Write a three-paragraph summary of the argument being made in this document. What is the most compelling evidence used in the article by the author to support their argument? Include examples, details, statistics, or facts from the document to explain the evidence.
Answers
Answer:
You’ve been asked to write a paper that advances and supports an idea or conclusion you’ve
reached. Once you have done the reading, thinking, discussing, and drafting that help you identify the
main point you want to make about a topic—the central claim of your paper—what counts as effective
support for this claim? Here are three accepted ways to support your argument. They can be used
separately or in combination, according to your purpose and audience.
Statistics
Statistics convey information in numerical form, often referred to as data. Statistics are most
accessible and convincing when they are used sparingly and in combination with an explanation of
why the numbers are significant. Remember that even though statistics are considered factual,
numbers can be presented in different ways to suggest dramatically different conclusions. Pay
attention to any conflicting information you find and be sure to provide the full context of statistical
data. In the paragraph below, the writer effectively uses data to support his argument. Notice that the
writer identifies and credits the source of the data, summarizes it succinctly, and states plainly in the
final sentence what conclusion he (the writer) draws from the results:
The slower traffic speeds necessitated by traffic circles also reduce the number and severity of
accidents. In an article from the journal Planning, titled “Let’s Go Round and Round: An Idea That’s
Worth Copying,” author Georges Jacquemart describes a study of 181 recently built roundabouts in
the Netherlands. Some of these roundabouts were built at previously uncontrolled intersections, while
others replaced traffic signs or traffic lights. Results of the study showed a fifty-one percent reduction
of total accidents and a seventy-two percent reduction of injury-causing accidents (18). Because
traffic circles force motorists to slow down and pay attention, they lead to safer intersections.
Examples
Appropriate examples can support the writer’s contention that a general statement is true. Not only do
they provide specifics and details in support of a claim, but the vivid description they often include
helps to capture and retain the reader’s attention. In the following paragraph, the writer includes
examples of mistreatment to support the claim that women’s right to vote was “hard-won”. She also
draws a conclusion from the examples in her final sentence.
Women’s right to vote is a relatively new and hard-won privilege. The suffragists, who demonstrated
for their cause in front of the White House in 1917, were incarcerated and tortured. For example, the
prison guards beat Lucy Burn and left her hanging all night, her hands cuffed to a bar above her head.
They also threw Doris Lewis headlong into a cell, smashing her head into an iron bed. For weeks,
while imprisoned, these women were fed only worm-infested slop. When one of their leaders, Alice
Paul, began a hunger strike in protest of the treatment they were receiving, prison personnel tied her
to a chair, forced a tube down her throat, and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was
tortured like this for weeks (Patterson 78-80). These women endured torture on behalf of an entire
class of human beings who were denied the right to vote. Women of today owe this right to the