Reasoning with Evidence concerns
- the rhetorical moves that inform how writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . weave evidence (e.g., quotes, paraphrases, and summaries) into texts while maintaining a consistent tone/voice/persona and focus on the thesis, hypothesis, research question.
Reasoning with Evidence is often called Working with Sources in Writing Studies.
Key Concepts: Information, Data; Archive; Epistemology; Textual Research; Symbol Analyst;
Getting and evaluating information—i.e., engaging in information literacy practices—is complicated. It involves rhetorical analysis and rhetorical reasoning. And, it’s an important precursor to reasoning with evidence.
Once you’ve spent sufficient time researching a topic—once you’re familiar with the ongoing scholarly conversation about a topic—then you’re ready to begin thinking about how to reason with the evidence you’ve gathered.
- engaging in rhetorical analysis of the outside source(s)
- evaluating the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose of the outside source(s)
- using evidence (e.g., quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing) to bolster claims
- introducing sources and clarifying their authority
- using an appropriate citation style .
