Types of evidence

1. Types of Evidence

2. Facts
Something proven
to be true.

3. Fact
• Water boils at 100 C
• Jane Austen was born on
December 16, 1775
Not a Fact
• Being boiled alive is the worst way
to die
• Jane Austen is the best British
novelist.
* Facts are not claims or beliefs*

4. Statistics
•Measurable
data

5. E.g. As of 2010, 84% of all
adults are literate, according
to data from the United
Nations Education, Scientific
and Cultural Organization.
Make sure your data comes from reliable sources!!!

6. Quotations
• Statements from
leading experts in their
fields

7. Anecdote
Personal story
from one’s own
experience

8. Possible anecdote in a discussion of “Out of
All Them Bright Stars”
• Although I don’t know what it feels like to
be a bald, blue-skinned alien, I do know
what it feels like to find oneself a stranger
in an unfamiliar land.
Must be related to the thesis and provide greater
understanding into a more universal or general situation.

9. Analogy
Comparing the
unknown to the
known

10. Example
•A specific case of a
general rule