Evaluation essay writing: shaping strategies

The shaping strategies you have used in previous essays may be helpful, but the strategies that follow are particularly appropriate for shaping evaluations.

Analysis by Criteria

Often, evaluations are organized by criteria. You decide which criteria are appropriate for the subject and audience, and then you use those criteria to outline the essay. Your first few paragraphs of introduction establish your thesis or overall claim and then give background information: what the subject is, why you are evaluating it, what the competition is, and how you gathered your data. Then you order the criteria according to some plan: chronological order, spatial order, order of importance, or another logical sequence. Phyllis Richman's evaluation of the Hunan Dynasty restaurant follows the criteria pattern:

• Introductory paragraphs: information about the restaurant (location, hours, prices), general description of Chinese restaurants today, and overall claim: The Hunan Dynasty is reliable, a good value, and versatile.
• Criterion #1/Judgment: Good restaurants should have an attractive setting and atmosphere / Hunan Dynasty is attractive.
• Criterion #2/Judgment: Good restaurants should give strong priority to service / Hunan Dynasty has, despite an occasional glitch, expert service.
• Criterion #3/Judgment: Restaurants that serve moderately priced food should have quality main dishes / Main dishes at Hunan Dynasty are generally good but not often memorable. [Most important criterion, the quality of the main dishes, is saved for last.]
• Concluding paragraphs: Hunan Dynasty is a top-flight neighborhood restaurant.

Comparison and contrast

Many evaluations compare two subjects in order to demonstrate why one is preferable to another. Books, films, restaurants, courses, music, writers, scientists, historical events, sports — all can be evaluated using comparison and contrast. In evaluating two oriental restaurants, for example, student writer Chris Cameron uses a comparison-and-contrast structure to shape her essay. In the following body paragraph from her essay, Cameron compares two restaurants, the Unicorn and the Yakitori, on the basis of her first criterion — an atmosphere that seemed authentically oriental.

Of the two restaurants, we preferred the authentic atmosphere of the Unicorn to the cultural confusion at the Yakitori. At first impression, the Yakitori looked like a converted truck-stop, sparsely decorated with a few bamboo slats and Japanese print fabric hanging in slices as Bruce Springsteen wailed loudly in the ears of the customers. The feeling at the Unicorn was quite the opposite as we entered a rcom that seemed transported from Chinatown. The whole room had a red tint from the light shining through the flowered curtains, and the place looked truly authentic from the Chinese patterned rug on the wall to the elaborate dragon on the ceiling. Soft oriental music played as the customers sipped tea from small porcelain cups and ate fortune cookies.

Cameron used the following alternating comparison-and-contrast shape for her whole essay:

• Introductory paragraph(s)
• Thesis: Although several friends recommended the Yakitori, we preferred the Unicorn for its more authentic atmosphere, courteous service, and well-prepared food.
• Authentic atmosphere: Yakitori vs. Unicorn
• Courteous service: Yakitori vs. Unicom
• Well-prepared food: Yakitori vs. Unicorn
• Concluding paragraph(s)

Cameron might have used a block comparison-and-contrast structure for her essay. In this organizational pattern, Cameron's outline would be as follows:

• Introductory paragraph(s)
• Thesis: Although several friends recommended the Yakitori, we preferred the Unicorn for its more authentic atmosphere, courteous service, and well-prepared food
• The Yakitori: atmosphere, service, and food
• The Unicorn: atmosphere, service, and food as compared to the Yakitori
• Concluding paragraph(s)

Chronological order

Writers often use a chronological order to organize their claims and criteria. In her review of Star Wars, for example, Judith Crist shapes her evaluation by following a natural chronological order:

1. Comments on Lucas's previous film, American Graffiti.
2. Review of the plot.
3. Evaluation of the climax of the film.
4. Comment on the viewer's good feelings at the end of the film.

Causal analysis

Analyzing the causes or effects of a place, object, event, or policy can shape an entire evaluation. Works of art or performances, for example, oftenjneasure the effect on the viewers or audience. Mark Stevens claims that Goya'si painting has "severairctefmife" effects on the viewer; those specific effects become the evidence that supports the claim.

• Criterion #1/Judgment: The iconography, or use of symbols, contributes to the powerful effect of this picture on the viewer.
  • Evidence: The church as a symbol of hopefulness contrasts with the cruelty of the execution. The spire on the church emphasizes for the viewer how powerless the Church is to save the victims.
• Criterion #2/Judgment: The use of light contributes to the powerful effect of the picture on the viewer.
  • Evidence: The light casts an intense glow on the scene, and its glaring, lurid, and artificial qualities create the same effect on the viewer that modern art sometimes does.
• Criterion #3/Judgment: The composition or use of formal devices contributes to the powerful effect of the picture on the viewer.
  • Evidence: The diagonal lines scissor the picture into spaces that give the viewer a claustrophobic feeling. The corpse is foreshortened, so that it looks as though the dead man is bidding the viewer welcome.

Title, Introduction, and Conclusion

Titles of evaluative writing tend to be short and succinct, stating what product, service, work of art, or performance you are evaluating ("The Gettysburg Address," "Goya's The Third of May, 1808") or suggesting a key question or conclusion in the evaluation ("How Much Car for $3990?" "'Feel Good' Film").

Introductory paragraphs provide background information and description and usually give an overall claim or thesis. In some cases, however, the overall claim comes last, in a concluding "Recommendations" section, or in a final summary paragraph. If the overall claim appears in the opening paragraphs, the concluding paragraph may simply review the strengths or weaknesses, or just advise the reader: This is or is not worth seeing, reading, watching, doing, or buying.

Time reference in writing

Whenever mentioning dates or time in your writing, be sure to refer to these absolutely, not relatively. Always remember that the moment of writing passes away as the writer stops writing, and the written piece enters the domain of readers. When the readers see reference to time in the absolute form (e.g. in 1990), he or she accepts it fine. However, whenever the reader encounters a relative date or time (e.g. yesterday), he or she might get confused. So be sure to refer to time correctly, using absolute points of reference.

Here are comparative lists of examples of relative vs. absolute date and time references:

• Absolute: on May 5, 2000; first saturday of August, 1709; 1-1-01; 21:20, 13-02-2006; in 1999.
• Relative: yesterday; several years ago; on May 5; last year.

Note that the main difference between the two types is that relative time reference has to have some origin, or point where to start. For the writer, that origin is the moment of writing, but for the readers this is very inconvenient. Readers have to either find out when the text was written or have to guess. Careful writers would provide the origin for the readers’ convenience, if they opt for relative time/date reference. However, it is much better to use absolute timing. The main reason for this necessity is the dynamic nature of time; the “now” changes every moment. Thus, the writer’s “now” is far earlier than the readers’ “nows”. Even more, the reader’s “nows” are very different. The authors must be careful and think in advance about the readers, addressing to time and date in the absolute form, but not relative to the perpetually-changing “now.”

Even more, careful writers never address to the “now” of writing as present; they address is as it is past, regardless of the writer’s present.

Consider: “As I write this, … ” vs. “When the author was writing this.”

The first example is egoistic, while the second one shows care for the reader, considering the person and the time of access.

Of course, these are only general rules, which are applicable to most cases. However, there are exceptions, when this relative use of time would, for example, project the reader into some event purposefully, to create the feeling of presence, and so on. These cases, however, are rare and must be used only by experienced writers. In 99.6% of cases, however, use absolute time and date reference!

Writing business letters & memos

Reading and writing various business letters and memos has become a habitual activity in today’s business world. These letters and memos may vary in style, purpose, and length, but generally letters and memos are brief documents, no more than two pages in length.

A memo is a useful tool of business communication and is used to exchange routine and everyday information within a company. Letters are intended to the outsiders and are a part of public relations medium that presents a particular message. Thus, the main difference between a letter and a memo is the recipient; memos are sent to insiders and letters to the outsiders.

There are four categories of business letters and memos:

• direct requests
• routine, good-news and good-will messages
• bad-news messages
• persuasive messages.

The relationship of the writer and the reader dictates the style and the tone. On the whole, business letters and memos may range widely: from personal to impersonal, from passive to forceful, from colorful to casual.

Formats of memos and business letters

Typically, an organization establishes the traditional format of letters. However, many organizations rely on form letters to save time and money on routine communication. Form letters are very convenient for one-time mass mailings such as sales messages about the product, explanations about policies and procedures, information about organizational activities and goodwill messages. There is also a variation of forms for more individualized messages. Business letters of this type are composed of optional paragraphs that are suitable for an occasion. The common recommendations for composing business letters may include:

• If the writer wants to show respect in his/her letter, start with a formal salutation
• The body of the letter should be brief, but still contain some friendly remarks to maintain goodwill
• Include your signature at the conclusion as it also contributes to personal touch

Typically, memo and a business letter differ in their format memo format. The heading of a memo contains the following necessary information: date, to, from, and subject. The body of a memo often includes headings and lists to highlight the key points and to make the information convenient to comprehensive. Introductions and transitions may be given less attention to in memos than in letters as the writer and the reader share a common frame of reference.

Web/blog writing vs. academic writing

Although the general term «writing» refers to the process of creating both academic papers and web articles, the end products of such writing process are significantly diverse. Website article or blog post writing differs in that it must comply with the search engine and usability standards, while academic essays must, most importantly, show academic knowledge, reason and various skills to the professor.

Articles on the web can be classified as news articles, blog posts, encyclopedia articles, tutorials, reviews and much more, and the writing tone and style of each type will differ from one another. However, all of these types have a list of common features which differentiates them from any other type of writing. Features, in which web content article and blog post writing is different from academic essays writing include:

• very severe length requirements
• always keep to the point
• use simple and straighforward wording and explanations
• keep paragraphs short
• privide images and other supportive media
• pay very close attention to text structure
• separate paragraphs with relevant captions as much as possible
• spend much time on formatting such as bold, italics, hyperlinks etc. (unlike in academic essays)
• begin the article by stating the conclusion (provide abstract)
• pay close attention to the first 2 words in each heading, link, and paragraph
• pay attention to keyword density for search engine optimization

The entire list is much bigger, but these are the main distinguishing features.

Difference of audiences of web articles (blog posts) vs. academic essays

The differences listed above are stipulated by the significant differences in the audience, readers of the texts. While academic essays are written for no more than 1-2 people (rarely more) who would definitely read the entire text, web content articles and blog posts are written to virtually unlimited number of readers who are in a hurry and might leave the text at any second. Thus, one of the functions of web content article and blog post writing is to keep the readers on the page by providing them with what they expect and keeping the page content very usable and accesible.

Styling and formatting essay documents

Although web-pages turn to various styling techniques, such as big captions, headings, bold text, italics, underlining, etc., in essay documents styling and formatting is irrelevant. The only sections that require formatting or styling are headings (including the title, author, course, etc.), bibliography, and quotes. Other parts of your essay must not include any formatting or styling techniques, regardless of your intuitive need to include them.

Emphasize by content, not formatting or styling

Whenever you feel a certain word, phrase, or sentence requires emphasis, do not make it bold, underlined, or italicized at once. First, think about how you can make an emphasis through the content, not the form. Construct your essay in such a way that this important phrase (or word) reads important, but not looks important. An effective technique to apply when dealing with such styling dilemmas is to imagine that your essay would be viewed in a plain text editor, without any formatting. Would it still make sense? Would it confuse the readers?

In other words, write your paper in such a way, that the contents — words, phrases, and sentences — let the readers know what is important or requires specific emphasis, and do not turn to formatting and styling to achieve this emphasis. Only apply formatting in structural elements (title page, credits, and headings inside the paper), bibliography pages, and in quotes in the body of your paper.