judgment, proof is absolute and incontestable
Arguments are everywhere. Someone is always trying to convince us of
something. Part of our job as readers is to evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of these arguments and figure out whether or not we should
adopt the perspectives they present. This lesson will offer some tips about
how to do just that.
Before we begin, though, let's review the basic elements of an argument. An
argument, as we know, is a form of communication that tries to persuade its
audience to adopt a particular position about a topic. Arguments have three
main parts: a claim that states the position to be argued; reasons that
logically explain why the claim should be accepted; and evidence that
supports the reasons with facts, anecdotes, statistics, expert testimony, and
examples. The statements a writer makes to offer a claim, reasons, and
evidence can weaken or strengthen an argument. Let's see how this works