We must prove statements we make when we speak or write.
For example, if you said, “I was a good athlete in high school,” I might say, “Prove it.”
Or if you said, “The Russian Army was the main reason for the defeat of the Nazis,” I might say, “What proof do you have?”
Provide an Explanation
One form of evidence means to provide an explanation. For example, let’s say your parents could not get hold of you. You say, “I was over at Gilda’s house and didn’t realize my phone was dead.” Your parents could phone Gilda’s parents, but usually they accept your explanation. The matter is settled. The explanation is evidence enough to produce agreement.
Let’s take another situation. say I ask Julia what she is especially good at doing. She says, “I’m really good at crocheting dolls.”
If I said, “Prove you’re good at that,” and she crochets a wonderful doll like those in the picture, then she will have proved she is telling the truth.
Another way she could provide evidence of her skill is if she can explain in detail how she makes the dolls.
Explanation is our first type of evidence.
Adding the Proof to Our Writing
There are five parts to most pieces of writing:
Summary Old information section New information section Why section Ending
Of those, the middle three are the most important:
Old information section New information section Why section
The Old information section tells readers or listeners what they likely already know about the subject.
The New information section tells readers or listeners what they likely do not know about the subject.
The Why section tells why the Old + New is true or important
In the previous section, you learned you should start each of those main sections with an ID:
Introduce Define or Describe
We can add a third part to those two: Prove
Introduce Define or Describe Prove
Remembering IDP
It is easy to remember the three parts to each section.
Most people know that IDK stands for I Don’t Know. Just change K to P: IDP. Introduce, Define or Describe, Prove
TROUT SHOUT!
Yell the following!
IDP: Introduce, Define or Describe, Prove.
Repeat it.
Again!
Your essay will look like this:
Summary
Old Information Section
Introduce Define or Describe Prove
New Information Section
Introduce Define or Describe Prove
Why Section
Introduce Define or Describe Prove
Ending
4.8.1 Task – Small Group
Below is the tie line and What/Why Statement of the sample essay we have been examining.
Indicate the tie line in red. Indicate the Old section in light blue. Indicate the New section in light green. Indicate the Why section in light purple.
If I could be any animal, I would be a platypus, because they remind me of my Uncle Kim, a WWII hero.
4.8.2 Task – Small Group
Below is the Old section of the essay.
Indicate the Introduction in yellow. Indicate the Define or Describe part in pink. Indicate the Proof (Provide an Explanation) in light orange.
I have been interested in Australia’s poisonous animals for a long time. For example, whenever my family goes to the zoo, I am fascinated as I watch deadly snakes move around their cages or just lie on a branch or rock, sleeping or staring off into space. I always wonder what goes through their minds. Do they know they are some of the most badass creatures ever created?
Australia has over 160 species of snakes, including some of the deadliest snakes in the world. Those include the eastern and western brown snakes – the eastern is the second deadliest snake in the world – the inland and coastal taipan, and the mulga, which produces the most venom of any snake in the world. What makes Australian snakes especially dangerous is that many live in urban areas or around farms. The recent invasion of mice in much of Australia has meant that many snakes have moved to where the rodents are. That has meant even more snakes in Australia’s cities and farms. There are also poisonous sea snakes in Australian waters. One, Dubois’s snake, is one of the three deadliest snakes in the world. The other two live on land … in Australia.
4.8.3 Task – Individual
Below are the first two parts of the essay’s New section.
Indicate the Introduction in yellow. Indicate the Define or Describe in pink.
Then one day I encountered a platypus. I was hiking in the mountainous rainforest of northwestern Tasmania. The platypus was in a shallow pool amid some tree trunks that had fallen into the Emu River. Platypuses are semiaquatic, egg-laying mammals that have a bill like a duck. They are such strange-looking creatures that scientists once thought they had been given a fake animal made up of several animal parts sewn together.
4.8.4 Task – Small Group
What should the third part of the New section be about? Why?
A. The platypus’s electrolocation system B. The platypus’s venom system C. The platypus’s reproductive system D. The platypus’s habitat destruction E. All of the above
4.8.5 Optional Task – Tandem
Create a shopping list of information for the third part of the New section
Do not write sentences
Use your own words
Use numbers and decimals or letters to put the shopping list in order
Write the third part of the New section of the essay on platypuses
Using your notes, tell your partner about the third part of the New section
