English 101A/Hurley

The Four “E’s” of Support

In an academic paper, whenever you make a claim (also called an assertion), you
need to support that claim. There are four basic types of support: evidence,
expert testimony, explanation, and examples. The most successful papers
use a mixture of different types of support in each paragraph.

Factual Evidence is the use of facts or statistics on the subject.

Questions to consider:
~Does the evidence come from a trusted source?
~Is the evidence up to date?
~If using a fact, is the fact indisputably a fact?
~If using a statistic, is the sample representative? For example, if the statistic is a
poll, how many people were polled, and does the poll represent a diverse
population?

Expert Testimony is using the words of an expert on the subject. You may use a
direct quote or a paraphrase of someone’s ideas.

Questions to consider:
~Is the person being quoted truly an expert on the subject? What is the expert’s
credentials?
~Does the person have a financial or political interest that might influence his or
her views?

Explanation involves expressing your reasons for why the claim is true. Thus,
explanation involves strong critical thinking skills. Some methods of explanation
are: explaining your reasons using logic, imagining the possible consequences of
certain actions, pointing out the flaws in another person’s argument, or making
an analogy between two concepts.

Some things to think about:

~What are your reasons for believing this claim?
~How would you defend a particular claim if you couldn’t use facts or statistics?
~Have you refuted the arguments that someone else might pose against you
(counter-arguments)?
~If you’re using an analogy, does the analogy strengthen your case?

Examples refer to specific cases that support or illustrate a broad concept.

Examples help you avoid abstractions and generalizations; they make your
writing clearer and more vivid. Examples can come from a source or from your
own experience or observations.

While examples can make your writing vivid, they are the weakest form of
support. Avoid making generalizations based solely on examples (sometimes
called anecdotal evidence). For example, if you’re writing about the British
health care system, you might mention that your uncle in England had to wait six
months for his knee operation. However, your uncle’s experience does not
represent the experience all of the people who use the British health care system.
On its own, it is not adequate support for a claim about the British health care
system.

Questions to consider:
~Does the example really help illustrate or support the claim?
~Is the example believable? Is it interesting?
~In a paper involving research, are you making sure to use examples in
conjunction with other types of sources?

Practice Exercise: The Four E’s of Support

Recently, a law was passed in California banning the use of cell phones while
driving. Advocates of this law claimed that cell phones pose a serious risk on the
roads.

Using your minds and your computers, can you find four types of support for this
claim?

Factual Evidence:

Expert Testimony:

Explanation:
Examples:

Now, write a long paragraph supporting this claim (or the opposite
claim, if you like). Use at least three types of support in your paragraph.
Begin with a topic sentence that states the claim directly.