Analyzing Fiction - Justifying Evidence

Howdy ya'll! Today we're going to be talking about how to justify the evidence you collected to prove your theme. Sound confusing? It's not so bad!

The first thing you need to understand is that not all evidence is created equal. The process you'll go through today will help you identify the information that you want to keep and weed out the stuff that doesn't really help make your case. So, let's talk a little bit about evidence, shall we?

Good evidence...

• directly supports the idea you are presenting.
• is clearly explained on how it supports. (This is what you're doing today!)
• is directly from the text.

Bad evidence...

• somewhat supports your idea, but it's a stretch. Not super clear; feels forced.
• is not explained; just listed. 
• is all summarized and very brief.
• doesn't support the complete idea you're presenting.

Ugly evidence...

• doesn't support your idea at all.
• seems random.
• has no explanation.
• just plain doesn't exist!

In the video below, I'll walk you through my process and then you'll do the same with your story. Remember, to prove a theme, you need to have evidence from throughout your entire story. So, you may have a theme that is strong, but maybe you haven't considered all of the evidence you could include.