Using Evidence and Quotations
Analyse and evaluate the ways that language features vary according to the purpose and audience of the text, and the ways that sources and quotations are used in a text.
By now you can find an answer. This is about proving it. A quotation is not decoration — it is the evidence that turns your opinion into an answer.
Builds onYr 7 · Inference — P.E.E.
Method
Short is strong
Quote the fewest words that prove your point. A long quotation hides the words that matter.
Embed the quote in your sentence
Write The narrator calls the town “a waiting room”, not a quotation dumped on its own line.
Every quote needs a because
Evidence with no explanation earns half. Say what the words show.
Copy it exactly
Same spelling, same punctuation. Then put quote marks around it.
Worked example
e.g. How does the writer show that the shop is failing? Support your answer with evidence. (2)
- Decide your point first, before you look for a quote.The shop is failing and the owner has stopped trying.
- Hunt for the shortest words that prove it.“dust on the tins”
- Build the quote into your own sentence.The writer notes the “dust on the tins”.
- Explain what those exact words show.Dust takes time to gather, so nothing has been sold or moved for a long while.
- Check the marks. If it is worth two, you need a point and an explained quote.Point + evidence + explanation = 2.
Practice
Cut each quotation to the shortest version that still proves the point.
1
A learner quotes a whole three-line sentence to prove a character is angry. What is the problem?
AnswerThe marker cannot see which words carry the proof. Cut it to the two or three words that actually show anger, such as “slammed the gate”.
2
Rewrite this so the quote is embedded: The writer says the man was tired. “his shoulders went down”
AnswerThe writer shows the man's exhaustion when “his shoulders went down”, a small physical detail that suggests he has given up rather than simply grown tired.
3
Why is a quotation with no explanation worth so little?
AnswerFinding words in a text is the easy half. The marks are for showing what the words prove.
4
The question says ‘support your answer with evidence’. Must you use quotation marks?
AnswerNot always — a close reference to a specific detail can count. But a direct quotation is safer, because it shows exactly which words you mean.