essay paper

The Evaluation Argument Chapter 14, Practical Argument

Mignette Dorsey

The Evaluation Argument

• Evaluate – To make a personal, value judgment about something or someone. Ex. A product, service, program, work of literature, etc.

• Do we evaluate options before we make decisions? Examples? • Evaluation Argument (options) 1. Make a positive or negative judgment 2. Assert that someone else’s positive or negative judgment is

inaccurate 3. Comparative analysis where you prove one thing is superior to

another

The Evaluation Argument

• What makes another perceive that your evaluation is fair? • Addressing the Opposing Point of View • Evidence of bias (p. 477) – Bias can be detected by tone as evidenced

by word choice • Criteria for Evaluation: 1. Answer the “why” question related to your assertion: Why are

afternoon classes better than morning classes - or vice versa? 2. Establish a list of criteria you will examine: Alertness, Instructor

accessibility, traffic

The Evaluation Argument

3. Comparing criteria - discuss drawbacks of morning classes versus advantages of afternoon classes • See pg. 479 re. Evaluation Argument structure • Evaluation Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives – page 484

Pop Quiz: Evaluation Essay (Answers are on the last slide)

Write true or false for each item below: 1. Offering a solution to the problem of student plagiarism would be a

good topic for an evaluation essay. 2. Word choice is an important consideration in writing an evaluation

essay. 3. Word choice establishes the tone of an essay. 4. Of the five “Ws,” the “why” question is never the focus of an

evaluation essay. 5. When we “evaluate,” we make a value judgment about something

or someone.

Pop Quiz Answers: Evaluation Essay

• 1. False • 2. True • 3. True • 4. False • 5. True