EVALUATION JOURN,ESS

ASSIGNMENT NEEDED (MLA FORMAT FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS)

1… EVALUATION JOURNAL (A PRODUCT )750+ WORDS

2…A ROUGH DRAFT (EVALUATION ESSAY OF THE SAME PRODUCT) 550+ WORDS

3…FINAL/ COMPLETE EVALUATION ESSAY OF THE SAME PRODUCT 850+ WORDS

READINGS/ REQUIREMENTS

What is an Evaluation Essay Anyway? The evaluation essay requires that you take a product you are familiar with through experience and, as an expert with this type of product, evaluate it for an audience that either does not have experience with this specific product or is not as much of an expert you are. To be clear, this isn't a compilation like so many online documents that claim to be evaluations ("top ten spatulas" lists that are just the writer reading other people's evaluations aren't really evaluations, and they are awfully close to plagiarism). A good, trustworthy evaluation requires that the writer be confident in their ability to judge the subject, do their research, and support it thoughtfully. It also requires that the writer has experience in the category but is impartial enough to avoid bias. The Basics This is the master list of requirements for the essay to not earn an F (50). If these elements are present, you are guaranteed to make at least 50 or higher. In the correct mode (evaluation) The subject must be a product (not a service or an experience - for the sake of this essay, you may evaluate a movie or TV show as a product) 850 -words long No secondary research. This means: No store pages No product reviews No website comments No research essays All your support for your evaluation must be based on your own product testing (primary research) The things to watch out for You may not use first person (I, me, my, mine), first-person plural (we, us, our), or second person (you, your, you're). Only the third person should be used throughout the entire essay. Price cannot be a criterion - address the price in the conclusion (is the product worth the price for your audience) What Is the Subject? Your subject for this evaluation essay must be a product that meets the following criteria: It must be specific (you cannot evaluate "lattes," but you can evaluate "lattes from Black Rifle Coffee Company") It can be legally purchased or obtained by an individual Something that you have access to often enough to do first-hand research

Something in a category that you can speak with authority about (don't evaluate that latte if you only ever buy coffee at Starbucks) and come up with at least three solid criteria for Not something that is required for sustained life (air, food, water) Something that you can discuss in-depth for 750 or more words (you are entirely in control of this) "Safe" for general class consumption (don't write about something horribly offensive or broadly disgusting – be kind to your peer reviewer) Who Is the Audience? Your primary audience for this evaluation essay is the kind of person who: Is in the market for something in this category and/or Is trying to learn about this category and/or Is a fellow expert in this category This means that you need to consider your writing and your audience from these three perspectives. However, your primary audience is never opposed to purchasing your product. And You? Who... Are You? As the writer, it is your job to dive in headfirst, break the subject apart, look at every piece, and then force all of that interesting data into a shape that can make sense to your reader. First, you need to do this without bias. You may be a fan or the most loyal hater of whatever you evaluate. Still, the second that compromises your evaluation, you lose huge chunks of credibility (please see almost any recent evaluations, positive or negative, of recent political leaders, Star Wars movies, or big-budget video games). It's not that the reader doesn't expect you to have a personal preference, but that the reader needs to trust that you can put that aside long enough to be objective. Second, you need to do your own research. Do not use any source material for this essay beyond the topic itself. It would be best if you did not have any reference to someone else's review, stats, etc. Now wait, you say, isn't our book called They Say/ I Say? Yes, and part of being an expert in this category is understanding what people also interested in this category want. No video game evaluator needs someone else to tell them what people want in a zombie slasher. Bakers do not need someone else to tell what other bakers want in a high-end countertop stand mixer. No mom needs other moms to tell them what they need in a diaper. Last, it would be best to be a professional in your research, organization, and writing. This doesn't mean you can't be funny (that often helps, depending on your audience). It means that you cannot be sloppy. Poor paragraphing, typos (especially in the product name), guessing about things (no, really, don't do this), and using overly casual or chatty language are all things that will kill the reliability of your evaluation. This is a dangerous spiral to fall into because, in the end, all of your evaluation relies on you being dependable and professional. If you lose that, your evaluation becomes a salvage operation with the reader trying to pick and choose what to

believe, what to trust, and what to toss aside. The reader should never have to decide this. Even if they disagree with you, the reader should be able to respect your evaluation and chalk the disagreement up to different perspectives on the importance of the criteria or certain features. A Note About Judgement This essay aims to provide the reader with your evaluation, a judgment of the product, service, or provider that is your topic. This should be indicated in the thesis (Cyberpunk is a great game to play on PC...), but it should be supported in organized detail throughout the essay. When you get to your conclusion, you need to wrap up all that organized detail. You should not, at that point, repeat the assertion. While you might have spent weeks writing it, it will take your reader 20 minutes to read it. They haven't forgotten. What your conclusion should do, however, is revisit the assertion now that the audience is more informed. This is the spot where you could use one tiny little "I," as in "I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes big, immersive worlds and owns a fairly new PC." This is the point at which you get to discuss, ever so briefly, how all these elements you broke apart for your essay support the assertion you made at the beginning. Rubric Essay Basics --75 points Essays that meet all guidelines set forth in the assignment sheet automatically earn 75 points and will be graded by the remaining three criteria. Essays that fail to meet all guidelines set forth in the assignment sheet automatically earn a 50 as the final grade.

A– Baseline - In the correct mode (evaluation), the Subject is a product, 850-words long, with no secondary research. B – Criteria - Your criteria should apply to anything in the same category, not designed specifically to highlight things that you may like or dislike about your product. You also want to make sure that your criteria are complete (don't leave anything significant out.) For example, you wouldn't want to evaluate an air frier and not discuss how easy it is to clean or a video game and not discuss controls. C– Judgement - Any good evaluation makes a judgment about the product being evaluated. Is it worth the price? This should be in the conclusion. D– Intro - The intro should establish the context, category, and subject for the evaluation essay (in that order), leading the reader from a general understanding of the specific thesis in the space of a paragraph.

E– Thesis - A good thesis lets the reader know what the essay is about and a general idea of how the writer will take them there. While a good thesis can take many forms, an easy formula is topic + assertion+ organization + so what. The thesis for this essay MUST be one sentence long and at the end of the introduction (not a separate paragraph). F– Topic Sentences - Every paragraph needs a topic sentence as the first sentence of a new paragraph. In an evaluation essay, this sentence identifies the criteria and how it links to the

thesis, but be careful that your identification of the criteria doesn't sound more like a file label than a sentence of introduction for a new topic. Writing and Mastery – for great points(75) G–Essays that demonstrate exceptional writing and mastery of the material based on the exceptional nature of the writing and thoroughness of the mastery. H– Clarity and Conciseness - Being clear and concise is a balancing act. Too many words will make a sentence fluffy, filled with more words necessary to make a point. Being too concise risks relying too heavily on the reader's ability to guess the writer's meaning or creating a blunt, disinterested tone. I– Word Choice - Good word choice considers the denotation and connotation of the word. It can also help an essay achieve the desired tone throughout. – Flow - The flow between the ideas in each sentence is important for the coherence of the idea that the writer is attempting to progress the reader towards. Lack of flow is like a set of directions that is missing a step. Connecting ideas from one sentence to the next, one paragraph to the next, is important as the reader tries to follow the writer through the essay. – 1st, 1st plural, 2nd - No use of 1st, 1st plural, or 2nd person is permitted in this essay. – SPG - Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are important because people rely on these conventions to understand what the writer is saying. The writer uses these tools to convey respect to the reader and control the meaning and sound of their words.

 

NOTE: 850 WORDS FOR COMPLETE EVALUATION ESSAY….MLA FORMAT STYLE