Example Ladder Visual
Visual showing the progression from weak to strong examples.
Click to zoom
Aim for the third rung: specific and supporting, without becoming a lengthy distraction.
Choose examples that support your argument without taking it over.
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Teach examples as support, not the main argument.
In a strong body paragraph, an example is evidence for your claim, not the claim itself. Your main idea should lead the paragraph, while the example acts as a concrete illustration to prove you are right.
Visual showing the progression from weak to strong examples.
Aim for the third rung: specific and supporting, without becoming a lengthy distraction.
Weak example, relevant example, specific example, over-detailed example.
“When I studied online last year, I failed my math test because my cat distracted me.”
“For example, online education is hard because students get easily distracted at home.”
“For instance, without the physical presence of a teacher, younger learners often struggle to maintain focus on screen-based tasks.”
“A 2022 survey by Harvard involving 4,500 students showed that 82.3% of students using Zoom experienced eye strain...”
Choose the example that best supports a given argument.
Claim: 'Fast food consumption leads to severe health issues.' Which of the following is the most specific and supporting example?
Learner adds an example to a body paragraph; AI checks relevance and length.
Read the following claim and explanation:
Claim: Learning a second language improves cognitive flexibility. Explanation: This is because it forces the brain to actively switch between two different rule systems regarding grammar and vocabulary.
Your Task: Write exactly one sentence providing a specific, academic-style example to support this explanation. Do not use personal stories (e.g., 'When I learned French...').
Write a 1-sentence example that is specific but remains academic.
How does your example avoid the 'Storytime' or 'Fake Statistics' traps?