Evaluation Essay
Note:
Evaluation involves making judgments. Evaluation arguments require you to make a persuasive case for the validity of your judgment.
In this task, write an evaluation argument that tries to persuade your readers to accept your reasoned judgment on a topic.
TOPIC: Evaluate the benefits of pursuing a specific hobby.
REQUIREMENTS
Note: This task requires you to make a claim about the merits of pursuing a specific hobbyand then provide reasons why that claim is true. Do not simply summarize the hobby; instead, use details of the hobby as evidence to support the claim.
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. An originality report is provided when you submit your task that can be used as a guide.
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.
Note: When using sources to support ideas and elements in an assessment, the submission MUST include APA formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any direct quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted if they have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the assessment.
- Write an evaluation essay [suggested length of 2–4 pages]. In your essay, do the following:
- Respond to the given topic [above].
- Provide an effective introduction.
- Provide an appropriate thesis statement that previewstwoto four main points.
- Developeach of the main points with appropriate support in the body of your essay.
- Provide an effective conclusion.
- Includeat least one academically credible source in the body of your essay.
- For your sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.
- Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
Note: For definitions of terms commonly used in the rubric, see the Rubric.
Note: When using sources to support ideas and elements in an assessment, the submission MUST include APA formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any direct quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted if they have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the assessment.
Note: No more than a combined total of 30% of a submission can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from outside sources, even if cited correctly. For tips on using APA style, please refer to the APA Handout web link included in the APA Guidelines section.
RUBRIC
A1:GIVEN TOPIC FOR EVALUATION ESSAY
A2:INTRODUCTION
A3:THESIS STATEMENT
A4:MAIN POINTS
A5:CONCLUSION
B: ACAMEMICALLY CREDIBLE SOURCE
B1: SOURCES
C:PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION
How to write an evaluation essay
What is an evaluation essay? An evaluation essay asks you to evaluate the benefits of pursuing a specific hobby. To write a successful evaluation argument, you need to establish the criteria that support your judgment. You will identify 2-4 criteria that support the validity of your claim. It will not be enough simply to summarize the policy, activity, or item you’ve selected. You must also analyze and evaluate its validity based on the criteria you’ve selected.
The evaluation essay and note on style: When you write your essay, you will want to avoid the personal pronoun “I.” Learning to eliminate person pronouns [I/me/my/you/we/our] from your writing now will prepare you for other Composition essays and forms of academic writing.
Sample evaluation essay topics and thesis statement
It is important to remember the length of this assignment when choosing a topic. Large, sweeping topics will be difficult to write about; you simply cannot cover all aspects of [for instance] abortion in an essay of this caliber. You will have a much easier time with a narrowed topic—one that you wouldn’t mind learning more about. Consider exploring the ins-and-outs of a smaller local debate or an issue that affects you personally. Either way, begin with a clear research question. Explore as many sides and answers to that question as you can.
- Choose a hobby or activity [such as yoga, knitting, swimming, stamp collecting, gardening, etc.] and give reasons the reader should take up this hobby or activity. For example: Why should the reader take up gardening? What makes yoga a good hobby?
Introduction, topics, and thesis
In the introduction to your evaluation essay, you will explain the significance of the problem or issue that you will be evaluating. The introduction ends with your thesis statement.
Give background information or context to lead the reader to your specific thesis. End the introduction with the one-sentence thesis:
[Your topic here] is effective/ineffective/beneficial/not beneficial/fun/etc. because X, Y, and Z.
Body paragraphs
The body of the essay should detail all the points of the thesis and use those to back up your claim about this hobby. Each point should be one section of the body of the essay; the first point from the thesis is the first section of the body, the second point from the thesis is the second section of the body, and the third point from the thesis is the third section of the body, etc.
Begin the first body paragraph with a topic sentence based on point X from your thesis. Give information to back up and support this topic sentence/main point. Give examples/evidence to support this point and explain how the examples/evidence support the points with details. Discuss how/why this information is important and relevant to your thesis. Body paragraphs should be roughly half a page long. Repeat this format with the following points [Y and Z] from the thesis.
In the body paragraphs, you will not only discuss the three supporting reasons mentioned in your thesis in more detail, but you will also use outside research whenever possible to support your ideas. You will support your argument with at least one outside source. Cite the source in the essay using APA in-text citations.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, you should include your thesis statement and a 1-2 sentence summary of each of the points discussed in the paper. Do not provide any new information in the conclusion.
Reference page
At least one source should be cited here. The sources here should have at least one in-text citation in the body that matches those sources listed here.
Task Checklist
- Does your essay stay ontopic by addressing the topic?
- Did you write anevaluation?
- Do you have anintroduction? Does it grab the reader’s attention Does it provide necessary background information on the topic? See How to write an evaluation essay and topics for more details on introductions for evaluations and the evaluation thesis.
- Does your introduction have athesis as its final sentence? Does it look something like the statement below?
- [Your topic here] is good/bad, un/necessary, in/effective, or problematic because [2 to 4 points here].
- Do yourbody paragraphs match your thesis?
- A simple example: The thesis is, “Yoga is a good hobby because it helps with flexibility, reduces stress, and provides social opportunities.”
- You would structure the paper like this:
The first body paragraph[s] will address how yoga helps with flexibility.
The next body paragraph[s] will be about how yoga reduces stress.
The last body paragraph[s] will address how yoga provides social opportunities.
- Do you have aconclusion? Does it restate the thesis [word-for-word]? Does it summarize your body paragraphs? Is it free of any extra information?
- Have youproofread the paper carefully? Did you read it aloud, paying attention to things like spelling, punctuation, and clarity?
- Does your essay include one crediblesource? Is this source cited in-text following APA guidelines? Does this source also appear on your reference page using APA guidelines?
- Is the paper 500-1000 words? Do you avoid using personal pronounslike I, we, you, and our?
