- [David] All right, readers,
I wanna talk about choosing text evidence
to support a claim.
Readers have to do this all the time.
You come across a question that asks you
for the best text evidence to prove a point.
You've got a passage in front of you.
Maybe it's a thousand words, maybe it's a paragraph,
but you have to support a claim
using the best text evidence you can muster.
Let's get to our main example for this video,
which let me just warn you up top
is a pretty spicy topic, okay?
A real friendship ender. You ready?
Deep breath. Here we go.
Defining question of our time.
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
It sounds silly, but this fully went to the Supreme Court
of the United States in 1893.
Nix versus Hedden was the name of the case. Some background.
An 1883 law imposed heavy taxes on vegetables
imported from other countries, but not fruit.
Now, scientifically speaking, tomatoes are fruits.
They grow out of a flower
and they've got seeds on the inside.
This is the argument that John Nix brought to the court.
If a tomato is a fruit, you can't tax it as a vegetable.
Now in his decision,
Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray wrote,
"Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine
just as are cucumbers squashes, beans and peas.
But in the common language of the people, whether sellers
or consumers of provisions,
all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens
and which whether eaten cooked or raw,
are like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips,
beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce,
usually served at dinner in with or after the soup, fish
or meats, which constitute the principle part of the repast
and not, like fruits generally, as dessert."
And what's a repast? It's an old fashioned word for meal.
So the principle part of a repast is the main course
of a meal.
Which evidence from this text best supports
the court's claim that tomatoes are vegetables?
And we'll just make it easy, pare it down to three choices.
Which of these three best supports that claim
that tomatoes equal vegetables?
Pause the video here and discuss. 3, 2, 1.
(bright music)
Okay, and we're back.
Let's break down some of the evidence
that Justice Gray uses.
In this first one here,
"Tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers,
squashes, beans and peas."
That sounds like it's acknowledging the counterargument.
That's saying, "Okay, technically
tomatoes are botanically fruit."
So while that may strengthen the overall argument,
because then you can swerve back around
and say "That's true, but,
there's this even stronger evidence."
This evidence does not support the claim
that tomatoes are vegetables.
In fact, it says the opposite. So let's cross that out.
Second one, "In the common language of the people,
these are vegetables."
That's kind of a "Because I said so" argument.
What's the data that undergirds that?
Which people? How many people?
And does the fact
that people believe a thing make it true?
People saying these plants are vegetables,
doesn't really prove that they're vegetables, right?
Nevertheless, this is stronger than "Tomatoes are fruit."
I'd call this relevant evidence.
It does provide some support for the claim,
but is it the best evidence?
Let's look at the last piece.
"Whether eaten cooked or raw,
vegetables are usually served at dinner,
and not like fruits generally, as dessert."
So this last one is all about that big list of vegetables,
including tomatoes that are served for dinner
and not for dessert like a fruit would be.
This is a cultural definition of a vegetable,
a question of how the food item is used,
which is even stronger than what the food item is called.
I think this is our best evidence.
People use tomatoes like vegetables when they eat them,
so they're vegetables.
Good job. Option three.
You are the best.
In your own writing,
when you need to find supporting evidence
for an argument that you're making,
look for those strong examples
that are directly linked to the claim you're making.
Keep it as brief and as direct as you can.
Claim. My sister picked up a package for me when I was out.
Evidence. My doorbell camera captured her doing that.
I have every confidence that you'll be able
to find the best text evidence for your claims.
And my evidence for that is you taking the time
to learn With me today.
You can learn anything.
David, out.