Evaluative Writing & Reviews Evaluative Essays (Reviews)

Evaluative Writing & Reviews Evaluative Essays (Reviews) Adapted from Capital Community College Probably one of the first essays you ever had to write was a book review of some kind. You probably gave a brief rundown of the book's characters, a summary of the plot, and then said how wonderful the book was (being careful not to reveal too much about the ending). The evaluative essay remains a valuable tool in your arsenal of composition patterns. Hopefully, your ability to say what you like about the object at hand — whether it's a book, a painting, an album or concert, a fancy restaurant, or the design of a new car — has become more subtle and convincing over the years since your first book review. Writing about literature demands special skills, and in writing about poetry or a short story or play or novel, it is very important to keep in touch with the language of the art, showing your reader over and over again where (exactly) in the poem or story you get your ideas, and to do that you have to use quotations — sometimes a lot of quotations. Pay special attention to how you include quotations. Writing about other things like online products (yes, variations of the evaluative essay can be used to review anything really) requires slightly different considerations. Many online reviews are unorganized, basic, and basically unhelpful. “This movie was boring” doesn’t tell the reader anything without the “why” or the “compared to.” Luckily, you as the writer get to decide what you want out of your effort. Do you want people to know why you love this airplane neck pillow over others? Then explain with details and examples. Do you want people to “like” your review also? Try to make it concise and or entertaining too. Above all though, KNOW YOUR READER and give them what they need without wasting their time. One effective device in writing evaluative essays is comparison and contrast. The art work you are looking at doesn't exist in a vacuum. Expand your essay and add to your readers' understanding at the same time by comparing two similar things, like this Rhianna Album compared to an earlier album, or showing how Quentin Tarantino has matured (or deteriorated) or by comparing his newest movie to other movies, which do the same thing, but worse (or better). Be fair in your comparisons. Whether you are writing about literature, a song, or a product purchased online, though, there are several points about the evaluative essay you want to keep in mind. Subjectivity & Tips for Successful Reviews How can an essay that evaluates or reviews something ever be "wrong"? Isn't it all opinion, all subjective analysis, anyway? What makes one opinion more valid than others? In reviewing things, there is room, indeed, for a great deal of subjectivity. Still, in trying to document how feelings arise — to describe those elements within the text that spark those feelings in us — some people will do a more careful job than others. It is, of course, possible to be mistaken about literature, to base our feelings and judgments on a misreading — for a variety of reasons. First, avoid using language that is only judgmental. Don't say that something is great or beautiful or exciting or interesting. Your readers are apt to become defensive: "We'll be the judge of that," they'll say. Your job as the writer of this essay is to show how the work under consideration is beautiful or exciting. Don’t just say it’s great; EXPLAIN WHY. If you do that well, your readers will be convinced of the work's beauty without your saying that it's beautiful. An occasional, off-handed "beautiful" or "exciting" is all right; just don't expect your readers to be convinced unless you make them feel that beauty or excitement. Second, don't re-tell the story. Only a sentence or two is enough to recap the story of an entire novel. If you spend your essay telling readers what happened in The Bluest Eye, they're going to wonder why they aren't reading Toni Morrison's novel instead of your essay. Your job is to provide some insight into how Morrison did what she did. Then, in reading your essay, readers will say, "Wow! That's great! I better go read that novel." Vocabulary and Criteria There will be occasions when you are forced to use the specialized vocabulary that people who really like this kind of art are used to using. Reading the CD booklets of albums is sometimes like reading a foreign language if you're not hip. That's to be expected. If it is written well, your reader will go along with you. You can't be expected to review a concert with the same language that you'd use to review the performance of a string quartet. The environment and special effects of a concert are a big part of your enjoyment of it; on the other hand, you would remark on the environment of a string quartet performance only if it were particularly inappropriate for careful listening. Critics who write about art sometimes have their own vocabulary for doing so, and you need to be at least somewhat familiar with that vocabulary before writing seriously about art. Finding Criteria for Evaluation Essays To turn your opinion into an evaluation, you will need to use criteria to judge your subject. What are criteria? Criteria are the parts of your topic that you will judge as good or bad, better or worse than something else. How can you find criteria? Criteria are the parts of the thing you are evaluating. Here are some examples of criteria: • movie criteria: plot, acting, character, editing, cinematography (scenery & “look” of movie), THEME, score, directing, chemistry between actors, humor, scare factor, political messages, true to its own genre. • Song criteria: melody, musicality, lyrics, message, singing/playing, comparison to other songs in genre. • Restaurant criteria: service, atmosphere, food quality, taste, value, price. • Website criteria: ease of navigation, design, visuals, writing, content. • Product criteria: (know the kinds of specifications people look at when shopping/evaluating for THAT kind of item – e.g. For Digital Cameras: Megapixels, capacity, kind of lens and specifications, software interface, menu features) Finding the best criteria for your evaluation: In order to do this kind of writing well, you need to determine what sort of a topic you are evaluating. If it is a movie, then what genre is it: horror, romance, drama, etc.? Then you need to decide what would make an excellent movie in that genre in your opinion. For example, you may decide that a good romantic comedy has to have three things: humor, surprising plot twists, and actors you enjoy getting to know. Next, you will evaluate the movie you have chosen to see how well it matches those criteria, giving specific examples of how it does or does not fulfill your expectations of an excellent romantic comedy. How to Write an Evaluation Paper Evaluation essays are just like reviews. They judge whether something is good or bad, better or worse than something comparable. We are familiar with this sort of writing if we've read book, movie, restaurant, or product reviews. Evaluation papers can be serious or funny, earnest or sarcastic. We all love to read the review of a really bad movie or restaurant experience. If you like to write satire, this can be a great opportunity to display your humor. Chances are you will have a great time, and so will your reader. Choosing a Topic Your topic can be something you've experienced once or many times. Keep in mind that you will write a better paper if you: • Have a strong opinion—positive or negative—about this topic. • Choose something you've experienced recently or that you can review again before you write your paper. • Know a lot about this type of experience. Use the following lists of categories to brainstorm ideas for what you might want to evaluate. Products Tablet/tech Website Book/Movie Album Luxury Item Shoes/Sandals Performances Movie Play Concert Sporting Event Advertising Campaign Fashion Show Experiences Restaurant Store Event (like State Fair) Club Program (like Study Abroad) Vacation Places Museum Sports Stadium Concert Venue Park Zoo Unique Building What could you evaluate? Turning Your Topic into an Essay In order to evaluate something, you need to compare it with the best example of that particular thing. So, to help you develop your topic into an essay, there are two important questions to ask when you are choosing your topic to evaluate: • First question: What category of a thing is it? • Second question: What is the ideal example of something in that category? Example: McDonald's What category is it? For the best evaluation essay, you want to compare your topic with things that are very similar, so try to narrow the category as much as possible. To get there, you want to keep on asking the question, "What kind is it?" What category does McDonald's fit into? Answer to first question: Restaurant. (What kind of restaurant?) Fast food restaurant. (Better, but what kind of fast food?) Hamburger-serving fast food restaurant. (This is what you want!) So if you were evaluating McDonald's, you would want to compare it to other fast food restaurants that mostly serve hamburgers. Now the second question: What is the ideal example of something in that category? What makes that example better than others? Thinking about what you consider to be the very best example of something in the category of what you are reviewing can help you decide what criteria you will use, and also what judgement you can make. For example, here is a list of criteria my students have come up with for an ideal burger fast food restaurant: • looks clean • serves food fast • makes it easy to order • has great fries • has options on the menu • offers large drinks with free refills • serves juicy burgers with lots of grease • doesn't cost a lot of money No two people will come up with exactly the same list, but most restaurant reviews look at the following criteria: 1. service 2. atmosphere 3. food 4. value Answer to second question: A great fast food burger joint offers great service, atmosphere, and food at a fair cost. Now you know what your paper is going to be about how close McDonald's comes to this ideal. Reviewing Stories through Plot Synopses without “Spoilers” If you are reviewing something that has a story with a plot (or is supposed to), like a book, movie/film, stage play, or short film, definitely review the story by discussing the merits of the plot, or the merits of what happens. Discuss aspects like pacing (how quickly does the story move?), excitement (how interesting is it when things happen?), and originality (how new and inventive does the stuff from this story feel?). Regardless of the quality of the story, be sure not to reveal everything that happens. Today’s society has evolved through the years to appreciate surprises in movies, so as a reviewer, you have to keep that in mind and not spoil anything. Here’s a good general rule about “spoilers” in terms of quarters: Almost everything in the first quarter of a movie can be discussed, while the events in the rest of the first half can only be alluded to or mentioned. Avoid revealing anything from the second half of the movie. (If necessary, keep it abstract, like “a big twist near the end falls a bit flat because of mediocre acting.” Don’t say, “I didn’t like finding out that the witch king was really Gonzaga’s father.”) For a plot synopsis, it is generally enough to set up the situation in a sentence or two, and then just discuss the pace of plot developments. For example, Finding Nemo, an animated Pixar movie for children and adults, is about a father in a constant search for his son, who disappeared just after a father-son fight. Marlin (the father), has many exciting adventures and meets lots of unusual characters as he ventures farther and farther into the great beyond. Think about new movies you were excited to go see. What would you have not wanted a review to say? Keep that in mind for your own reviews. Sample Evaluation Outline Using the list of criteria above, we can make a very fast outline for an essay about an imaginary fast food hamburger restaurant called Bob's Burgers: Thesis Statement: While you may have to wait a while to get your meal at Bob's Burgers, that is because everyone finds the meal is worth the wait; Bob's Burgers offers not only great service, but a fun atmosphere for eating with friends or family, terrific food, and a good value for the price. Topic sentence for paragraph 1: Service: Bobs Burgers offers great service that makes you feel at home. • Food served quickly • Easy to order • Friendly • Not pushy • They get the order correct