What Counts as Evidence and Beyond April 19, 2008

Evidence is very important when building an argument. There are different types of evidence including observation, interviews, personal experience, surveys, and experiments. Evidence can also be gathered in books and through online research. Evidence needs to be chosen carefully because employing the wrong type of evidence could weaken credibility. Sources and applicability of the information is good to keep in mind when choosing what evidence to build into an argument. Evidence should not stand alone; it should support the argument not make the argument. This is something that requires a lot of practice because we can be tempted to bombard our audience with logistics, facts, and opinions that we are sure will convince them. They will not be attracted, though, if the author’s voice is not heard. For the upcoming paper 3 on the unit, Eating as Entertainment, some type of evidence needs to be employed in the paper. If the paper is on competitive eating, there could be evidence on the different types of competitive eating. Quoting a physician on the medical problems associated with competitive eating and filling the stomach past its desired potential would be adequate. This could be used to support the claim that competitive eating is a dangerous sport. An argument of definition could also be built about competitive eating being considered a sport. Who considers it a sport? What are the parallels between an eating competition and a ’sports’ game like basketball? In building an argument, considering the audience is very important. This can determine how much and what type of evidence to include in the argument. For example, an argument about competitive eating being harmful to the body might be addressing people that practice competitive eating, in which case I will need to use specific language or find a way to make myself credible to that population. Otherwise, the reader will disregard my argument if I do not seem to know a whole lot about competitive eating.