How to Write Better Essays

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29 Working with evidence

In this chapter you will learn:

• how to use the different types of evidence to support your arguments
  effectively;


• how to make your work more readable by varying the type of
  evidence you use;


• how to make the seven practical rules part of your writing strategy.

The last two of our seven practical rules for improving our style are

concerned with the way we use evidence. Without doubt this is one of

the most neglected aspects of our writing. We tend to assume that all

we have to do is select our evidence and then insert it into our essay

when our arguments need support.

Yet the evidence we use serves to do much more than just support

and illustrate our arguments. Used thoughtfully, it can help us change

the pace of our writing, making our essay more readable. And there is

no other component of our essays that can so effectively engage our

readers’ empathetic responses. You will find, then, that by looking care-

fully at the way you use evidence not only can you make your work

more interesting, but you can give it real impact.

6 Don’t overstate or understate: match your

words to the strength of the evidence

Choose your words consciously and deliberately to convey accurately

the strength of your ideas and the evidence that supports them. Often,

when we fail to think through our ideas with sufficient care, we’re

inclined to see issues in the form of simple absolutes: all/nothing,

right/wrong, yes/no. But rarely is there sufficient evidence to support

such claims.

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