Supporting Details in Literary Texts

Supporting Details in Literary Texts

By Kimberly Pearson

In the following passage, a boy named Alistair has joined a group of strangers whom he met while traveling. Select the best evidence to support the statement that Alistair is not particularly brave for his age.

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When making claims or other arguable statements in your writing, you should support them with specific details. These details are sometimes called supporting evidence.

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For example, in an essay about a fictional story, you might make a claim about a character. You can then use evidence from the text to support it:

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Key Idea

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Claim: Patrick was not fearless; rather, he took actions despite his fear.

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Supporting Evidence: "Patrick bit his nails anxiously. Finally, he took a deep breath, nodded to himself with determination, and burst into the room."

Solution

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The text in bold best supports the statement that Alistair is not particularly brave for his age.

If the men had intended to harm him, then they could have done it already. Alistair wasn't as strong or as fearsome as a bull. Even for a twelve-year-old boy—which is what he was, after all—he was considered timid.

According to the passage, Alistair is "considered timid," or nervous and shy, even for boys his age.

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