Final answer:
To evaluate if reasons and evidence are relevant and sufficient in a student's work, one must consider the logical reasoning presented and the support material, such as concrete evidence and illustrative examples, and analyze how these connect to the main argument.
Step-by-step explanation:
Assessing whether a student's reasons and evidence are relevant and sufficient requires examining two main components of their argument: the logical reasoning and the support material. A student may present a compelling reason for a claim, which would be an assertion that connects to the larger argument or thesis being made. For adequate support, they should also provide concrete evidence, such as statistics, quotes from credible sources, or other empirical data, that substantiates their reason.
Illustrative examples are another form of evidence that can help clarify or exemplify a point. For instance, if a student is analyzing legislation in a persuasive essay, they could define key terms and provide a real-world example to illustrate their point, such as the Personal Data Notification & Protection Act of 2017 definition of a security breach. This type of specific example directly supports the topic sentence and gives the reader a clearer understanding of the concept being discussed. Analysis or elaboration on how the evidence connects to the topic sentence should always follow to ensure that the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence are clear to the audience.