How To Write An Effective Evaluation Essay

Here are 5 steps you can follow to make your evaluation essay writing easier:

The purpose of an evaluation essay is to offer judgment about your overall view about a specific subject without sounding opinionated. The evaluative aspects may include structure, content, usage of sources, or style, among other factors. Additionally, you need to evaluate if the subject appealed to its target audience using the three logical appeals – ethos, logos, and pathos.

As the writer, it is essential to show your deep reasoning towards your approach by using evidence and examples. You may provide a little background information in your introduction, to put your audience at par with the subject. Also, it establishes the purpose of the evaluation you are reviewing, which you should support further through a strong thesis statement. A successful evaluation essay must put up a compelling argument that is thoroughly researched and well balanced.

Evaluation essays follow the same format as other essays using an introduction, body, and conclusion. However, it has three major parts: the judgment, criteria used to arrive at it, and the evidence you used to get there. The aim of the three parts is to make your essay appear more objective through an evaluative argument. As the writer, you must show your reader the value of the subject you are evaluating through a sound argument.

You may come up with evaluative questions that will guide you to the specific elements you need to consider in your writing. They help you to see if the subject you are evaluating measures up. If you research thoroughly and understand your subject well, it should not be difficult for a beginner to find their way through writing such an essay.

Below are five major steps

1. Identify the Criteria for Evaluation

When evaluating a subject, the first step is to list all the prominent features you can identify. You may read widely about your specific subject to better understand the standards used to make previous judgments. For example, if you are evaluating a product, note down all the features that you feel would be insightful to the users. Next, compare your findings to what other reviews says about them. The same applies if you are reviewing a film. You could consult a few other reviews about it online and note the standards other reviewers used in their criteria.

Evaluation criteria often vary from one essay to another, depending on the subject you are covering. For instance, the criteria used to evaluate a piece of music would be different from a software program. Therefore, choose what best suits the current subject, to avoid going out of topic.

2. Point-by-Point Description

After identifying the criteria for evaluation, the next part is to organize your essay point-by-point. Describe in detail all the prominent features you identified and evaluate each separately. For example, you could compare or contrast the subject to others in the same genre to give the readers a broader understanding.

Assuming you are evaluating the movie Get Out by Jordan Peele. As the writer, you need to evaluate if it meets its intended purpose of exposing racism in the white society.  Next, you may describe the movie’s characterization that helped the producer make his message effective.

3. Judgment

Your judgment states whether or not the standards were met. For example, if you are evaluating a song, you may state whether the artist met the expectations of the genre to which the song belongs. You may use terms such as below expectations, meets expectations or above quality to explain your feelings towards the subject. Although the judgment part is quite opinionated, it should be followed by an explanation, before moving to the next criteria.

4. Evidence  

When writing an evaluation essay, supporting information is equally important. Evaluation essays should not sound opinionated and using credible sources makes your argument stronger. You must offer your audiences clues that helped you to reach your judgment.

Each paragraph should state the criterion it used, the subsequent judgment made and proof or evidence used to make the evaluation. You should make it very clear to avoid disorganization and ambiguous ideas.

5. Proofread and Revise

After completing your essay, you should proofread to ensure all ideas are clearly structured and organized. Ensure that the introduction provides enough background information to put the reader into context of your evaluation. Also, check if your thesis statement covers your subject well. If it does not address the issues appropriately, you may revise it to streamline it with the criteria, judgment and evidence you provided.

Like all academic essays, proofreading helps you to remove grammatical or structural errors that may have occurred during the writing process. You may use proofreading tools such as Grammarly to ensure your work is error free.

It is essential to note that evaluation essays are not reviews, despite the two having several similarities. Ensure you include the right amount of detail to make your evaluation strong. For example, you may use several relevant examples to drive your points home.

You should ensure your evaluation is precise and agreeable, to make it objective. You can achieve this by offering just enough information and writing clearly, to save your readers from the stress of grappling with unnecessary details. Proofreading your work will help you to get rid of unnecessary details.

Finally, give your essay a concrete conclusion that leaves the audience fully convinced by your evaluation. Each point should prove that its viewpoint is correct, objective and fair.