CER Instruction

CER Instruction

What is CER? How does it help our On Demand Writing?

Open Ended

BRAINSTORM: What is CER?

CER stands for Claim, Evidence, and Reason

Open Ended

Brainstorm: What do each of these mean? What is a claim? What is evidence? What is reason?

What is a CLAIM?

• A statement of opinion presented as a fact.

• The main/central idea, theme, author's purpose, and much more!

• If you are ever answering a question, you are making a claim!

Example: From "We Wear the Mask":

• We answer the question "What is the main idea (or theme) of 'We Wear the Mask'?"

• Our claim is "Dunbar's main idea in 'We Wear the Mask' is that silence allows people to stay strong in difficult situations, even though it does have consequences."

What is Evidence?

• Use of a piece of text or research that supports the claim you are trying to make.

• Strengthens your argument, but does NOT explain.

• Should always be a direct quote from the text in quotation marks

• If you have an audio version of a source, you should paraphrase as closely as possible.

Example - Direct quotes from the text!

• "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,"

• "Why should the world be over-wise,/

  In counting all our tears and sighs?"

• "We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries/ To thee from tortured souls arise."

What is reason?

• The MOST IMPORTANT part of CER.

• Explains to your audience why what you're saying matters.

• NOT the context, this is why/how your quote matters outside of the text - what is the importance in the real world?

The Reason indirectly answers one of the following:

• Why is this important?

• What is the author's purpose in including this?

• How does this help develop *theme or main idea*, *a character*, or *the plot* ?

Once we have our evidence, we have to give a reason as to why it is important. Example:

• "We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries/ To thee from tortured souls arise."

• These lines reflect the central theme of silence allowing people to stay strong in difficult situations, despite the consequences. The author's point is that putting on a happy face to make it through the day works, but it hurts and ends up making things worse.

Now we have to put it all together!

Your CER will be one of your body paragraphs.

This is a highlighted version of the CER. C=pink, E=Purple, R=Blue.

Your turn! Open the "CER Application" Discussion Board in Canvas to get some practice! (linked to today).