Using Examples from Source Materials

In making an argument, writers must support their assertions with evidence. One of the simplest types of supporting evidence is through examples.

For instance, below is the introduction and first paragraph of an essay on the lasting influence teachers can have. The first body paragraph provides supporting evidence from two sources that illustrates the influence of teachers. The examples are introduced using a running acknowledgement identifying the author and source even though the author's name is given in the parenthetical documentation (tag). This is a common practice when using supporting narrative examples. In most uses of source material where primarily information or ideas are being given, it is not necessary to identify the source of the information being used within the text of the paragraph since the parenthetical documentation (tag) identifies the source.

Many people can point to specific individuals who have supported them through difficult times. As is true of many people, some of the most supportive people in my life have been the many teachers I have had over the years. Teachers are major influences on the lives of students everywhere.

Carl T. Rowan in "Unforgettable Miss Bessie" illustrates the influence teachers can have on students’ lives. Miss Bessie cajoled him into reading Beowulf (Rowan 239) and inspired him to read by kerosene lamp major writers like Shakespeare, Thoreau, Keats, and Tennyson (Rowan 241). Another student of Miss Bessie, Knoxville, TN, English teacher Gladys Wood, often models her own solutions to classroom problems after Miss Bessie’s "laughter and love" toward her students (Rowan 242). Samuel Scudder in "Take This Fish and Look at It" describes the lesson of observation learned from scientist and professor Louis Agassiz as "a lesson whose influence has extended to the details of every subsequent study" (Scudder 269).

This essay might go on to include other examples, including examples from the personal experience of the writer.

Both sources used above are articles taken from the same textbook. So, each article appears as an individual citation on the Works Cited list with a cross reference to the textbook where both articles can be found. All three sources are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

Works Cited

Connelly, Mark. The Sundance Writer: A Rhetoric, Reader, Handbook. 2nd ed. Boston: Thomson Heinle, 2004.

Rowan, Carl T. "Unforgettable Miss Bessie." Connelly 239-242.

Scudder, Samuel. "Take This Fish and Look at It." Connelly 267-271.