Chapter 16

Chapter 16 talks about evidence for an argument and basically explains what counts as evidence. It starts off by explaining that evidence is everywhere and we are constantly finding new things to prove ourselves/arguments. It goes into detail with firsthand evidence and research. Firsthand means firsthand... aka what you experience or are more closely interacted with. The most common types of firsthand research we use are observations, interviews, surveys and questionnaires, experiments, anddd personal experience. So now I get to go into detail about all of them. Observations.  Pretty easy. The idea behind this is that when people look at the same thing, they will describe it differently. So if Brooke and I were to see a man riding his bike, I might be looking at his clothes while Brooke was looking at his bike. The book then goes on to explain that you have to be careful with what you are choosing to observe. Decide exactly what you are looking for so you are relevant to your argument. Interviews. If I wanted to do research on clothing, I should stop the biker we mentioned above, and ask him why he chose to wear the outfit. Direct quotes in an essay show more examples and credibility. Surveys and Questionnaires. Surveys most likely require the use of questionnaires. Obviously when making a survey, you should make sure that the information is relevant and important. I could take a picture of the biking man, show the picture to friends, and ask them if they think his outfit is hot or not. Experiments. When I think of experiments science comes to mind. Since writing a paper is not science, you can use a more informal experiment. Experiments are risky because some audiences may not see the importance. Personal Experience. This can be the most powerful when it is completely appropriate. It will draw in the reader. However, when you are only using personal experience then it is not sufficient enough to carry the argument. In the end, you can use any of these firsthand evidences to  make your argument awesome.