1. Writing Workshop:
Evidence Integration

2. Components of the Literary Analysis Paragraph
Let’s Review the Components of a Literary Analysis Body Paragraph
CLAIM (Topic Sentence)
CONTEXT
INTEGRATED EVIDENCE
CITATION
ANALYSIS
REPEAT

3. CLAIM
In a literary analysis paragraph, your claim is the topic sentence.
Your claim must support your thesis statement (found in the introductory paragraph).
Your claim must control the entire paragraph. Everything that comes after the claim (evidence and analysis) should set out to prove the claim is true.

4. CONTEXT
Plot context sets up what is happening in the story at the time the evidence is used.
You need to set up the evidence with the necessary context to provide brief background and to locate the reader in the text.
Context is also important because you must show that you are using evidence in context.
You cannot simply choose any evidence to fit your claim and argument. It must be correct. It must be in context.
Without context, your reader may feel “lost.”
Finally, context should be brief and relevant. Do not give a lot of “book summary.”

5. INTEGRATED EVIDENCE You must integrate your evidence.
You cannot let evidence “stand alone” or be a sentence by itself.
Either lead into the quote or exit the quote with your own words.
Alternatively, you can take phrases from the quote and use them in your sentence.

6. CITATION
At the end of the sentence, you need to identify the origin of the evidence. Example: blah blah blah” (Smith 36).

7. ANALYSIS
Analysis is an examination and discussion of how and why the evidence proves the controlling idea of your topic sentence or claim.
You need to provide analysis so your reader understands how it proves your point.
The best way to create analysis is to answer the question, “How does this evidence prove my claim is true?”
DO NOT use the phrase “this quote shows” or something similar.
DO NOT simply repeat what the evidence says.

8. REPEAT
Repeat the context, evidence, and analysis as needed, until you have fully supported the claim.

9. THINK – WRITE - SHARE
THINK: On your own, take a moment to think about the following question: What do you need to include in a literary analysis paragraph?
WRITE: On your own, write down the required elements of a literary analysis paragraph.
SHARE: After writing your list, share and discuss with a partner. Did you remember to include everything?

10. CLAIM CONTEXT INTEGRATED EVIDENCE CITATION ANALYSIS REPEAT
THE PARAGRAPH
CLAIM CONTEXT INTEGRATED EVIDENCE CITATION ANALYSIS REPEAT
For today’s workshop, we are going to focus on integrating evidence correctly.

11. WHY USE EVIDENCE?
Textual evidence is used to support your thesis/argument. It is not used to make the argument for you.
The evidence helps you to prove that your thesis/argument is true.
Evidence gives credibility to your thesis/argument.

12. HOW DO YOU USE EVIDENCE?
First, carefully select the best parts of the text to support your thesis/argument.
Second, abridge the selection to only the most relevant and strongest evidence. Look for the “power words and passages.”
Third, integrate the evidence into your own writing. -- Remember, the evidence is there to support your argument, not to make it for you.
Make any changes necessary so that the evidence flows grammatically with your writing.

13. What is “Evidence Integration”?
Evidence integration means incorporating the evidence into your own writing.
You cannot let evidence “stand alone” or be a sentence by itself.
Do not simply “drop in” your evidence.
You must connect the evidence with your own words by using “signal phrases” or by “weaving” it into your sentences.

14. THINK – WRITE - SHARE
THINK: On your own, take a moment to think about the following questions:
Why is it important to use evidence?
What steps are necessary in selecting and using evidence?
What is evidence integration?
WRITE: On your own, record your thoughts and answers to the above questions.
SHARE: After writing your thoughts and answers, share and discuss with a partner. What questions do you still have? What do you wonder about evidence integration?

15. How Do I Integrate Evidence?
Standard Evidence Integration: At a minimum, you must either lead into the evidence or exit the evidence with your own words. These are called “signal phrases.”
Natural Evidence Integration: When possible, you should take phrases from the evidence and use them within your own sentence. This technique makes your argument “flow” better, as you “weave” the evidence with your own thoughts.

16. Standard Evidence Integration
This type of integration uses “signal phrases” to introduce a piece of evidence.
It is preferable to use this type of integration when you want to attribute the idea to its source.
Henry David Thoreau explained, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Standard integration should be connected to your argument and integrated in a way to allow your reader to understand the relevance of the selected evidence.

17. Standard Evidence Integration
Do not leave your evidence “naked.” Make sure it is clearly connected to your argument.
WRONG: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9).
Why is this wrong? Note how the evidence is standing alone as its own sentence. You can not do this. You must either lead into the evidence, or lead out of it with your own words.

18. Standard Evidence Integration
WRONG: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9).
CORRECT: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. He states, “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9).
FIXING THE ERROR: In this example, by simply adding the phrase “He states,” the evidence is now integrated with the writing.

19. Standard Evidence Integration
WRONG: When Grendel listens to the Shaper’s songs, he learns about the origin of his being. “He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was the dark side, he said in effect. The terrible race God cursed (51)”.
CORRECT: When Grendel listens to the Shaper’s songs, he learns about the origin of his being. He says, “He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was the dark side, he said in effect. The terrible race God cursed (51)”.

20. Standard Evidence Integration
WRONG: Grendel is overcome with emotion when he first sees Wealtheow. “She was beautiful, as innocent as dawn on winter hills. She tore me apart as once the Shaper’s song had done” (100).
CORRECT: Grendel is overcome with emotion when he first sees Wealtheow. He states, “She was beautiful, as innocent as dawn on winter hills. She tore me apart as once the Shaper’s song had done” (100).

21. Standard Evidence Integration
Avoid over using the phrase the author says, “yada yada yada.”
Vary your integration signal phrases when using standard integration.
acknowledges
comments
describes
maintains
reports
adds
compares
disputes
notes
responds
admits
concedes
emphasizes
observes
shows
agrees
confirms
endorses
points out
states
argues
contends
illustrates
reasons
suggests
asserts
declares
implies
refutes
summarizes
claims
denies
insists
rejects
writes
GROUP WRITING TASK:
Read the “Three Little Pigs” story.
Using some of the above signal phrases, discuss how you can integrate the example “dropped in” quotes, and then re-write them so that they are integrated using “standard quote” integration.

22. How to use “Natural” Evidence Integration

23. Natural Evidence Integration
Whenever possible, try to integrate the evidence so that it flows “naturally” with your own writing. Instead of integrating the evidence by using something like: the character states, “yada yada yada,” use the evidence as an integrated part of your own writing. It makes it better!

24. Natural Evidence Integration
Remember, evidence should never be used to make the argument for you; it should be used to support your argument.
Natural evidence integration makes the evidence a part of your own writing, leading to better support.
When done correctly, if you were to remove the quotation marks, you should not be able to tell where your words end and the evidence begins. This technique strengthens your writing, and it is the preferred method in college.
Natural evidence integration leads to better analysis – which is the point in an analysis writing assignment!

25. Natural Evidence Integration
Watch the following clip from The Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert uses natural quote integration to incorporate quotes from a memo about Wheat Thins.
Pay attention to how his words flow “naturally” with the quotes he selects.
- Begin clip at 1:53

26. How to Use Natural Evidence Integration
Use brackets [ ] and ellipses to change verbs or other parts of the evidence when necessary. Remember: Literature must be written about in the PRESENT TENSE. So, if you need to change the tense of a verb, use a bracket [ ] to indicate the change.
Example of Standard Integration: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. The narrator states, "This made him furious; on the way back to the car he would kill anything he saw. He killed chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins"(Wolff 171).
Example of Natural Integration: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. While hunting, he boosts his ego by "kill[ing] anything he [sees]. He kill[s] chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins" (Wolff 171).

27. How to Use Natural Evidence Integration
Also, natural evidence integration means making the evidence “flow” with your own writing, as if it were a part of your own thought, which means you must also keep the writing in 3rd person. Again, use brackets [ ] to indicate a change to person.
Example of Standard Integration: Grendel becomes aware of an evil force surrounding him. He states, “I’d be surprised, I had to admit, if anything in myself could be as cold, as dark, as centuries old as the presence I felt around me” (54).
Example of Natural Integration: Grendel becomes aware of an evil force surrounding him, yet he does not believe that “anything in [himself] could be as cold, as dark, as centuries old as the presence [he feels] around [him]” (54).

28. How to Use Natural Evidence Integration
Also, natural evidence integration means making the evidence “flow” with your own writing, as if it were a part of your own thought, which means you must also keep the writing in 3rd person. Again, use brackets [ ] to indicate a change to person.
Finally, with natural evidence integration, you may need to ad or omit a word or two in order for the evidence to grammatically fit your sentence or to make it clearer.
When you add words, put them in brackets. If you omit any words, indicate with ellipses. Also, keep in mind that you can only insert or omit words provided you do not change the meaning of the evidence.

29. THINK – WRITE - SHARE
THINK: On your own, take a moment to think about the following questions:
What is the difference between standard quote integration and natural quote integration?
What are some steps you may need to take in order to use natural quote integration?
WRITE: On your own, record your thoughts and answers to the above questions.
SHARE: After writing your thoughts and answers, share and discuss with a partner. What questions do you still have? What do you wonder about natural evidence integration?

30. Natural Evidence Integration
CORRECT, BUT “JUST OK”: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. He states, “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9).
BEST! NATURAL EVIDENCE INTEGRATION: Grendel knows it is time to start his war again, as he begins to “feel [his] anger coming back, building like invisible fire” (Gardner 9).
DISCUSS: What is the difference in integration?

31. Natural Evidence Integration Examples
Standard: When Grendel meets men for the first time, he states, “I knew I was dealing with the most dangerous things I’d ever met” (Gardner 27).
Natural: When Grendel meets men for the first time, he comes to believe that they are “the most dangerous things [he has] ever met” (Gardner 27).
DISCUSS: What is the difference in integration?

32. Natural Evidence Integration Examples
Standard: After listening to the Shaper, Grendel states, “I fled torn apart by poetry” (Gardner 44).
Natural: After listening to the Shaper, Grendel feels confused and “torn apart by poetry” (Gardner 44).
DISCUSS: What is the difference in integration?

33. Natural Evidence Integration
Standard: When Grendel listens to the Shaper’s songs, he learns about the origin of his being. He says, “He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was the dark side, he said in effect. The terrible race God cursed” (51).
Natural: When Grendel listens to the Shaper’s songs, he learns about the origin of his being. He hears the story of “an ancient feud between two brothers which split the world between darkness and light,” and Grendel discovers that he was “the dark side [t]he terrible race God cursed” (51).
DISCUSS: What is the difference in integration?

34. Natural Evidence Integration
Standard: Grendel is overcome with emotion when he first sees Wealtheow. He states, “She was beautiful, as innocent as dawn on winter hills. She tore me apart as once the Shaper’s song had done” (100).
Natural: Grendel is overcome with emotion when he first sees Wealtheow. He sees her as “beautiful” and “innocent,” and her beauty “[tears him] apart as once the Shaper’s song had done” (100).
DISCUSS: What is the difference in integration?

35. Natural Evidence Integration
Use brackets [ ] and ellipses to change verbs or other parts of the evidence when necessary.
Remember: Literature must be written about in the PRESENT TENSE. So, if you need to change the tense of a verb, use a bracket [ ] to indicate the change.
Also, natural evidence integration means making the evidence “flow” with your own writing, as if it were a part of your own thought, which means you must also keep the writing in 3rd person. Again, use brackets [ ] to indicate a change to person.
Finally, with natural evidence integration, you may need to ad or omit a word or two in order for the evidence to grammatically fit your sentence or to make it clearer.
When you add words, put them in brackets. If you omit any words, indicate with ellipses. Also, keep in mind that you can only insert or omit words provided you do not change the meaning of the evidence.
GROUP WRITING TASK: Paying attention to the rules of natural evidence integration, discuss how you can change your “standard integration examples,” and re-write them so that they are integrated “naturally.”

36. Evidence Integration
Review

37. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE DO NOT let evidence stand alone!
Grendel is evil. “Grendel came, hoping to kill / Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.”
DO Integrate the evidence! Grendel is an evil creature who “hop[es] to kill / Anyone he [can] trap on [his] trip to high Herot” (lines 3-4).

38. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE Do Not let evidence stand alone!
Grendel goes to Herot. “Out from the marsh bearing God’s hatred.”
Do Integrate the Evidence!
When Grendel comes “out from the marsh,” he stalks toward Herot “bearing God’s hatred” (lines 1 – 2).

39. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE
Do Not lead into evidence with “In line blah blah blah”
In line 21 Raffel says that “his heart . . .”
Do give context with integration:
As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart . . .”

40. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE
Do Not Lead Into Evidence with “In the story it says . . .”
In the story it says, “he journeyed forever joyless.”
Do give context with integration:
Grendel’s trip to Herot is not one filled with great excitement; it is a trek that he “journey[s], forever joyless” (line 11).

41. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE
Do Not leave evidence in wrong tense! (Remember: literature is written about in present tense!)
As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart laughed.”
Do fix the tense!
As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart laugh[s].” (Use [] brackets to make any changes necessary to correct the tense, or make the sentence fit grammatically or for better understanding.)

42. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE
Do Not leave evidence “as is” if it does not make sense grammatically!
As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart laughed, he relished the sight, intending to tear the life from those bodies.”
Do add words as needed to make the sentence work!
As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart laugh[s], [and] he relishe[s] the sight, intending to tear the life from those bodies” (lines 21 – 22).

43. Before During & After Writing
INTEGRATING EVIDENCE
Before
During
&
After
Writing

44. ASK YOURSELF:
Is my chosen evidence RELEVANT and is it THE BEST evidence to support my thesis?
Do not choose evidence that has nothing (or almost nothing) to do with supporting your thesis.
Do not choose only the most obvious evidence.
Try to find some great evidence not discussed in class, so that I can see your thinking – not mine.

45. ASK YOURSELF:
Have I abridged the evidence down to the most supportive, relevant, essential, and focused parts?
Use lengthy quotes sparingly!
Use the evidence to support your argument; do not use the evidence to make the argument for you.

46. ASK YOURSELF:
Have I changed the verb inflections, added words, or deleted words as needed to fit the grammatical structure and understanding of my sentence?
Remember: Literature is written about in the present tense! Make changes to the evidence as needed using brackets [ ] to fit that tense.
It is okay to add words to the evidence, using brackets [ ], in order to make the sentence clearer, as long as it does not change the meaning of the evidence.

47. ASK YOURSELF:
Have I asked questions of my evidence? (Example: how specifically does this evidence support my argument?)
Interact with the text! Break the evidence down. Ask your evidence questions and then answer them!

48. SAY – WRITE - DO
SAY: With a partner, discuss the evidence integration in your writing assignment.
Have you integrated all of your evidence?
What kind of integration did you use? Standard? Natural?
How can you improve your integration?
WRITE: Re-write your evidence so that (1) all is integrated correctly using both standard and natural evidence integration. You must use natural evidence integration with at least one quote. Vary your integration so that it is done most effectively. (Note: You may not need to use the whole quote – only select the most relevant, “powerful” parts. Remember to fix for present tense and third person!
DO: Attach your rewritten evidence integration to your writing assignment and turn in.