Question

Angie is writing a literary analysis and has provided textual evidence in the form of quotations and paraphrased text from the play in her essay. What is the purpose of using textual evidence in an analysis essay?
It serves as a brief summary of the play's plot.
It displays the essay-writing skills of the writer.
It adds credibility to a claim or argument.
It makes the essay interesting to read.
It is a way of giving credit to the playwright.

Answer 1

Textual evidence is used to add credibility to a claim or argument. It shows people how you came to an answer. 

Answer 2

The correct answer is C. It adds credibility to a claim or argument.

Explanation:

Literary analysis are a type of academical papers in which the main purpose is to analyze, evaluate and examine different aspects of a work of literature, for example, a novel, poem, short story or play. This implies the author tries to explain relevant aspects for the literary work from his point of view, ideas and position about this, because of this, besides using her own words if Angie is writing a literary analysis using quotation or paraphrasing the play she is analyzing in the paper is necessary as these quotations or paraphrased ideas give some support to her words, this means using quotations show Angie's ideas  and arguments are consistent with the literary words and therefore are credible and can be believed. Thus, the purpose of textual evidence is to add credibility to a claim or argument.