Anecdote
An anecdote is a short narrative explaining an event or experience of some sort.
It is a particularly useful form of support when writing in the memoir and narrative genres. Let’s take a look at an example of a claim made for a literacy narrative that lacks an ensuing anecdote:
When I first began to write academically in high school, I never fully integrated my evidence. This is because I did not view research as entering into a conversation. Now I know that research is more than just dropping in quotations.
Do you feel that this claim about a change in the author’s practice of writing can stand on its own, or is it lacking something? Consider, also, what would then follow these few lines—another point? Not sufficiently developing a point or idea through support can lead to paragraphs that jump from point to point and end up sounding list-like. Rather than just making a claim in a personal essay, try incorporating anecdotal evidence:
When I first began to write academically in high school, I never fully integrated my evidence. This is because I did not view research as entering inti a conversation. For example, I remember one time writing a paper the night before it was due. I had printed out a list of quotations I thought might work for my paper topic; and because I didn’t really understand the purpose of evidence and because I was pressed for time, I simply “dropped in” my quotes. As a result they did not support my claims, which were left to fend for themselves.
Do you see the difference? Now you, as a reader, have a greater understanding of what this author means by his change in understanding of the purpose of research, because you have a concrete example of his or her experiences. Thus, anecdotal evidence can be very key when approaching a genre other than the traditional research paper. The trick is to come up with an anecdote that is concise (determine how much of the story is necessary to support your point and then cut it down into a coherent anecdote, which is short by nature) and that directly relates to your claim.
