Think about a time when you made a claim or gave an opinion, but someone asked you, “Why?” or “How do you know?” Describe the situation. What evidence did you use to support your point, and why is explaining your evidence just as important as providing it?

Prompt Response: A time when I gave an opinion and someone asked me "Why?" was when I said that autumn was the best season. In class, we were discussing our favorite seasons and the other person was arguing that summer was the best season. I used the evidence that the weather is not too hot nor too cold, there are a lot of activities you can do such as going to pumpkin patches, and the scenery is really pretty since the leaves on the trees start changing. Explaining your evidence is just as important as providing it as it connects everything back to your claim and can make your argument stronger. Also, explaining your evidence can create a clear connection between what you're arguing and your evidence which can be crucial if you're trying to win people over. 

Summary: In class, we analyzed the OJ Simpson case and we read the story Ambush on Writeable. 

Reflection: We learned about the importance of choosing the correct evidence for our arguments. This is important because if your evidence is so strong that it can't be manipulated, then you'll have a very strong argument.