Using examples to make a point
About this video
In his game show "Prove It," David shows how writers use evidence to support their points. He gives a three-step method (identify the points, identify the evidence, connect evidence to points) and applies it to a passage arguing Americans should fear hippos, showing that one survey supports two points and a statistic supports the third.
You'll be able to
- identify the main points an author makes.
- identify the kinds of evidence an author uses, like surveys, examples or statistics.
- explain which evidence supports which point.
Key words
- point
- An idea the writer is trying to argue or prove.
- evidence
- Information, like examples, facts, stories or numbers, used to support a point.
- survey
- A set of questions asked to many people to find out what they think.
- statistic
- A number fact, like an average, used as evidence.
Transcript
- [David] Readers, it's David here with everyone's favorite game.
- [Speakers] Prove It. - [David] The game show where you have to show how writers back up their points, the ideas they're trying to argue or prove to you using evidence. How do writers use evidence to make a point? Here's an example of a point someone could make.
In the, Lil' Tony Crime Fight and Pony series, "Lil' Tony 4: The Mane Event," was a better movie than, "Lil Tony 3: Reins of Terror." One way to support that point might be more people saw, "Lil' Tony 4," than saw "Lil' Tony 3," and therefore, it's a better movie.
There are other ways I could argue that, "Lil Tony 4," was a better film. It got better reviews, it made more money, it won more awards. It did not, by the way, this film franchise does not exist. But each of those would be another piece of evidence that works to support my point.
Here's how to explain how an author uses evidence to support their points, or as we like to say around here, here's how to play Prove It. First, identify the main point or points being made in a text. One way I like to do this is to restate, in my own words, what the author's point is.
Second, identify the evidence that the author uses. So what kind of evidence is it? Is it examples? Is it logic? Is it stories? Is it a graph or facts and figures? Third, figure out which evidence supports each point. Connect the dots, which evidence goes with which point?
Let's get a passage up on the board. Are you afraid of snakes, heights, or spiders? If so, you are not alone. A survey from 2022 found that these are the three most common fears among Americans. One response that doesn't show up on that survey: hippopotamuses.
This is an error in thinking because after mosquitoes, hippos are the deadliest wild animal in the world. Hippos, on average, kill about 500 people per year with their powerful jaws. Hippos should appear on that list of common fears, right at the top. So are you ready?
- [Speakers] Prove it. - [David] procedure time. Let's identify the points being made in the text. Americans are most afraid of snakes, heights, and spiders. That's the author's first point. Their next point is that Americans don't fear hippos. I've written AMS there just to keep it small, you know what I mean, Americans don't fear hippos, and their last point is that Americans should be really afraid of hippos because they're super deadly.
Step two, what evidence do they use? Okay, so here is a survey from 2022 about the things that Americans are afraid of. And here's another piece of evidence, this statistic about how many people hippos kill each year, on average, with their powerful jaws. Step three, connecting points to evidence.
Let's put them in our chart. Which piece of evidence supports which point? Okay, so we've got our our 2022 survey here, which supports the first point, Americans fear, snakes, heights, and spiders. That comes from the survey. And what's interesting is that the survey also supports the second point, which is that Americans don't fear hippos because hippos didn't show up on the list of most common fears among Americans, but the author uses the survey to support both points.
And lastly, what piece of evidence supports the point that Americans should fear hippos? It's this one, it's this piece of evidence, this statistic, about 500 deaths per year. That sounds like a lot of people. So the author wants Americans to be more afraid of being crunched in the powerful jaws of the hippopotamus.
Now, does this argument hold together? That's a different question. I'd say no, because there aren't a lot of hippos in North America for Americans to be chomped by, but we're just looking at how the argument works, not whether it convinces us. That's a subject for another video.
So when you're reading an argument, identify the separate points, identify the evidence, and see how they connect. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Prove It. Until next time, you can learn anything, David, out.
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