Textual
Evidence
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What is Textual Evidence?
Textual evidence is evidence from one or more
texts.
 It is used to support or provide evidence for an
argument, a position, a thesis statement, or
some kind of analysis.
 Should be used carefully and only when it
relates to the topic.

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How Do I Effectively Integrate
Textual Evidence?
Three main ways to include textual evidence:
1. Direct Quotation
2. Paraphrase
3. Summary

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Quotation
A group of words taken directly from a text and
repeated by someone other than the original
author or speaker.
 Must use “quotation marks.”

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Paraphrase

When you use your own words to explain the
ideas of someone else.
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Summary
A brief summary of the original source.
 Keeps the central idea, but put it in your own
words.

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Signal Phrase (Quoting)
Never drop a quotation into a paper
unnannounced or unexplained.
 Use “signal phrases” to easily shift into a quote
and back out again. Signal phrases help you
embed quotes naturally.
 Signal phrases also help avoid monotony.

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For the next few examples I’ll use excerpts from
Gordon Allport’s expository essay “Prejudice and the
Individual:”
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First way

Allport claims that “prejudice is caught rather
than directly taught” (418).
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Second way

“Much prejudice is caught rather than directly
taught,” claims Allport (418).
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Third way

“Much prejudice,” Allport claims, “is caught
rather than directly taught” (418).
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Altering Words (Quoting)
You can add words to adapt a quotation to the
flow of your paragraph.
 If you do this, you must put [brackets]
around the words that you insert.
 These are used to clarify meaning, provide
explanation, or help integrate a quote into the
writer’s sentence.
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Warnings
Do not use parentheses! (Don’t do it!)
 Do not change the writer’s meaning!
 Do not overuse!

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For the next few examples, I’ll use excerpts
from “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard.
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Unclear
•
Dillard was "stunned into stillness as he was
emerging from beneath an enormous shaggy
wild rose bush four feet away."
•
Dillard was "stunned into stillness as [the
weasel] was emerging from beneath an
enormous shaggy wild rose bush four feet
away."
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Verb Tense
•
Dillard concludes her essay by saying that she
"think it would be well, and proper, and
obedient, and pure, to grasp your one
necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it
limp wherever it take you."
•
Dillard concludes her essay by saying that she
"think[s] it would be well, and proper, and
obedient, and pure, to grasp your one
necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it
limp wherever it take you."
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Quotations

There are many additional ways to quote
directly from a text. It simply takes practice and
a true understanding of the piece of work.
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Paraphrase
When you use your own words to explain the
ideas of someone else.
 Remember, they’re still not your ideas, so give
credit to the original author!
 Cite your sources.
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“Education combats easy overgeneralizations, and as
the educational level rises we find a reduction in
stereotyped thinking” (Allport 422).
Weak Paraphrase

Learning fights against stereotypes, and as more
people are more educated we notice a decrease in
prejudice (422).
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“Education combats easy overgeneralizations, and as
the educational level rises we find a reduction in
stereotyped thinking” (Allport 422).
Strong Paraphrase

Allport explains that the more we learn, the harder
we will find it to make unfair assumptions about
groups of people, which means as more people
pursue more education, prejudice decreases (422).
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Summary
A brief summary of the original source.
 Keeps the central idea, but put it in your own
words.
 You could summarize an entire book in just
one sentence (although it better be a great
sentence).
 You can use quotations.
 Keep the writer’s original idea! Don’t twist
meaning!
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How to choose which
method to incorporate...
idence to use:
Think carefully about what you need each
textual evidence to do in your paper.
 Choose the method that suits your needs.
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Hints - Quotations
Use when relying on the reputation of the
writer to give authority or credibility to your
paper.
 The original wording is so remarkable that
paraphrasing would diminish it.
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Hints - Paraphrase
Use when relying on the reputation of the
writer to give authority or credibility to your
paper.
 The original wording is so remarkable that
paraphrasing would diminish it.
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Hints - Paraphrase
You need to provide a supporting fact or detail
but the original writer’s words are not
important.
 You need to use just one specific detail or idea
from a source and the rest is not that important
to your paper.
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Hints - Summary
You need to give an overview of a source to
orient your reader.
 You want to provide background that leads up
to the point of your paper.
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Applying what you know