What kind of evidence do detail questions require?

• A. Visual cues only.
• B. Opinion or speculation.
• C. Inference from external sources.
• D. Direct evidence from the text.

Answer: (D)

Detail questions ask you to point to facts that the author states directly in the text. Because these questions hinge on information explicitly written by the author, the best evidence comes from direct evidence in the text—the exact words, lines, or specific details the passage provides. This keeps your answer firmly grounded in what the author actually conveyed, rather than what you think or infer.

Relying on visual cues alone isn’t reliable for these items, since a question about a text’s details should be satisfied by statements from the passage, not by outside visuals. Opinions or speculation go beyond what the text says and aren’t appropriate when the prompt asks for concrete details. Inferring from sources outside the text also isn’t correct for this type of question, as it requires material that the passage doesn’t contain. So the safest, strongest choice is the information that is directly stated in the text. For example, if the text specifies a date or a number, citing that exact detail is what proves the answer.