AP English Language · Lesson 2

Selecting evidence

Know Know it

Evidence is whatever supports a claim: statistics, examples, expert statements, observations, personal experience, history. No kind is always best. The right evidence depends on the claim and on the audience.

Judge a piece of evidence with four questions. Is it relevant, about this claim and not just this topic? Is it specific, with names, numbers or details rather than “a lot” or “some people”? Is it sufficient, enough cases to support a claim this broad? Is it credible, from a source the audience has reason to trust?

Anecdotal evidence, one person’s story, makes a problem vivid but cannot prove a pattern. Statistical evidence shows a pattern but can feel distant. Strong arguments often pair them: a number to show the scale, a story to show what the number means for one person.

Match the evidence to the audience. A school board weighing a budget may want costs and outcomes; parents may want to know how a change affects one child’s day. Ask what this audience needs to see before it will agree.

Trap Evidence about the topic is not always evidence for the claim

A striking fact can sit next to a claim without supporting it. If the claim is that a crosswalk is dangerous, the number of people who live on the street is about the topic but says nothing about danger. Check that the evidence speaks to the exact claim.

Worked example Easy

A writer claims that the town’s animal shelter needs more volunteers on weekends. Which piece of evidence most directly supports this claim?

  1. The animal shelter was built in 1987 with money raised by a family-owned bakery downtown.
  2. On weekends, eight dogs a day go unwalked because only two volunteers come in.Answer
  3. Most dogs at the shelter are mixed breeds rather than purebreds.
  4. The shelter’s cats are kept in a separate room from the dogs.

How to solve it

  1. Find the exact claim: more volunteers are needed on weekends.
  2. Only one choice shows a weekend shortage and its effect.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. The year the shelter was built and who paid for it say nothing about weekend staffing.
  • B. Correct. Unwalked dogs and only two volunteers on weekends show exactly the shortage the claim names.
  • C. Incorrect. The breeds of the dogs are about the shelter in general, not about a need for weekend help.
  • D. Incorrect. Where the cats are kept is about the building’s layout, not about how many volunteers come.

Worked example Medium

A student wants to persuade the school board to buy new laptops for the library. The board has said its main worry is cost. Which evidence would most likely persuade this audience?

  1. A student’s description of how frustrating it is when a library laptop freezes in the middle of an assignment
  2. A list of the colors the new laptops come in and how much each weighs
  3. A quotation from a famous writer about the importance of reading
  4. A repair log showing the old laptops cost more to fix last year than new ones would costAnswer

How to solve it

  1. Identify the audience’s main concern: cost.
  2. Choose the evidence that speaks to cost: repairs that add up to more than replacement.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. A student’s frustration may be real, but it does not address the board’s concern about cost.
  • B. Incorrect. Colors and weight are details of the product that say nothing about cost or need.
  • C. Incorrect. A quotation about reading is not about laptops or their cost, so it does not meet the board’s concern.
  • D. Correct. Repair costs that exceed the price of new laptops answer the board’s stated worry about money.

Explain Explain it

Task verbs: identify, explain

To explain why evidence is weak or strong, name the test it passes or fails and say why: “The number of tickets a museum sold shows how many people came, but not whether they enjoyed the visit, so it cannot by itself support a claim that visitors loved the new exhibit.”

Explain Your turn

A student argues that her school’s new later start time has made students less tired. Her only evidence is: “My friend Jaylen says he feels much more awake in first period now.” Explain one weakness of this evidence for her claim, and name a kind of evidence that would support the claim better.

Write it, then compare. Nothing you type here is saved or graded.

Compare with a model answer

A full answer does this

  • Explains a weakness of relying on Jaylen’s statement
  • Names a kind of evidence covering many students that would support the claim better

Model answer

Jaylen is one student, and his experience may not be typical of the whole school, so it cannot show that students in general are less tired. A survey asking many students how tired they feel before and after the change would support the claim far better.

Apply Apply it

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