a notebook, book, and laptop with some writing tools lay on a corkboard desk

📖 I've worked with hundreds of high school students over the years – homeschooled, public schooled, private schooled, honors students, struggling students, everyone in between.

And there's one writing skill that almost none of them have been explicitly taught.

It's not grammar (though that helps). It's not vocabulary (though that's useful). It's not even how to write a thesis statement.

It's how to explain their reasoning.

Let me show you what I mean.

The Missing Piece in Most Student Writing

Here's a sentence I see in essays all the time:

"In The Great Gatsby, the green light symbolizes Gatsby's dream."

Okay. That's a claim. It's supported by the text. But here's the problem: it stops there.

The student has told me what the green light symbolizes. But they haven't told me how or why it does that. They haven't explained the connection between the symbol and the meaning.

In other words, they've skipped the reasoning.

What Reasoning Actually Looks Like

Let's look at that same sentence with reasoning added:

"In The Great Gatsby, the green light symbolizes Gatsby's dream of being with Daisy. Fitzgerald describes the light as 'minute and far away,' which mirrors how Gatsby's dream feels—always visible but never fully within reach. By placing the light across the water, Fitzgerald emphasizes the emotional and physical distance between Gatsby and what he wants most."

See the difference?

The student didn't just tell me the green light is a symbol. They showed me how Fitzgerald uses specific language and imagery to create that symbolism, and why it matters to the story's meaning.

That's reasoning.

Why Students Skip This Step

Most students don't skip reasoning because they're lazy. They skip it because they don't realize it's missing.

In their minds, the connection is obvious. Of course the green light represents Gatsby's dream — everyone knows that!

But here's the thing: if it's obvious to you, you still have to explain it.

Your teacher isn't grading you on whether you "got it." They're grading you on whether you can articulate your thinking clearly and convincingly.

And later, in college and beyond, your professors and bosses won't care if you understand something internally. They'll care if you can explain it to someone else.

How to Add Reasoning to Your Writing

Here's the formula I teach:

Claim + Evidence + Reasoning

Claim: What are you arguing?
Evidence: What proof do you have from the text?
Reasoning: How does that evidence prove your claim? Why does it matter?

Let's try it with a different example.

Claim:

"In 'The Yellow Wallpaper,' the narrator's obsession with the wallpaper represents her declining mental state."

Evidence:

"She describes the wallpaper as having 'a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck.'"

Reasoning:

“The violent imagery of a 'broken neck' reflects the narrator's fractured sense of self. As she becomes more isolated and oppressed by her husband's treatment, she projects her own psychological disintegration onto the wallpaper. The pattern doesn't just bother her, it mirrors her unraveling mind.”

That's a complete analytical paragraph.

Claim. Evidence. Reasoning.

Questions That Help You Find Your Reasoning

If you're stuck on the reasoning part, ask yourself:

How does this evidence prove my claim?
What's the effect of this word choice/image/detail?
Why did the author choose to write it this way?
What would change if this detail were different?
So what? Why does this matter to the story's meaning?

Answer any of those questions, and you've got reasoning.

This Works Beyond English Class

Here's the beautiful thing about reasoning: it's not just for literary analysis.

It's for science labs. By explaining your results.
It's for history essays. By connecting evidence to your argument.
It's for college essays. By showing why your experiences matter.
It's for job interviews. By explaining why you're qualified.

When you can clearly articulate how and why something is true, not just that it is true, you become a more persuasive thinker and communicator.

And that's a skill that will serve you for the rest of your life.

Practice This Today

Take any essay you're working on right now. Find a paragraph where you've made a claim and included evidence.

Now ask yourself: Have I explained HOW this evidence proves my point?

If not, add 1–2 sentences of reasoning.

That's it. That's the practice.

Do this consistently, and your writing will transform.

Need help strengthening your student's analytical writing? I work with high schoolers on exactly this skill—building clear, evidence-based arguments in any subject. Learn more about tutoring or book a consultation with the link below.