Developing
While gathering evidence in the form of quotations is an important part of supporting your thesis, you must also include clear, logical explanation to show how your evidence supports your argument, a process we call developing. Not only will this make your argument seem more valid to your readers, but it will also help your readers draw the connections you have painstakingly made from the text to your argument. You probably already have a good idea in your mind of why a quote supports your position, but remember that your readers will not have done all of the thinking about the work that you have. It’s up to you to take those ideas out of your mind and put them on paper.
Often, while drafting a paper, we say, “I know what I’m trying to say, but I just can’t put it into words.” This “putting into words” of your ideas is the hardest part of writing about literature. At other times, you might feel that you are explaining something obvious, but again, remember, your readers haven’t done all of the pre-writing work you have to understand the work. One of the most important things to remember is that different people work in different ways and different orders. The relationship between evidence and explanation illustrates this idea well. You may prefer to explain your points first and then find evidence to support them. On the other hand, you might have an idea of their explanation in mind and want to find the evidence first before fleshing out their explanation. Note that I inserted another quote into the second paragraph. Often, once you finish developing your evidence, you will figure out another point that connects and more development for that point. This is all a part of the process. It’s very easy to go back in and insert quotes and evidence from the text when you need to do that. |
Connecting the Dots“For me, the hardest part about developing is figuring out the balance between explaining enough and feeling like I’m spelling everything out for my reader. Sometimes I just have to stop and remind myself that not everybody has thought through this argument like I have. Connecting those dots is the most important part of the paper and even though you may already know how your evidence ties to your thesis, it may be a bit of a leap for your reader.” –Leanna
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