4.3 Ensuring Evidence is Relevant to the Prompt

Ensuring Evidence is Relevant to the Prompt

Directions:

1. Breakdown the prompt. Underline any key phrases or words that the writer should make sure to address in the response.

2. Read through the evidence. Determine if the evidence addresses the prompt. Write “yes” if the evidence is successful in supporting a possible thesis to this prompt. Write “no” if it does not.

3. For any pieces of evidence that do not support the prompt, offer suggestions that would help the writer connect the evidence successfully.

Prompt:

Evaluate the extent to which the political and economic trends during the antebellum era (1820-1860) represented an expansion of democratic ideals.

Evidence:

1._________Henry Clay introduced the American System. The American System was a series of roads, canals, and various infrastructure that encouraged trade. Andrew Jackson was a strong opponent of the American System.

If “no”, give 2 suggestions as to how to connect this evidence back to the prompt:

2._________Robert Fulton invented the steamboat. This allowed trade to occur easily both up and down stream. The steamboat expanded trade and helped the middle class grow.

If “no”, give 2 suggestions as to how to connect this evidence back to the prompt:

3._________Political machines, such as the one created by William Henry Harrison, often bought votes. Voter eligibility was small in the early 1800s; only rich, property-owning, white men were allowed to vote. This meant that political machines only had to buy the votes of a small population. By the 1820s, suffrage expanded to all white men and made it more difficult for political machines to win office.

If “no”, give 2 suggestions as to how to connect this evidence back to the prompt:

4._________Transcendentalist writers influenced new beliefs on societal structures and influenced movements such as women’s suffrage and abolition.

If “no”, give 2 suggestions as to how to connect this evidence back to the prompt: