How do you pick the better-supported side on the GED essay?

You pick the side whose evidence and reasoning hold up better, even when it is not the side you agree with. Read both passages, look at what each writer uses to back up their claims, and test that support with a few plain questions. Then make the stronger side your claim and explain why.

What the task asks

On the GED essay, you read two passages, judge which argument backs up its case with more convincing evidence, and then explain how that evidence supports the side you picked.^[1] GED's answer guidelines ask you to choose the better-supported side.^[2]

To earn the top score on Trait 1, an essay evaluates the arguments in the passages, for example by spotting faulty reasoning and judging how credible, or believable, the sources are.^[3] Our post on how the GED essay is scored explains the scoring trait by trait.

The better-supported side may not be your side

The side with better support is not always the side you agree with.^[2] You might care a lot about an issue and still find that the other writer backs up their case better.

GED names a common reason for low essay scores: writing about whether you agree with an author, instead of how strong or weak the author's position is.^[4] So set your own view aside while you read. Your job is to judge the support, not the issue.

There is no hidden right answer to find, either. A GED webinar for teachers says there is no right or wrong answer about which writer makes the stronger case.^[4] Your task is to choose a side and show, with evidence from the passages, why its support is more convincing.^[1]

Know the kinds of evidence

A 2022 GED webinar for teachers lists six types of evidence to recognize.^[4] Here they are, in plain words:

• Facts: statements that can be checked and shown to be true.
• Statistics or data: numbers, such as counts, costs or percentages.
• Examples or anecdotes: one case, or a short story about one person or event.
• Expert testimony: what someone with special knowledge of the subject says.
• Logical reasoning: steps of thinking that lead from one point to the next.
• Emotional appeal: an attempt to persuade through feelings.

The same webinar defines an emotional appeal as using feelings such as sympathy, fear or loyalty to persuade, and says it "manipulates the reader's emotions."^[4] In other words, it plays on your feelings to steer you.

No type of evidence wins every time: a number can be old or off the point, and a single example can be right on it. So check each piece the same way, with the questions below.

A checklist for each side

GED's answer guidelines tell you to think carefully about what each position is built on: its assumptions, claims, support, reasoning and credibility.^[2] (An assumption is an idea a writer takes for granted without proving it.) GED's scoring notes for Trait 1 add that the essays most likely to score highest on that trait set criteria, meaning standards for judging, and then apply them to specific evidence from the texts.^[3]

Here is one set of criteria. Ask each question about both sides:

1. Is the evidence on the point, and is there enough of it? GED's reading skills include judging whether the evidence for a claim is relevant and sufficient, which means on the point and enough.^[5] One example can show that something happened once, not that it happens everywhere.
2. Is it accurate, detailed and current? Purdue University's writing lab says a strong argument essay needs information that is well researched, accurate, detailed and current.^[6] A vague "studies show", with no study named, or a figure from long ago, is weaker than clear, recent details.
3. Who is the author? GED's workshop slides suggest asking who wrote each text and what qualifies that person to write about the subject.^[7] A writer who knows the subject well is usually more credible.
4. Is every claim backed up? Some claims come with reasons and evidence, and some come with nothing. GED's list of reading skills includes telling the two apart.^[5]
5. Does the reasoning hold? Check that the conclusion really follows from the evidence. The next section shows two common ways it fails.

When the reasoning does not hold

The University of North Carolina's Writing Center (UNC) calls a defect that weakens an argument a fallacy.^[8] GED's rubric uses a related phrase: its top score on Trait 1 includes identifying "fallacious reasoning", which simply means faulty reasoning.^[3]

Two fallacies are useful to know:

• Hasty generalization. Purdue's writing lab describes it as a conclusion that rests on too little evidence, or on evidence that is biased, meaning slanted to one side.^[9] For example: "The three people I asked like the new bus route, so the whole city must love it."
• Appeal to pity. UNC describes it as trying to win you over to a conclusion by making you feel sorry for someone.^[8] For example: a writer asks you to back a plan mainly because of one family's bad luck, and gives no facts about whether the plan would work.

A moving story is not always a fallacy. But when a feeling such as pity takes the place of reasons and evidence, that is the kind of defect UNC describes, and it weakens the argument.^[8][8] Note any weak spot you find: a flaw in one side is part of your case for the other.

A short example

Here is a made-up pair of letters. The issue: should a town library close at 6 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. to save money?

• The first writer wants to keep the late hours. Everyone he knows uses the library at night, he says, so the whole town needs the late hours. He adds that closing early would be cruel to working parents. He gives no numbers.
• The second writer runs the library's budget. She reports that the library's sign-in records for the past two years show an average of 5 visitors an hour after 6 p.m., against 30 an hour before 6. She adds that the money saved would pay for longer weekend hours, when the same records show the library is busiest.

Now run the checklist:

• The first writer's evidence is the people he knows, a small group that may lean one way. Jumping from them to the whole town is a hasty generalization.
• His word "cruel" is an emotional appeal, with no evidence behind it.
• The second writer's evidence is on the point, recent and detailed, and as the person who runs the budget, she is qualified to speak on it.

On these questions, the second writer's case holds up better. Even if you would love a library that stays open late, the second writer's side is the one your essay would argue.

Turn your decision into your claim

Your claim is one sentence that names the better-supported side and the main reason. For the library letters, it could be:

"The second writer makes the better-supported case, because her figures come from the library's own records, while the first writer relies on the people he knows and on strong feelings."

Notice what this claim leaves out: whether you like late hours. It talks about the strength of each side's support, not about whether you agree.^[4]

Then build your essay around your criteria, the way GED's scoring notes describe.^[3] For example, one body paragraph can cover the strongest evidence for your side, and another a weak spot in the other side, such as a hasty generalization. Our post on planning the GED essay in 45 minutes shows how to fit this into a quick outline.

Practice weighing evidence

Try two of our free practice questions: one on judging evidence and one on spotting faulty reasoning. They need no sign-up, and every answer comes with feedback that explains each choice.

Then, on OpenEssayMe, you can write practice essays and get feedback on each of the three traits, to improve your writing one essay at a time. For the whole test, see our GED RLA test guide.