1. Choosing the Best Evidence to Support a Claim
The Hobbit
Choosing the Best Evidence to Support a Claim

2. Claim: When Gandalf got separated from Bilbo under the mountain, Bilbo has to rely on his own cleverness and bravery to get out of trouble.
Write the claim.
Choose the piece of evidence below that best supports the claim. What part of the claim does it support.
“‘Go back?’ he thought. ‘No good at all! Go sideways?  Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!’  So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him….” (Tolkien 69).
“Bilbo was sitting on the brink altogether flummoxed and at the end of his way and his wits” (Tolkien 72).
“’I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don't know where I am’” (Tolkien 73). 

3. Claim: Very quickly after the journey began, Bilbo began to show very risky and daring behavior, first with the Trolls and then with Gollum.
Write the claim.
Choose the piece of evidence below that best supports the claim. What part of the claim does it support.
“But at any rate hobbits can move quietly in woods, absolutely quietly. They take a pride in it”(Tolkien 34 ).
“He was very much alarmed, as well as disgusted; he wished himself a hundred miles away, and yet—and yet somehow he could not go straight back to Thorin and Company emptyhanded” (Tolkien35-36).
“Bilbo knew it. He had read of a good many things he had never seen or done” (Tolkien 35). 

4. Claim: Goblins have an excellent sense of smell.
“But the wizard called them to their senses. ‘We must be getting on at once, now we are a little rested,’ he said. ‘The will be out after us in hundreds when night comes on; and already shadows are lengthening. They can smell our footsteps for hours and hours after we have passed. We must be miles on before dusk” (Tolkien 96). Choose the part of the passage above that BEST supports the claim. Write the claim and the evidence on your paper.

5. Claim: Mirkwood Forest is a dark and mysterious place, and the party must be very cautious while travelling there.
According to Beorn, “Water is not easy to find there, nor food… I will provide you with skins for carrying water, and I will give you some bows and arrows. But I doubt very much that anything you will find in Mirkwood will be wholesome to eat or drink. There is one stream there, I know, black and strong which crosses the path. That you should neither drink of nor bathe in for I have heard that it carries an enchantment and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness” (Tolkien 132). Choose the part of the passage above that BEST supports the claim. Write the claim and the evidence on your paper.

6. Claim: Beorn does not easily welcome outsiders into his home.
After verifying that the group of travelers had defeated the Goblins and the Wargs, Beorn said, “It was a a good story that of yours, but I like it much better now I am sure it’s true. You must forgive me not taking your word. If you lived near the edge of Mirkwood, you would take the word of no one you did not know as well as your brother or better. As it is I can only say that I have hurried home as fast as I could to see that you were safe, and to offer you any help that I can” (Tolkien 131).
Choose the part of the passage above that BEST supports the claim. Write the claim and the evidence on your paper.

7. Claim: Gandalf has confidence that the group will be successful on their journey even though he will not be with them.
Gandalf said goodbye to the dwarves before they enter Mirkwood Forest, “ We may meet again before all is over, and then again of course we may not. That depends on your luck and on your courage and sense; and I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess, and you will find that out before long”(Tolkien 136). Choose the part of the passage above that BEST supports the claim. Write the claim and the evidence on your paper.

8. PUNCTUATING CITED EVIDENCE
To begin, you must INTRODUCE the quote, and place a comma BEFORE the quote.
Sentence starters:
In the text it states,…
The text states,…
In the text the author states,…
According to the text,…
Ex: In the text the author states, “Bilbo had escaped from the goblins, but he did not know where he was” (Tolkien 91).

9. PUNCTUATING CITED EVIDENCE
Then you must surround the quote with opening and closing quotation marks.
Sentence starters:
The text states, “quote”
According to the text, “quote”
Ex: In the text the author states, “Bilbo had escaped from the goblins, but he did not know where he was” (Tolkien 91).

10. PUNCTUATING CITED EVIDENCE
Then write the author’s last name and page number in parenthesis, followed by a period.
Ex: In the text the author states, “Bilbo had escaped from the goblins, but he did not know where he was” (Tolkien 91).

11. PUNCTUATING CITED EVIDENCE
Comma before the quote,
“Quotation marks around quote”
(Author’s last name and page number in parenthesis)
Period after the (parenthesis).
Ex: When Gandalf told the party he was leaving them again, they became miserable. In Chapter Six, the author states, “The dwarves groaned and looked most distressed, and Bilbo wept” (Tolkien 114).

12. Order of Punctuation when Citing Evidence
Comma, Quotation Marks, Parenthesis, Period.
Repeat this over and over and over…

13. Did I do that right???
In the text it states “ That is why neither Bilbo, nor the dwarves, nor even Gandalf heard them coming.” (Tolkien, 67).

14. Did I do that right???
According to the text, “He tried to squeeze through the crack, (Tolkien, 89)

15. Did I do that right???
In the text it states “The dwarves looked at him with quite a new respect, when he talked about dodging guards, jumping over Gollum, and squeezing through, as if it was not very difficult or very alarming.” (Tolkien 94)