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Evaluative Essay

Before writing any essay or assignment it is essential to have a clear understanding of the type of essay to be written. Writing an evaluative essay is no different. Writers must be certain they know the essay type before beginning to write. But what does evaluative actually mean? Evaluate means to assess, appraise, examine and/or study a topic. So an evaluative essay will assess, appraise, examine and/or study a topic a subject or issue.  

If an essay simply states the key features of the topic, it is NOT an evaluative essay. For example, here is a review of a mobile phone:

Write a Review (Evaluation / Assessment / Appraisal) of the New XYZ Mobile Phone From Samnok.

The colour is silver and silver is a good colour for a mobile phone.  It has a horrible ring tone. Sometimes it rings the wrong number because the keys are hard to get right.

What you see above are statements about the mobile phone. There is NO evaluation of the subject. This is NOT an evaluative essay. But what needs to done to make this an evaluative essay? The writer needs to explain why silver is a good colour for a mobile phone, why it has a horrible ring tone etc.  

The colour is silver. This is a good colour for a mobile phone because silver will appeal to males and females. Some mobile phones are pink or blue. Pink and blue can sexualise the phone because traditionally pink is for females and blue is for males. As this phone is silver it will appeal to both males and females. So the mobile phone manufacturer will sell more phones because it will appeal to both sexes.

It has a horrible ring tone, although this can be changed. The phone has many alternative ring tones and additional ring tones can be downloaded from the Internet or other sources. Although some suppliers of ring tones are quite expensive, so it is essential to check the price of a new ring tone before purchasing.

Sometimes it rings the wrong number because the keys are hard to get right. This is because the keys are very small. So although the phone may be silver and appeal to males, the keys may be too small for big male fingers.

The three statements have now been evaluated. Each statement concerning the mobile phone has been assessed and the writer’s view is evident. This is now an evaluative essay. Furthermore, the evaluation has given structure to the essay as each statement has been expanded to make a paragraph. The writer has clearly researched the topic.

Imagine writing a book review without reading the book! How could anyone review a film without seeing it? Is it possible to effectively assess or examine the effects of global warming without first researching the topic? Research is critical to writing an evaluative essay. Researching the essay topic provides the basis for the evaluative essay.

Having read the book, or seen the film or gathered the facts and figures of global warming etc., what comes next?  As with the mobile phone example is not a case of merely writing about the plot and/or characters from the book, or to write about the plot and/or characters of the film, or to write explaining what global warming is. The question and nature of the type of essay, in this case, evaluative essays, will determine. Read the essay question. For example,

  • Write an evaluation of:
  • The Character of Fagin in Oliver Twist.
  • The Violence in Sweeney Todd
  • The Effects of Global Warming in the UK

To write any of these assignments it would be vital to research the topic further. So what would a writer need to do? Find out about Fagin. What have others written about him? Read reviews of the film Sweeney Todd. Read about violence in films. Read about the effects of global warming in general and then specifically what it means for the UK. There are many sources to research, including the Internet, books, newspapers, TV programmes etc. Remember to use a range of sources and to cite sources in the essay and in the bibliography.

When the research for an evaluative essay is complete, the writer must assess and evaluate the findings. The mobile phone example found positively for the colour of the phone and although it had a horrible ring tone this could be changed. The negative aspect for this particular phone was that it had small keys. Therefore, the findings for the phone were generally positive. The introductory paragraph of an evaluative essay must state the writer’s overall viewpoint and/or perspective of the topic. For example, 

This essay will evaluate the new XYZ mobile phone from Samnok.  The phone was evaluated by examining the colour, ring tones and size of the keys. The new XYZ mobile phone from Samnok was found to have both good and bad points. However, the points investigated were found to be favourable overall. This essay will evaluate the findings in further detail.

The above is an example of a simple, straightforward introductory paragraph. It states what the essay is about, the type of essay and the writer’s overall viewpoint. Writers should however, beware that in reality, an essay should probably contain more points than just three as used in this example. Furthermore, the example states that the evaluation topic had good and bad points. 

The evaluative essay should now examine the points raised in the introductory paragraph. Each point should be supported by evidence from research. This is the main body of the essay. To finish an evaluative essay, a concluding paragraph must be written. The concluding paragraph will reiterate what as stated in the opening paragraph.  For example,

To conclude, this essay has evaluated the new XYZ mobile phone from Samnok. It has found that although the phone has some drawbacks, the overall findings are that it is a good phone. The colour of the phone is good, ring tones can downloaded, the small size of the phone makes it hand, the display is clear and bright and it is a reasonable price. Therefore based on the findings of this essay, this mobile phone represents a good purchase. 

All in all, a good evaluative essay will be like other essays. It will be well-researched and well-planned. The evaluative essay must examine the positive/ good points of the subject matter and also the negative bad points of the subject and come to a conclusion.  Therefore, the essential component of the evaluative essay is to ensure that the topic is evaluated, assessed, appraised and or examined.

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