Short on time? This page is the recap. For explanations and worked examples, use the full study guide.
Recap
- Evidence from a poem is relevant when it bears on the claim and sufficient when its quantity and quality provide apt support.
- Evidence is effective when commentary explains the logical relationship between it and the claim.
- Writers use evidence purposefully: to illustrate, clarify, exemplify, associate, amplify or qualify.
- Quote the smallest accurate phrase, integrate it into your own sentence, and show line breaks with a slash.
- Coherence works within sentences, within paragraphs and across the essay.
- Transitional elements (words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs) show relationships between ideas.
Key relationships
| Habit | Do | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | “kindly stopped for me” | A whole stanza copied out |
| Integrate | Death “kindly stopped for me”, so the speaker yields politely | The poem says. “He kindly stopped for me.” |
| Line break | “kindly stopped for me; / The carriage held but just ourselves” | Quoting as prose with no sign of the break |
| Transition | “however”, “consequently”, “by contrast” | Short unlinked sentences |
| Reference | “This repetition…” | “This shows…” with no referent |
| Level of coherence | Check |
|---|---|
| Sentence | Does one clause link to the next? |
| Paragraph | Does a topic sentence state a claim, and does each sentence follow? |
| Essay | Does each paragraph link to the thesis and its neighbour? |
Assumptions
- You copy words, capitals and punctuation exactly from the poem.
- You choose evidence for a claim and can say what each piece does.
- You draw evidence from more than one place when your claim concerns the poem’s movement.
Mistakes to avoid
- Dropping quotations into the essay with no integration.
- Quoting long passages instead of the telling phrase.
- Forgetting the slash for a line break.
- Pointing at a device with no quoted words.
- Paragraphs that list observations with no linking sentences.
Quick self-check
- How should you show a line break inside a quotation?
- What makes evidence sufficient?
- What is a transitional element?
- Why should a paragraph cover one claim, not the whole poem?
Answers. (1) With a forward slash and a space on each side ( / ); a double slash for a stanza break. (2) Its quantity and quality provide apt support for the line of reasoning. (3) A word, phrase, clause, sentence or paragraph that shows how ideas relate. (4) Because a paragraph’s job is to develop one claim and its evidence; the whole poem belongs to the thesis and the line of reasoning.
Sentence frames to adapt
- “[Speaker or subject] is presented as [idea]: ‘[phrase] / [phrase]’ [illustrates / amplifies / qualifies] [claim].”
- “The line break after ‘[word]’ leaves [word] hanging, so [effect].”
- “While the first stanza [does x], the second [does y], so the poem [claim].”
- “This [repetition / contrast] links [paragraph] to the thesis by [how].”
Mark every line break in a quotation with a slash and copy words and punctuation exactly. Each frame ends with an effect or a link, never with a restatement of the quotation.
Ready for more? Try the practice questions and then the checklist.