Argument of Evaluation

An argument of evaluation is an argument that states why something is good/ bad, successful/ not successful, effective/ ineffective, competent/ incompetent, and so forth. These types of arguments can be made in numerous ways and on numerous topics. Some examples of arguments of evaluation are: - judgments of public policy or figures - book/ film/ music/ restaurant reviews - evaluations of societal tendencies and norms (Example: An article lamenting America¡¯s tendency to not take care of their elderly.) Directions: 1) Pick a topic that you would like to evaluate. Make sure it is something you can place into a certain category for comparison. For instance, if you were to evaluate Rihanna, you could place her into the category of pop icon, but you could also place her in the category of dance music or 2012 artists or role model. This categorization will help you to choose criteria to judge. 2) Pick a specific audience to whom you will address this argument. Think about who would be interested in this issue. Students? Republicans? Younger/older movie lovers? Narrow it down ¨C the audience is never everybody or all Americans. What type of style, evidence, and tone would work best for this demographic? 3) Write your essay. It must include the following things: - a clear thesis with a claim and a reason o consider whether or not you need to qualify your thesis (Ex: Instead of Jon Stewart is the funniest person on TV, you might say Jon Stewart is one of the most influential TV personalities of this decade. Don¡¯t make claims you can¡¯t support.) - a brief overview of your topic (a sort of background paragraph) - an explanation or defense of your criteria o What criteria/standards are you using to judge your topic? Can you justify these criteria? o Ex. What makes a good teacher? (good student evaluations? student success rate?) o Ex. What features make a film a classic? (quotability? reviews? money made?) - evidence that your subject meets or fails to meet the criteria you set - consider and address the alternate views (opposing viewpoints and counterarguments) o What would those that oppose you say? How can you disprove their arguments? - pathos/ logos/ ethos: Try to use all 3 appeals in your essay. (see EAR for help) - outside sources o you must include 3 credible outside sources ¨C 2 of these must be opinion pieces o you must incorporate ideas from those sources into your essay  make sure to introduce the author/site and state why he/she/it is relevant o use MLA citations throughout your paper - works cited - **correct page length** o 3-4 pages, not including heading, images, or works cited information o 12 point Times News Roman, double-spaced, 1 margins. 4) **Final Step** A rhetorical analysis describing your essay¡¯s writing strategies and techniques. This is in addition to the minimum page requirements for essay 1. (See directions below.) Final Step: Rhetorical Analysis o When you are finished writing your paper, you will do a write-up that explains some of your rhetorical strategies. Include answers to the following questions: o Length: At least ½ a page, typed. o What audience did you pick and why? o How did you try to tailor your essay so that it would work well for this audience? How did this affect your evidence, appeals, style, and tone? o How did you use pathos, logos, and ethos? Give specific examples. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips for picking a topic: - You can use ideas from your love/ hate list or use the topic from the Op-Ed you analyzed for your Op-Ed analysis paper. - Pick a topic that is not overly personal. It should be a topic about something within the public realm/ or that is part of our society. (For example, a topic about why you hate rain is not going to work.) - Pick a topic for which you can think of an overarching category and criteria. This will be crucial in helping you to support your claim. - Pick a topic you know a good deal about (or that you can learn a great deal about quickly). o For example: If you want to talk about a certain musician or band, you want to make sure that you know a lot about music and what makes music good or not good. You should be a musician or you should have studied music. Examples of possible topics: Consider categories: Print Media: newspapers, books, magazines, posters, photographs, art Broadcast and Film: television programs, commercials, movies, radio programs, songs, news Live Performances: theater productions, concerts, lectures, stand up comedy Services: restaurants, salon, department stores, bookstores, medical services Technology: Macs, I-pad, phone apps, sound system components, cars Politics: democracy, socialism, communism, capitalism, globalization, free-trade agreements Societal traditions/ tendencies/ norms: trends in how we interact with one another and the world around us (physical contact, attitude, values) (Ex. Our use of sarcasm and cynicism in our society) Specific example ideas: Why buying a classic car is a good/bad decision. Evaluate Ernesto ¡®Che¡¯ Guevara¡¯s legitimacy as an inspirational figure, discerning fact from myth. Evaluate President Obama¡¯s health care plan. Assess Americans¡¯ reliance on nursing homes to take care of our elderly (rather than in-home care). Fox News: love it or hate it? Macs vs. PC¡¯s: which is superior?