Examples
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An example is a sample or an instance that supports or illustrates a general claim. In everyday conversation, you probably use examples frequently. To illustrate, suppose you tell a friend that parking is difficult on your campus, then you point out that you couldn’t find a spot three times last week and your roommate had to drive around for thirty minutes the other day to find a space. In this case, you are using examples to support your claim that parking is difficult.
A brief example is a short instance (usually a single sentence) used to support or illustrate your claim. A set of three or four brief examples can often be used to great effect. The following excerpt shows how such examples can be used to support the claim that Americans’ privacy is at risk:
- College admissions officers may have snooped on your social networking. About one-fourth of college admissions officers have viewed applicants’ social media pages, and 12 percent of those officials indicated that information they discovered hurt the student’s chances of being accepted.6
- After purchasing Skype in 2011, Microsoft obtained a patent for “legal intercept technology” that can “silently copy communication” between speakers using such services, creating the risk that conversations will be wiretapped.7
- A growing number of cities are investing in software that analyzes citywide surveillance videos and reports anything it deems “suspicious or abnormal behavior.” Sales of this technology are expected to reach $3.2 billion by 2016.8
You can also use an extended example to illustrate a point. An extended example provides details about the instance being used, giving your audience a deeper and richer picture of your point. The following extended example describes a new threat to the privacy of an airline flier who is shopping for a low-cost flight online:
Suppose you were hoping to get home for Thanksgiving or get away for spring break and you had to do it on a very tight budget. You go online to check for the lowest fare possible. Before you can get a quote, you are asked to provide personal information, including your zip code, profile, credit-card information, travel history, and frequent-flier status. You could still shop for fares anonymously, but if you refuse to disclose facts about yourself, you are likely to be offered higher fares. This is exactly what is likely to happen to you under a new policy being adopted by many airlines.9