Finding Evidence in the Text

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Whenever you read, your brain gathers information.

Sometimes that information is presented as plain facts, like in Clue where someone shows their card.

At other times, you have to read between the lines to figure out what is being said, like when someone shows another player a card in Clue, and you may be able to figure out which one that is.

In reading, that's called an inference.

Either way, when you answer questions about what you read (or make an accusation in Clue), you must be able to back up what you say with evidence!

Textual Evidence

When you see the word text, it means the original words in whatever you are reading. It could be a novel, short story, essay, poem, magazine article, or anything else.

In school, you'll often be asked to answer questions about the texts you read. You'll also be asked to provide evidence for your answers.

Here are the steps you can take to do that.

1. Restate the question. Take out the question words (like who, what, when, why, and how), and make the beginning of a sentence.
2. Answer the question in your own words.
3. Cite details from the text. Use quotation marks for direct quotes.
4. Explain how the evidence supports your answer.

Work through an example.

Read the excerpt below from the novel Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter.

• What is McLean likely to think about Freckles after this?

1. Restate the question. Take the question words out, and make it into the beginning of a sentence.

McLean is likely to think...

2. Answer the question in your own words.

McLean is likely to think that Freckles is a good young man, and he might give him a job.

3. Cite details from the text. Use quotation marks for direct quotes.

The author says that McLean had "genuine sympathy" for Freckles. She writes that McLean guessed Freckles' ancestors had "used cultivated English" and that Freckles' accent and way of speaking were "almost irresistible to the Scotsman."

4. Explain how the evidence supports your answer.

Even though McLean thinks that Freckles may not be strong enough for the job, he might still give him a chance because he has sympathy for him and thinks that he comes from an educated family and his Irish accent reminds McLean of his Scottish heritage.

Following these four steps, the final answer is below.

McLean is likely to think that Freckles is a good young man, and he might give him a job. The author says that McLean had "genuine sympathy" for Freckles. She writes that McLean guessed Freckles' ancestors had "used cultivated English" and that Freckles' accent and way of speaking were "almost irresistible to the Scotsman." Even though McLean thinks that Freckles may not be strong enough for the job, he might still give him a chance because he has sympathy for him and thinks that he came from an educated family and his Irish accent reminds McLean of his Scottish heritage.

Notice that much of the answer above is inferences. The author doesn't say that McLean would give him a chance, but it could be inferred from other things she did say.

To learn more about making inferences, watch a portion of the video below.

Remember that whether you cite a fact in the text or make an inference, you must back it up with evidence from the text.

• Ready to practice?

Go to the Got It? section now!