Think about all those times you asked your mom why you couldn't do something that you wanted to do, and she simply responded, 'Because I'm your mother, that's why!' or 'Because I said so!' Remember how frustrating that was? When writing an evaluative essay, 'because I said so' is not a good enough argument. Neither is Samantha's answer, 'I dunno, I just liked it more, I guess.' You have to have specific reasons and evidence to support your judgment.
Parts of the Evaluative Essay: Intro and Background
So, how do we put these three elements to work to make an evaluative essay that says more than 'Because I said so'? For starters, you will want to include four main components: your introduction, some background information, your criteria, and your conclusion. The introduction has a pivotal role in this paper: it gives your overall judgment in the form of a thesis statement. This is where, if you were Samantha, you'd say, 'The engaging plot, relatable characters and believable storyline made Love, Specifically a must see.' Sounds a lot better than, 'I just liked it more, I guess,' doesn't it?
You'll notice in Samantha's new thesis, she not only tells you whether or not she thought it was a good movie, which was her overall judgment, she gives you some specific reasons, or criteria, why she thought it was a good movie. This is key to the evaluative essay; it helps to focus your review. Being as specific as possible helps you formulate an effective evaluation because you're not trying to cover it all: just a few key parts that come together to make your overall judgment.
After establishing your overall judgment and defining your focus, you'll move on to the next key component: background. Before you start giving your opinion on something, people need to have some kind of idea of what you are talking about. In the case of a movie or book review, you'd include a brief summary. For a restaurant review, you'd talk about what kind of food is served and the style of dining.
The background's purpose is twofold: first, it helps the reader get on the same page and understand exactly what you are reviewing. Second, it helps establish the purpose of whatever it is you are evaluating and justify your criteria. Think about it, romantic comedies are generally geared toward a different audience than artsy, independent films. They often have different goals, too. While a romantic comedy may be made purely for entertainment purposes, the independent film might try to present some sort of commentary on everyday life or make you consider a new idea or viewpoint.
Or, in the case of a restaurant review, Bob's Burger Stand, a casual, walk-up burger joint would be evaluated using completely different criteria than Merlot Burger, a gourmet, sit-down restaurant that serves Kobe beef burgers marinated in fine wines.
Parts of the Evaluative Essay: Criteria
Once you've set the focus and given your background, you'll move on to your criteria. In your essay, you should devote at least one paragraph to each criterion. This way, you have plenty of room to discuss what the criterion is, give your judgment, and present your supporting evidence. That's right, those three key elements need to live in each paragraph as well as your essay as a whole.
So, for Samantha's evaluative essay, each criterion she mentioned in her thesis would have it's own paragraph: the plot, characters, and storyline. For each paragraph, she'd go on to give her judgment and evidence. Samantha's paragraph on the plot might sound something like this:
'The plotline in Love, Specifically was especially engaging.' She establishes her criterion and judgment. 'As the movie progressed, the situational humor in almost every scene left you waiting to see what would happen next and how it would play out in this long-distance love story.' She backs up her judgment of the criterion with evidence.
Tools for Effective Evidence
Now that you see how the criteria should be set up, let's talk about a couple of tools that can help make your evidence most effective. One way to present evidence is to use comparison or contrast. So, when talking about the characters in the movie, Samantha could compare them to common figures we run into in real life, like the high school jock or girl next door. She could also contrast them to characters in other movies in the same genre.
Another tactic is to play your own devil's advocate. This is especially helpful if you are presenting an opinion that might be controversial. If it turns out the majority of people thought Love, Specifically was an absolute flop, you might list the common reasons why people said the movie fell short and present a counterargument to each one.
Parts of the Evaluative Essay: Conclusion
In her most effective evaluative essay, Samantha would go on to talk about the other criteria, mixing in the tools we just talked about to make a very convincing argument to go see Love, Specifically. After discussing each of the criteria, she'd present a nice conclusion that restated her overall judgment and gave a quick recap of her reasoning.
Ideally, Samantha's essay would be well-organized so that it arrives naturally at this point, and she wouldn't have to start her conclusion with a phrase like, 'In conclusion.'
Lesson Summary
So, to review, an evaluative essay contains three key elements: judgment, criteria and evidence. These elements are presented using four key essay components: it starts with an introduction that houses a thesis, which gives your overall opinion and focuses your evaluation. Next, background information is included to help your reader understand what it is you are evaluating. Then, paragraphs discuss each of your criteria and present evidence to support your reasoning. Last, a conclusion wraps up your evaluation and provides closure for your reader.