Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Common Core State Standards, Grades 9-10, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.9-10.9 Means in Plain English
Ninth and tenth graders build essays on evidence from what they read. With literature, they show how an author transforms source material, the way a novel reworks a Shakespeare play. With literary nonfiction, they lay out an argument, test its reasoning and evidence, and name false statements and fallacies.
Eighth grade (W.8.9) compares modern fiction with myths and spots irrelevant evidence in arguments. Grades 9 to 10 add how an author transforms a source, and the call to identify false statements and fallacious reasoning. Grades 11 to 12 (W.11-12.9) turn to foundational American literature and seminal U.S. documents.
W.9-10.9 I Can Statements
I can show how an author draws on and transforms a source.
I can lay out an argument and judge its reasoning and evidence.
I can identify false statements and fallacies with evidence from the text.
W.9-10.9 Worked Example
This example takes the W.9-10.9b route. Both students found flaws in the letter; only one proved them from the text.
Prompt
Read the excerpt from a letter to the Brackett Hill Gazette, then write a paragraph that lays out its argument and evaluates its reasoning and evidence. Identify any false statement or fallacy, using the parks survey as a check. From the letter, by resident Gordon Pike: “The town survey proves residents don’t want a dog park: most people said no. If we fence off land for dogs today, tomorrow every club in town will demand its own park, and soon there will be no open fields left. Besides, everyone I talked to at the hardware store agreed with me.” From the parks department survey of 410 residents: 52 percent supported a fenced dog park, 31 percent opposed it and 17 percent had no opinion.
Not YetGordon Pike makes some bad arguments. He uses a slippery slope and he is biased because he only talked to people he knows. I disagree with him because dog parks are good for dogs.It names one fallacy correctly but never quotes the sentence that commits it, misses the false statement about the survey entirely and ends by arguing about dog parks instead of evaluating the letter. W.9-10.9b asks for evidence from the text, not a verdict on the topic.
Meets the StandardGordon Pike claims that residents do not want a dog park and supports the claim with three reasons: the town survey, a prediction about other clubs and his conversations at the hardware store. His first reason is a false statement, since he writes that “most people said no,” but the parks department survey of 410 residents found 52 percent in favor and only 31 percent opposed. His second reason is a slippery slope: he asserts that a fenced dog park today means “soon there will be no open fields left,” yet offers no evidence that one step leads to the next. The third reason rests on an unrepresentative sample, because a handful of customers at one store cannot stand in for a town when a 410-person survey says otherwise. With one false premise, one unsupported chain of predictions and one unrepresentative sample, the letter’s reasoning is not valid and its evidence is neither relevant nor sufficient, whatever one thinks of dog parks.It lays out the argument first, the claim and its three reasons, then tests each reason against the text and the survey. It quotes the words that commit each flaw, names the false statement and each faulty step precisely, and keeps its own opinion about dog parks out of the evaluation.
Moves to Use
Lay out the claim and its reasons before judging any of them.Check each factual statement against a source you can cite.Quote the exact words that commit a fallacy, then name it.For literature, name the source, then say what the author changes and why.Keep your view of the topic out of an evaluation of the reasoning.
Common Mistakes with W.9-10.9
Fallacy hunting without evidence
“He uses a slippery slope and he is biased,” with nothing quoted
Try this: Require a quotation for every fallacy named, followed by one sentence explaining exactly where the reasoning breaks.
Arguing the topic instead of the text
“I disagree because dog parks are good for dogs.”
Try this: Have students write the evaluation as if they agreed with the author’s conclusion, then check every sentence still holds.
Spotting the source, not the transformation
In a literature essay: “This scene is based on Romeo and Juliet,” and nothing more
Try this: Pair every identified source with a second sentence beginning “What the author changes is…” and explain what that change does.
What false statement does the strong response identify, and how does it prove it false?
Pike writes that “most people said no.” The parks department survey of 410 residents found 52 percent in favor and only 31 percent opposed.
Which sentence of the letter commits a slippery slope?
“If we fence off land for dogs today, tomorrow every club in town will demand its own park, and soon there will be no open fields left.” It offers no evidence that one step leads to the next.
What would the literature route, W.9-10.9a, ask for instead?
Evidence for how an author draws on and transforms source material, such as how a later work reshapes a theme or scene from Shakespeare or Ovid.