Determining Textual

Evidence
What is Assertion?

 Is a stylistic approach or technique involving a

strong declaration, a forceful or confident and
positive statement regarding a belief or a fact.

 Often, it is without a proof or any support.

 Its purpose is to express ideas or feelings directly, for

instance, “I have put my every effort to complete
this task today.”
Types of Assertion

1. Basic Assertion

2. Emphatic Assertion
3. Escalating Assertion
4. Language Assertion
1. Basic Assertion

Simple and straightforward statement for

expressing feelings, opinions and beliefs such as:
o “I wish I could have express this idea earlier
because now, someone else has taken the
credit.”
o “ Excuse me, first I want to finish my work thn
shall go with you.”
2. Emphatic Assertion
 Conveys sympathy to someone and usually has two parts.
 First, encompasses the recognition of the feelings or
situations of the other person,
 Second, follows a statement that shows support for other
person’s rights such as:
o “I understand you are busy, and me too, but it is difficult
for me to finish this project on my own. So, I want you to
help me in completing this project.”
o I know this is making you angry and frustrated because
you could not get response yet. But I can help you by
giving you an estimate of how long it might take.
3. Escalating Assertion
It occurs when someone is not able to give response
to basic assertions of a person and, therefore, that
person becomes firm about him or her such as:
o “If you do not finish this work at 6:00 tonight, I would
better take the services of another worker.”
o :I really want to finish this point before you start yours.”
3. Language Assertion
It involves “I” language and is useful for expressing
negative feelings.
Nevertheless, it construuctively lays emphasis on a
person’s feelings of anger such as:
o When you speak harshly, I cannot work with you
because I feel annoyed. Therefore, I want you to
speak gently and then assign me task.”
o “When I cannot take proper sleep, it affects my
nerves and I feel irritation. Therefore, I like to go to
bed earlier.
Assertion Examples from Literature
Example 1.
From George Orwell’s Animal Farm
In Animal Farm, pigs make us of assertion as a tool for making propaganda in
the entire novel in order to weaken the position of other animals from having
contradiction with their rules and leadership. In chapter seven, Squealer
informs other animals that they need not sing original anthem of the Old Major,
Beasts of England— a song they used to inspire the revolution in chapter one.
Squealer asserts, saying,
“It’s no longer needed, comrade… In Beasts of England we expressed our
longing for a better society in days to come. However, that society has now
been established. Clearly this song has no longer any purpose.”
Example 2.
From Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice:
Elizabeth conceals her surprise at the news of Darcy’s plan to marry Elizabeth.
When lady Catherine presents objections to this marriage, as Bennets have
low connections and their marriage would ruin Darcy’s position before his
friends and society, Elizabeth attempts to defend her family background by
asserting , “I am a gentlemen’s daughter. “In fact, she sets herself free from
exasperating control of snobs like Miss Bingley, Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine
and declares that “I am…resolved.” then further says with assertion, “to act in
that manner, which will in my opinion, constitute my happiness, without
reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.”
Example 3.
From Anton Chekov’s Cherry Orchard:
In a scene, Tromivof and Lopakhin exhange barbed words and Lophakin calls
him “eternal student.” When Lophakin asks Trofimov’s views about him,
Trofimov’s replies that he consideres Lophakin as “a soon-to-be millionaire”
and “a best of prey”. Then Gayev points towards the conversation about
pride, the two men had earlier. Trifomiv asserts with reasoning about folly of
their pride, as man is a “pretty poor physiological specimen”, they are in misery
and “the only thing to do is work.” Although he was pessimistic about the
current situation of humans, however, he starts feeling optimistic now for their
future. He expresses this idea with their assertion and rebukes Russian
intellectuals, as they do not even know the meaning of work.
Example 4.
From William Shakespeare’s Othello:
DESDEMONA: I never did
Offend you in my life, never loved Cassio
But with such general warranty of heaven
As I might love. I never gave him token.
In these lines, Desdemona makes dying assertion that she is innocent,d enying
Othello’s accuations. However, blinded by emotion, furious othello is resolved
to kill her.
Read & Do

Read silently the three articles. Identify and write

the assertions in any of the three found in the text
and identify which type of assertion is being used.
Article 1.
1As I go though life, I am aware that there will always be trials and challenges.
For a handicapped person like myself, life is almost synonymous with the word
struggle. I have to continuously show the world that I can be useful and
productive like normal individuals. The success of handicapped people who
have helped themselves rests on private and public institutions that are ready
and willing to give disabled a chance to earn a living. We the disabled are still
a part of society and are entitled to the human rights all normal persons enjoy.

Source: The Bright Side of Darkness”

By Carolina G. Catacutan
Philippine Daily inquirer
Article 2.
Brain boost: never forget a name again
Susan Kraus Whitbourne
Psychology Today
Recent studies shed light on memory blips and how to avoid them. Remember
names and faces with the following techniques:
1. Focus on the eyes. Apart from a few wrinkles, people’s eyes don’t change
much as they age. You’ll less throw off by shifts in hair, clothing and body shape
if you check the eyes.
2. Add meaning. Invent strong—even odd- connections between a person’s
name and face. Think of what the name reminds you off (Tina could be “tea”)
and link that association to the name.
3. 3. Plan ahead. People are better at remembering names when they see them
written down in advance, one study found. It won’t help for unexpected
encounters, but it works for classes and parties with a public invitation list.
4. Practice at home. Quiz yourself on celebrity names. While watching TV, work on
forming name-and-face associations with people whose feelings you couldn’t
possibly hurt.
5. Relax. When you are stressed, your body’s endocrine system releases cortisol,
which can erase all memories.
Article 3.
BREVITY IS AN ASSET
By: George Plimpton

A sensible plan if you have been plan to speak to an exact limit, is to talk your
speech into a mirror and stop at your allotted time; then cut the speech
accordingly. The more familiar you become with your speech, the more
confidently you will deliver it.
As anyone who listens to speeches knows, brevity is an asset. Twenty minutes is
ideal. An hour is the limit an audience can listen comfortably.
In mentioning brevity, it is worth mentioning that the shortest inaugural address
was George Washington’s – just 135 words. The longest was William Henry
Harrison’s in 1841. he delivered a two-hour 9,000— word speech into the teeth
of a freezing northeast wind.Hhe came down with a cold the following day,
and a month later died on pneumonia.
Note:
Important feature in analyzing assertion is to
break it into components- claims and
counterclaim.s
What is a Claim or a Counterclaim?
Claim
 The central argument of the text.
 Can also be called thesis, proposition or simply the argument
Example:
 One of the ways in which ordinary people can prevent gingivitis is by gargling
twice daily with a dentist-approved mouthwash.

 Broadly stated, the claim of this “passage” is that mouthwash will prevent
gingivitis. Presumably, the rest of the passage will go on to explain why
mouthwash works, in an effort to back up its central claim. Unfortunately,
because the nature of claims is so variable— all text will look different types of
claims—there is no immediately obvious signal word that will help you to
ascertain the nature of a claim.
Ways to figure out claim
 Does the writer provide lots of supporting details?
 Are the paragraphs organized effectively, with topic sentences that introduce
the central focus of each paragraph? If so, the claim is ften found in the last
sentence of the first paragraph.
 If you’re in a pinch and can’t find the claim, skimming the first and second
paragraphs of an expository text may help. However, it is not enough to simply
identify the claim, as a sophisticated argument will also include what is called
a “counterclaim”.
What is Counterclaim?
 Provides an opposing viewpoint to the central claim.
 One of the ways in which ordinary people can prevent gingivitis is by gargling
twice daily with a dentist-approved mouthwash. However, in a recent survey
of American dentists, some questioned the use of mouthwash as tactic to
prevent gingivitis.

Note: As you can see, the second sentences indicates that the author is
presenting a “counterclaim”— a refutation to the central claim that using
mouthwash is an effective tactic for preventing gingivitis.
Ways to figure out counterclaim
 Look for signal words like “however,” “but,” “on the other
hand,” “yet,” “in contrast,” “notwithstanding,”
“nevertheless,” “on the contrary”— any words that signal a
contrast will help you find the counterclaim.
Let’s Collaborate: Group Activity
Task 1: Article
Developing Your Sense Of Humor: Take Yourself Less Seriously

Claim:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Counterclaim:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Article
Developing Your Sense Of Humor: Take Yourself Less Seriously
By Melinda Smith and Jean Seagal

The essential characteristic that helps us laugh is not taking ourselves

too seriously. We’ve all known that classic tight-jawed sourpuss who takes
everything with deathly seriousness and never laughs at anything. No fun
there!
Some events are clearly sad and not occasions for laughter. But most
events in life don’t carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or
delight. They fall into the gray zone of ordinary life-giving you have the
choice to laugh or not
Task 2: Choose any recent from a
newspaper or magazine

Claim:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Counterclaim:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Individual activity: A write Up

Compose one claim (original or cited) and let your seatmate provide the
counter claim and the vice-versa.

Claim:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Counter claim:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
 Individual activity: Rubrics
5 4 3 2 1
The claim is The claim is The claim is The claim is The claim is not
clear, clear, clear, clear, but not clear, not
comprehensive, comprehensive, comprehensive, comprehensive, comprehensive,
and well- and well- but not well- not well- not well-
organized and is organized and organized and organized and organized and
free from but contains contains contains contains
grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical
errors errors errors errors errors