Name: ______________________________________ Date: _________ Course Section: ___________
Writing Organizer: Ten Steps to Writing Evaluations and Reviews
Your purpose when evaluating something and writing a review of it is to deepen your knowledge and understanding of an idea, item, place, film, book, or place and to share your insights about it. All reviews share four common features: (1) criteria for evaluation, (2) a summary or description of what is being evaluated, (3) a reason for the review, and (4) something relevant to say.
Step 1: Identify a topic.
Evaluations often grow out a writer’s interest in something and desire to share an opinion about it with others with similar tastes. If your instructor does not provide a topic, use questions like these to identify a novel, band, musician, movie, television show, restaurant, or consumer item to evaluate and review:
Books: Is there a book you think others should know about for some reason? A provocative book about an important current issue? A book that did not meet your expectations, or exceeded them?
________________________________________________________________________________
Music: Has a favorite musician or band recently released a new recording? Is there a new music trend you feel strongly about? Is there a new album you think is particularly noteworthy?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Film and television: Have you seen a film you think is especially important, enjoyable, or provocative? Are you watching a television show you believe reflects an important social trend? _________________________________________________________________________________
Places or things: Is there a restaurant you particularly like and would recommend? One you would tell people to avoid? Do you have an opinion about a new phone, camera, video game, or item of sports equipment (e.g., running shoes, skis, or soccer cleats)? ______________________________
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Once you have chosen a subject to evaluate, consider your purpose. Why are you evaluating it? What do you hope to learn? Then formulate your purpose as a working question.
Write your question here: _______________________________________________________________
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Step 2: Place your topic in rhetorical context.
Reviews are an effective way for writers and readers to engage in discussion about works (books, films, games, etc.) that matter to them, so think carefully about your audience. Answering the following questions will help you clarify the purpose of your review and develop your evaluation:
Who might be interested in your subject? Is your subject likely to interest a specific group of readers or a more general audience? __________________________________________________________
Why would your intended audience be interested in the subject you have chosen to evaluate? What makes it important to them? __________________________________________________________
What might you have to say that would be useful or interesting to your readers?
__________________________________________________________________________________
What larger message do you hope to convey to your intended audience? ______________________
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Step 3: Select a medium.
If your review is part of an assignment, follow its guidelines. If it is not, select the medium most appropriate for the type of review you are writing and your intended audience. Here are some suggestions you can consider as you think about the best medium for your subject:
Subject: novel | Audience: students | Possible medium: campus newspaper, social media
Subject: graphic novel | Audience: graphic novel fans | Possible medium: online book review
Subject: photography exhibit | Audience: photography club members | Possible medium: Prezi, newsletter
Subject: film | Audience: members of film class | Possible medium: paper, social media, iMovie
Step 4: Develop the main point of your review.
Answer these questions to clarify your opinion about your subject and develop a main point about it that supports your opinion and says something relevant. Record your answers for future reference.
What did you find interesting, troubling, or provocative about your subject, and why?
What claim will you make about the subject based on your initial reaction?
How does your initial claim address your intended audience and rhetorical purpose?
Revise your claim, if necessary, based on your answers, and write your guiding thesis statement.
Guiding thesis statement. ________________________________________________________
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Step 5: Support your claim through your evaluation of your subject.
The first step in developing an evaluation that will support your claim is to identify the criteria by which you will evaluate your subject. The second step is to apply those criteria to analyze your subject:
To determine the criteria appropriate for evaluating your subject, do the following:
Consider audience expectations: What criteria will your readers likely use in evaluating your subject? What standards will they expect you to apply?
Consider your purpose: Which criteria will help you evaluate your subject effectively in view of the purpose of your review?
Consider the conventions of this kind of review: What criteria are usually applied in this kind of review (e.g., What criteria do film reviewers typically use? Video game reviewers?)
List the main criteria you plan to use: ____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Apply your criteria to the subject of your review. Determine how well your subject meets each of your criteria (e.g., if you are examining how effectively a novel develops a specific theme, reread relevant passages; if you are evaluating a director’s technique in a new film, return to specific scenes that illustrate that technique). Work your way through your list of criteria, developing your evaluation of the subject for each item on your list. Your goal is to explore your subject as thoroughly as you can so that you not only develop your evaluation adequately but also generate sufficient evidence to support each assertion you make about your subject. Take notes and adjust your main claim if necessary.
Adjusted claim: ______________________________________________________________________
At this point, you might be ready to write a rough draft of your project. If not, move to the next step.
Step 6: Organize your review.
There is no standard way to organize a review; however, because most share a few key elements, it is possible to develop a basic outline and adjust it to fit the needs of your rhetorical situation and chosen medium.
Key elements of a review include the following: a statement of the purpose or reason for the review, a summary or description of what is being evaluated, criteria for evaluating the subject, and the writer’s conclusions. You can use these elements to develop a basic outline such as this one:
Introduction: includes a statement of the reason or purpose for the review as well as the occasion.
Summary/description of subject: a summary of the book, film, play, or tv show being reviewed; a description of the exhibit, performance, video game, or consumer item being evaluated.
Evaluation: analysis of the subject on the basis of the criteria being used for evaluation.
Conclusion: conclusion(s) about the subject as a result of the evaluation.
Step 7: Get feedback.
Ask your readers to answer these questions to focus their feedback on the main characteristics of analytical writing—a worthy topic, complexity, sufficient support, and reasonable conclusions—as well as on specific aspects of evaluation and review. Use this feedback in Step 8 as you revise your rough draft:
Is the topic relevant and worthy of analysis? What is the purpose of the review and is it clear? What does the writer have to say about the subject? Is the writer’s point of view relevant? What context has the writer established for reviewing this subject?
Is the complexity of the topic addressed? Is the evaluation thorough and substantive? Does the review do the subject justice and go beyond a simple judgment about its quality?
Is there appropriate and sufficient support? How effective is the writer’s summary or description of the subject? Are the criteria effective and applied appropriately? How well does the evaluation support the writer’s claims about the subject?
Does the writer draw reasonable conclusions? Do the writer’s conclusions grow logically from the evaluation of the subject? How persuasive and thought-provoking are they? What is the writer’s
larger point?
Step 8: Revise.
Review your draft with your answers to the following questions in mind and revise accordingly. Make
notes as you answer these questions to remind you of what changes you want to make as you revise:
Is your topic relevant and worthy of analysis? What is the purpose of your evaluation and review? What makes your analysis interesting and relevant to your intended audience? What are your main claims? Are they clearly presented? What is your larger point?
Do you address the complexity of the topic? Is your evaluation thorough and substantive? Does your review do the subject justice and go beyond a simple judgment about its quality?
Do you provide appropriate and sufficient support? What criteria have you used to evaluate your subject? Are they ones that would typically be used for this type of review? Have you developed adequate evaluation to support each of your criteria?
Are your conclusions reasonable? What conclusions do you present as a result of your analysis? Do they grow logically from your evaluation? Are they presented clearly and persuasively? Which key issues might you have overlooked in your conclusions?
Step 9: Refine your voice.
Your focus here is to revise your draft to strengthen your distinctive voice and ensure it is appropriate for your project and intended audience. Make notes as you answer these questions:
Consider the rhetorical context. Often, reviews are characterized by strong opinions about the subject. The effectiveness of a review therefore depends largely on how well your opinion about the subject you are reviewing is supported by your evaluation. But your voice is also an important component of your review’s effectiveness. It should be confident, so that you sound authoritative without sounding unfair in your criticisms. It is not unusual for reviews to be weakened by a writer’s dismissive, arrogant voice or negative tone (although some situations might call for such a tone).
Determine whether you should use first or third person. Has your instructor assigned you to write a personal evaluation and review of a subject? If so, first person (I, me, mine, etc.) is appropriate. If you are writing a formal paper, such as an academic essay, third person (he, she, they, their, etc.) is appropriate. Revise accordingly.
Strengthen your voice. Does your voice sound authoritative and confident? Is your voice consistent throughout your project? If not, where is it weakest, and how can you make it stronger?
Step 10: Edit.
Finally, edit your draft for clarity. Use these guidelines:
Make your sentences clear. Revise sentences that are unclear, eliminate wordiness, and restructure sentences that are hard to follow.
Use sources correctly. Integrate source material smoothly into your prose. Check quotations for
accuracy, make sure you have cited sources correctly, and format your bibliography according to the required style (MLA, APA, CMS, etc.).
Correct errors. Check your writing for grammar, usage, and punctuation errors.
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