example of evaluation argument essay

7 Steps for How to Write an Evaluation Essay (Example & Template)

In this ultimate guide, I will explain to you exactly how to write an evaluation essay.

1. What is an Evaluation Essay?

An evaluation essay should provide a critical analysis of something.

You’re literally ‘evaluating’ the thing you’re looking up.

Here’s a couple of quick definitions of what we mean by ‘evaluate’:

• Merriam-Webster defines evaluation as: “to determine the significance, worth, or condition of usually by careful appraisal and study”
• Collins Dictionary says: “If you evaluate something or someone, you consider them in order to make a judgment about them, for example about how good or bad they are.”

Here’s some synonyms for ‘evaluate’:

So, we could say that an evaluation essay should carefully examine the ‘thing’ and provide an overall judgement of it.

Here’s some common things you may be asked to write an evaluation essay on:

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Really, you can evaluate just about anything!

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2. How to write an Evaluation Essay

There are two secrets to writing a strong evaluation essay. The first is to aim for objective analysis before forming an opinion. The second is to use an evaluation criteria.

Aim to Appear Objective before giving an Evaluation Argument

Your evaluation will eventually need an argument.

The evaluation argument will show your reader what you have decided is the final value of the ‘thing’ you’re evaluating.

But in order to convince your reader that your evaluative argument is sound, you need to do some leg work.

The aim will be to show that you have provided a balanced and fair assessment before coming to your conclusion.

In order to appear balanced you should:

• Discuss both the pros and cons of the thing
• Discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of the thing
• Look at the thing from multiple different perspectives
• Be both positive and critical. Don’t make it look like you’re biased towards one perspective.

In other words, give every perspective a fair hearing.

You don’t want to sound like a propagandist. You want to be seen as a fair and balanced adjudicator.

Use an Evaluation Criteria

One way to appear balanced is to use an evaluation criteria.

An evaluation criteria helps to show that you have assessed the ‘thing’ based on an objective measure.

Here’s some examples of evaluation criteria:

• Strength under pressure
• Longevity (ability to survive for a long time)
• Ease of use
• Ability to get the job done
• Friendliness
• Punctuality
• Ability to predict my needs
• Calmness under pressure
• Attentiveness

A Bed and Breakfast

• Breakfast options
• Taste of food
• Comfort of bed
• Local attractions
• Service from owner
• Cleanliness

We can use evaluation criteria to frame out ability to conduct the analysis fairly.

This is especially true for if you have to evaluate multiple different ‘things’. For example, if you’re evaluating three novels, you want to be able to show that you applied the same ‘test’ on all three books!

This will show that you gave each ‘thing’ a fair chance and looked at the same elements for each.

3. How to come up with an Evaluation Argument

After you have:

• Looked at both good and bad elements of the ‘thing’, and
• Used an evaluation criteria

You’ll then need to develop an evaluative argument. This argument shows your own overall perspective on the ‘thing’.

Remember, you will need to show your final evaluative argument is backed by objective analysis. You need to do it in order!

Analyze first. Evaluate second.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you’re evaluating the quality of a meal.

You might say:

• A strength of the meal was its presentation. It was well presented and looked enticing to eat.
• A weakness of the meal was that it was overcooked. This decreased its flavor.
• The meal was given a low rating on ‘cost’ because it was more expensive than the other comparative meals on the menu.
• The meal was given a high rating on ‘creativity’. It was a meal that involved a thoughtful and inventive mix of ingredients.

Now that you’ve looked at some pros and cons and measured the meal based on a few criteria points (like cost and creativity), you’ll be able to come up with a final argument:

• Overall, the meal was good enough for a middle-tier restaurant but would not be considered a high-class meal. There is a lot of room for improvement if the chef wants to win any local cooking awards.

Evaluative terms that you might want to use for this final evaluation argument might include:

• All things considered
• With all key points in mind

4. Evaluation Essay Outline (with Examples)

Okay, so now you know what to do, let’s have a go at creating an outline for your evaluation essay!

Here’s what I recommend:

4.1 How to Write your Introduction

In the introduction, feel free to use my 5-Step INTRO method . It’ll be an introduction just like any other essay introduction .

And yes, feel free to explain what the final evaluation will be.

So, here it is laid out nice and simple.

Write one sentence for each point to make a 5-sentence introduction:

• Interest: Make a statement about the ‘thing’ you’re evaluating that you think will be of interest to the reader. Make it a catchy, engaging point that draws the reader in!
• Notify: Notify the reader of any background info on the thing you’re evaluating. This is your chance to show your depth of knowledge. What is a historical fact about the ‘thing’?
• Translate: Re-state the essay question. For an evaluative essay, you can re-state it something like: “This essay evaluates the book/ product/ article/ etc. by looking at its strengths and weaknesses and compares it against a marking criteria”.
• Report: Say what your final evaluation will be. For example you can say “While there are some weaknesses in this book, overall this evaluative essay will show that it helps progress knowledge about Dinosaurs.”
• Outline: Simply give a clear overview of what will be discussed. For example, you can say: “Firstly, the essay will evaluate the product based on an objective criteria. This criteria will include its value for money, fit for purpose and ease of use. Next, the essay will show the main strengths and weaknesses of the product. Lastly, the essay will provide a final evaluative statement about the product’s overall value and worth.”

If you want more depth on how to use the INTRO method, you’ll need to go and check out our blog post on writing quality introductions.

4.2 Example Introduction

This example introduction is for the essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society.

“Facebook is the third most visited website in the world. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in his college dorm. This essay evaluates the impact of Facebook on society and makes an objective judgement on its value. The essay will argue that Facebook has changed the world both for the better and worse. Firstly, it will give an overview of what Facebook is and its history. Then, it will examine Facebook on the criteria of: impact on social interactions, impact on the media landscape, and impact on politics.”

You’ll notice that each sentence in this introduction follows my 5-Step INTRO formula to create a clear, coherent 5-Step introduction.

4.3 How to Write your Body Paragraphs

The first body paragraph should give an overview of the ‘thing’ being evaluated.

Then, you should evaluate the pros and cons of the ‘thing’ being evaluated based upon the criteria you have developed for evaluating it.

Let’s take a look below.

4.4 First Body Paragraph: Overview of your Subject

This first paragraph should provide objective overview of your subject’s properties and history. You should not be doing any evaluating just yet.

The goal for this first paragraph is to ensure your reader knows what it is you’re evaluating. Secondarily, it should show your marker that you have developed some good knowledge about it.

If you need to use more than one paragraph to give an overview of the subject, that’s fine.

Similarly, if your essay word length needs to be quite long, feel free to spend several paragraphs exploring the subject’s background and objective details to show off your depth of knowledge for the marker.

4.5 First Body Paragraph Example

Sticking with the essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society , this might be your paragraph:

“Facebook has been one of the most successful websites of all time. It is the website that dominated the ‘Web 2.0’ revolution, which was characterized by user two-way interaction with the web. Facebook allowed users to create their own personal profiles and invite their friends to follow along. Since 2004, Facebook has attracted more than one billion people to create profiles in order to share their opinions and keep in touch with their friends.”

Notice here that I haven’t yet made any evaluations of Facebook’s merits?

This first paragraph (or, if need be, several of them) should be all about showing the reader exactly what your subject is – no more, no less.

4.6 Evaluation Paragraphs: Second, Third, Forth and Fifth Body Paragraphs

Once you’re confident your reader will know what the subject that you’re evaluating is, you’ll need to move on to the actual evaluation.

For this step, you’ll need to dig up that evaluation criteria we talked about in Point 2.

For example, let’s say you’re evaluating a President of the United States.

Your evaluation criteria might be:

• Impact on world history
• Ability to pass legislation
• Popularity with voters
• Morals and ethics
• Ability to change lives for the better

Really, you could make up any evaluation criteria you want!

Once you’ve made up the evaluation criteria, you’ve got your evaluation paragraph ideas!

Simply turn each point in your evaluation criteria into a full paragraph.

How do you do this?

Well, start with a topic sentence.

For the criteria point ‘Impact on world history’ you can say something like: “Barack Obama’s impact on world history is mixed.”

This topic sentence will show that you’ll evaluate both pros and cons of Obama’s impact on world history in the paragraph.

Then, follow it up with explanations.

“While Obama campaigned to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, he was unable to completely achieve this objective. This is an obvious negative for his impact on the world. However, as the first black man to lead the most powerful nation on earth, he will forever be remembered as a living milestone for civil rights and progress.”

Keep going, turning each evaluation criteria into a full paragraph.

4.7 Evaluation Paragraph Example

Let’s go back to our essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society .

I’ve decided to use the evaluation criteria below:

• impact on social interactions;
• impact on the media landscape;
• impact on politics

Naturally, I’m going to write one paragraph for each point.

If you’re expected to write a longer piece, you could write two paragraphs on each point (one for pros and one for cons).

Here’s what my first evaluation paragraph might look like:

“Facebook has had a profound impact on social interactions. It has helped people to stay in touch with one another from long distances and after they have left school and college. This is obviously a great positive. However, it can also be seen as having a negative impact. For example, people may be less likely to interact face-to-face because they are ‘hanging out’ online instead. This can have negative impact on genuine one-to-one relationships.”

You might notice that this paragraph has a topic sentence, explanations and examples. It follows my perfect paragraph formula which you’re more than welcome to check out!

4.8 How to write your Conclusion

To conclude, you’ll need to come up with one final evaluative argument.

This evaluation argument provides an overall assessment. You can start with “Overall, Facebook has been…” and continue by saying that (all things considered) he was a good or bad president!

Remember, you can only come up with an overall evaluation after you’ve looked at the subject’s pros and cons based upon your evaluation criteria.

In the example below, I’m going to use my 5 C’s conclusion paragraph method . This will make sure my conclusion covers all the things a good conclusion should cover!

Like the INTRO method, the 5 C’s conclusion method should have one sentence for each point to create a 5 sentence conclusion paragraph.

The 5 C’s conclusion method is:

• Close the loop: Return to a statement you made in the introduction.
• Conclude: Show what your final position is.
• Clarify: Clarify how your final position is relevant to the Essay Question.
• Concern: Explain who should be concerned by your findings.
• Consequences: End by noting in one final, engaging sentence why this topic is of such importance. The ‘concern’ and ‘consequences’ sentences can be combined

4.9 Concluding Argument Example Paragraph

Here’s a possible concluding argument for our essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society .

“The introduction of this essay highlighted that Facebook has had a profound impact on society. This evaluation essay has shown that this impact has been both positive and negative. Thus, it is too soon to say whether Facebook has been an overall positive or negative for society. However, people should pay close attention to this issue because it is possible that Facebook is contributing to the undermining of truth in media and positive interpersonal relationships.”

Note here that I’ve followed the 5 C’s conclusion method for my concluding evaluative argument paragraph.

5. Evaluation Essay Example Template

Below is a template you can use for your evaluation essay , based upon the advice I gave in Section 4:

6. 23+ Good Evaluation Essay Topics

Okay now that you know how to write an evaluation essay, let’s look at a few examples.

For each example I’m going to give you an evaluation essay title idea, plus a list of criteria you might want to use in your evaluation essay.

6.1 Evaluation of Impact

• Evaluate the impact of global warming on the great barrier reef. Recommended evaluation criteria: Level of bleaching; Impact on tourism; Economic impact; Impact on lifestyles; Impact on sealife
• Evaluate the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on poverty. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on jobs; Impact on childhood poverty; Impact on mental health rates; Impact on economic growth; Impact on the wealthy; Global impact
• Evaluate the impact of having children on your lifestyle. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on spare time; Impact on finances; Impact on happiness; Impact on sense of wellbeing
• Evaluate the impact of the internet on the world. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on connectedness; Impact on dating; Impact on business integration; Impact on globalization; Impact on media
• Evaluate the impact of public transportation on cities. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on cost of living; Impact on congestion; Impact on quality of life; Impact on health; Impact on economy
• Evaluate the impact of universal healthcare on quality of life. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on reducing disease rates; Impact on the poorest in society; Impact on life expectancy; Impact on happiness
• Evaluate the impact of getting a college degree on a person’s life. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on debt levels; Impact on career prospects; Impact on life perspectives; Impact on relationships

6.2 Evaluation of a Scholarly Text or Theory

• Evaluate a Textbook. Recommended evaluation criteria: clarity of explanations; relevance to a course; value for money; practical advice; depth and detail; breadth of information
• Evaluate a Lecture Series, Podcast or Guest Lecture. Recommended evaluation criteria: clarity of speaker; engagement of attendees; appropriateness of content; value for monet
• Evaluate a journal article. Recommended evaluation criteria: length; clarity; quality of methodology; quality of literature review ; relevance of findings for real life
• Evaluate a Famous Scientists. Recommended evaluation criteria: contribution to scientific knowledge; impact on health and prosperity of humankind; controversies and disagreements with other scientists.
• Evaluate a Theory. Recommended evaluation criteria: contribution to knowledge; reliability or accuracy; impact on the lives of ordinary people; controversies and contradictions with other theories.

6.3 Evaluation of Art and Literature

• Evaluate a Novel. Recommended evaluation criteria: plot complexity; moral or social value of the message; character development; relevance to modern life
• Evaluate a Play. Recommended evaluation criteria: plot complexity; quality of acting; moral or social value of the message; character development; relevance to modern life
• Evaluate a Film. Recommended evaluation criteria: plot complexity; quality of acting; moral or social value of the message; character development; relevance to modern life
• Evaluate an Artwork. Recommended evaluation criteria: impact on art theory; moral or social message; complexity or quality of composition

6.4 Evaluation of a Product or Service

• Evaluate a Hotel or Bed and Breakfast. Recommended evaluation criteria: quality of service; flexibility of check-in and check-out times; cleanliness; location; value for money; wi-fi strength; noise levels at night; quality of meals; value for money
• Evaluate a Restaurant. Recommended evaluation criteria: quality of service; menu choices; cleanliness; atmosphere; taste; value for money.
• Evaluate a Car. Recommended evaluation criteria: fuel efficiency; value for money; build quality; likelihood to break down; comfort.
• Evaluate a House. Recommended evaluation criteria: value for money; build quality; roominess; location; access to public transport; quality of neighbourhood
• Evaluate a Doctor. Recommended evaluation criteria: Quality of service; knowledge; quality of equipment; reputation; value for money.
• Evaluate a Course. Recommended evaluation criteria: value for money; practical advice; quality of teaching; quality of resources provided.

7. Concluding Advice

Evaluation essays are common in high school, college and university.

The trick for getting good marks in an evaluation essay is to show you have looked at both the pros and cons before making a final evaluation analysis statement.

You don’t want to look biased.

That’s why it’s a good idea to use an objective evaluation criteria, and to be generous in looking at both positives and negatives of your subject.

Read Also: 39 Better Ways to Write ‘In Conclusion’ in an Essay

I recommend you use the evaluation template provided in this post to write your evaluation essay. However, if your teacher has given you a template, of course use theirs instead! You always want to follow your teacher’s advice because they’re the person who will be marking your work.

Good luck with your evaluation essay!

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

2 thoughts on “7 Steps for How to Write an Evaluation Essay (Example & Template)”

What an amazing article. I am returning to studying after several years and was struggling with how to present an evaluative essay. This article has simplified the process and provided me with the confidence to tackle my subject (theoretical approaches to development and management of teams).

I just wanted to ask whether the evaluation criteria has to be supported by evidence or can it just be a list of criteria that you think of yourself to objectively measure?

Many many thanks for writing this!

Usually we would want to see evidence, but ask your teacher for what they’re looking for as they may allow you, depending on the situation.

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5.7 Definition and Evaluation Arguments

Allison Murray; Anna Mills; Cathy Thwing; and Eric Aldrich

What Is a Definition Argument?

A definition argument may have as its goal to describe the nature of something, whether it be an abstract concept like justice, a historical event, or an ongoing trend. Definition arguments like this are, in fact, arguments because they seek to shape our vision of reality. We can think of them as answering the question “What is it?”

Definition arguments may attempt to explain what is meant by a particular term. Consider the following claim:

Organic, in terms of food, means plants and animals raised without additives or artificial growing conditions.

The argument here hinges upon understanding the definition of the word “organic.” In this case, organic is the subject of the argument. The claim goes on to base the argument on definition criteria. The claim states that two definition criteria of “organic” are “raised without additives” and “raised without artificial growing conditions.” “What do they mean by ‘artificial’?” If you find yourself questioning other terms used in the claim, that might mean your argument will need to dedicate a paragraph or more to defining those terms. An extended argument on organic food would need to explain in detail what distinguishes artificial growing conditions from natural ones. Can greenhouse-grown food be organic? In such a situation, it may benefit the argument to offer the dictionary definition of “organic” as a way to confirm that the writer’s and the readers’ assumptions are the same.

There are a number of online dictionaries that student authors can derive a definition from, but should the writer wish to ensure trust (ethos) with the audience, the source of the dictionary definition might matter. The dictionary.com site offers this definition for “organic”:

Organic: pertaining to, involving, or grown with fertilizers or pesticides of animal or vegetable origin, as distinguished from manufactured chemicals (“organic”).

Readers who respect the history and legacy of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) might consider its definition more credible. Considered the most definitive and complete dictionary available, the OED offers differentiated definitions of different uses of the word. In the case of “organic,” we’d need to look at sub-definition 8c to find one that works for our purposes:

Organic: of food: produced without the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial chemicals.

A definition argument can put a more specific subject into a category based on criteria, as in the following:

Though it omits hormones and antibiotics, organic ice cream remains unhealthy because it contains high levels of fat and sugar, while offering little nutritional value.

Here we have a subject—organic ice cream—and a category—unhealthy. Presumably, unhealthy things often contain similar criteria—high levels of fat and sugar, low nutritional value, and industrial additives. Organic ice cream might not contain industrial additives, but because it meets the other two criteria, it can still be considered unhealthy. A good way to test your thesis is to try out examples to see if the criteria work to distinguish things that fit the category from things that don’t. Are other things we consider unhealthy full of sugar and/or fat, low in nutrition, and made with industrial additives? Yes. Fast food hamburgers are unhealthy because they contain high levels of fat, low nutritional value, and are full of chemical preservatives.

Definition arguments will need to provide evidence for any generalizations they make about a subject. If they use a specific example, how can they show that the example is typical? They may also need to justify the choice of criteria for the definition. If we argue that the Vietnam War should not be considered a “World War” even though it involved two global superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, we will need to explain why a criterion like the number of deaths should be considered more important than the number or size of the countries involved.

The Benefits of Definition

Once we understand the value of definition for clarifying terms in an essay, we can start to appreciate the value of definition in shaping an argument, especially one centered around a contentious term. When controversy revolves around an issue, defining terms explicitly and precisely is even more critical. A definition argument can help to clarify where disagreements lie. Even if it doesn’t resolve the disagreements, it may at least prevent misunderstandings.

To take an example, let’s say the government decides to allow health insurance providers to exclude coverage to individuals with preexisting conditions. The question then arises, What precisely does constitute a preexisting condition? Any diagnosis of cancer, including minor skin cancers? Diabetes? Obesity? Hypertension? Consider how many of our friends and family members have been diagnosed with any of these conditions.

Laws rely on definitions. Many of us are familiar with the purpose of Title IX, which ensured that equal funding should be applied for both male and female athletic programs in schools. However, with the recognition of transgender students and their rights, the U.S. Department of Education offered a statement of clarification to the language of Title IX “explaining that it will enforce Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination on the basis of sex to include: (1) discrimination based on sexual orientation; and (2) discrimination based on gender identity” (“Title IX”). Schools, students, and parents can now point to this language in debates about who is protected by Title IX status, and who can be included in the funding of gender-specific sports teams.

Definitions involve emotional associations as well as descriptions of literal meaning. Public opinion can be swayed by casting a person involved in a very public event as “famous” or “infamous,” a term that has decidedly negative connotations. In the case of Trayvon Martin, a young black man who was shot by George Zimmerman, a white man, Martin was defined alternately as a “boy in a hoodie” or as a “potential thug.” And Zimmerman was defined as “a neighborhood watch leader” or “private citizen” by some, and a “vigilante” by others. In each case, the label implies a definition of the person and his behavior, and this extends the impression built in the mind of the audience.

Strategies for Definition

• Referring to existing definitions: A dictionary definition can be helpful if the term under consideration is new or very unusual or uncommon, words that readers may be unfamiliar with, or whose definitions may have become obscured with modern use. If an argument takes the position that reduced literacy rates in freshman college students make them less apt to learn from a professor who leans toward sesquipedalian speech, yet, such speech is exactly the challenge these students need to pull them away from their social media feeds and engage them in the vigorous mental workout that academia provides, the author is more likely to earn the trust of the audience if a dictionary definition is provided for this uncommon and archaic word: words that are a foot and a half long (O.E.D.).
• Identifying emotional associations (connotations): Emotional associations offer the various levels of meaning a word may have. For example, love can have several variants, such as platonic love, romantic love, familial love, passionate love, self-love, and even more specific ones, such as spirituality, philanthropy, humanity, nationalism/patriotism, and agapé, and each carries its own emotional tone that informs the definition.
• Defining a term based on what it’s not (negation): Sometimes complex words are best explained by what they are not, specifically by contrasting the word to another term. Needs are often confused with wants, but needs are anything necessary for survival. For example, people often say “I need a vacation,” when what they really mean is “I want a vacation.” You may want coffee, but you need water. You may want a new car, but a used one may suit your needs. In an article about sexual predators, Andrew Vachss says that when he tells people about the individuals he prosecutes for abuse against children, people often say, “That’s sick.” But he clarifies that there is a difference between “sick” and “evil.” A mother who hears voices in her head telling her to lock her baby in a closet is sick. A man who sells a child to pornographers is evil. “Sickness,” he says, “is the absence of choice,” while evil is the volition, the awareness of choice, and the intentional choice to commit a sinister act (Vachss).
• Creating an original definition (stipulation): This use of definition asks the reader to accept an alternate definition from the standard or commonly accepted one. This is usually the best way to utilize definition in an essay, as it allows the author the freedom to put his or her own spin on a key term. But the author must do it responsibly, providing supportive examples. For example, many young people believe that true parental love is the willingness to do anything at all for a child. However, real love isn’t expressed by doormat behavior. A parent who does his child’s homework so the child receives all “A” grades isn’t demonstrating love (note the use of negation here). Rather, true parental love is the willingness to apply fair rules and limits on behavior in order to raise a child who is a good worker, a good friend, and a good citizen.
• Elaborating on a definition (extended definition): There is no rule about how long a definition argument should be. When a simple one-line definition will not suffice, writers can develop a multi-paragraph, multi-page, or multi-chapter definition argument. For example, a newspaper article might explore at length what is meant by the phrase “cancel culture.” An entire book each might be needed to explain what is meant by the following terms: “critical race theory,” “microaggression,” “gender identity,” “fascism,” or “intersectionality.” When the concept under examination is complex, contentious, or weighted by historical examples and emotional connotations, an extended definition may be needed.

Sample Definition Arguments

This sample outline for an essay titled “When Colleges Talk about Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism, What Do They Mean?” shows the structure of one definition argument.

Practice Exercises

How are attitudes to gender changing in today’s society? Come up with a definition argument you think has some validity about a current trend related to gender. What kind of evidence could be gathered to support this claim? How would you convince readers that this evidence is typical? You could choose one of the claims below or invent your own.

• People today still associate femininity with weakness and masculinity with strength.
• Women are still more nurturing than men.
• Teenagers today see gender as a spectrum.
• Cisgender people still fear transgender people.
• Construct a definition with criteria for one of the following terms, or another term of your choice related to gender. Feel free to research the terms to get ideas. Possible terms: masculine, feminine, androgynous, macho, femme, butch, manly, womanly, machista, metrosexual, genderqueer, third gender, transgender.

What Is an Evaluation Argument?

In college, professional life, politics, and everyday life, we constantly must assess how things measure up. We are faced with questions like the following:

• Does our employer treat us fairly?
• Does our local café deserve five stars or four?
• Is the “Free City” program that makes City College of San Francisco tuition-free for residents a success?
• Is a particular hillside a good location for a wind farm?
• Does the president deserve their current approval rating?

To answer each of these questions and convince others that our answer is valid, we would need to make an evaluation argument. Most commonly, evaluation arguments rate their subject on a scale from positive to negative. Evaluation arguments make a claim about the quality of something. We can think of them as answering the question, “How good or bad is it?”

Photo by Liza Summer from Pexels under the Pexels License .

Evaluation arguments usually need to define and justify the criteria they use to make the evaluation. These criteria may consist of moral standards, aesthetic standards, or tests of successful functioning. Depending on how controversial the criteria are, the argument may need to defend and explain why they have been chosen. How can we support our choice of criteria? We may cite precedent or authoritative sources in the field, or we may discuss the merit of the criteria in themselves by arguing for the good results they lead to and aligning them with values we believe our audience will share.

Once we have convinced readers that the criteria for quality are valid, we will need to articulate our judgment about the extent to which the subject meets or doesn’t meet those criteria.

Finally, the argument will need to provide evidence of the way in which the subject meets or does not meet the criteria.

Ranking Criteria

In cases where there are multiple valid criteria, the writer may need to rank them in order of importance and justify this ranking. For example, an editorial supporting Alyesha Jenkins for mayor would need to explain what the city should be looking for in a mayor at the moment. The editorial might argue that the top priority should be finding someone who has a workable plan to address the homelessness crisis. It might then go on to identify as a secondary priority finding someone who has been an effective leader of a large organization. Finally, it might argue that finding a candidate who will focus on ending police brutality in the city should be the third priority. Given these criteria, the argument might praise Alyesha Jenkins’ concrete, popular plan on homelessness and describe her background as a successful city supervisor and head of a law firm. It might note that her record on police brutality is limited, but we still judge her to be a strong candidate.

Types of Criteria

We can classify evaluative arguments by the kind of criteria they use. They may focus on aesthetics, the appearance or appeal of something (a movie, a work of art, or a building). Or they may focus on practical concerns about how something functions or moral judgments based on values.

• Aesthetic Criteria: What makes a great film can be an academic question or an everyday debate among friends going to the movies. Film critics and Film Studies classes try to identify clear aesthetic criteria for award-worthy movies. Film blogger Tyler Schirado , who writes for the San Diego Film festival, details criteria including acting quality, dialogue, pacing, plot coherence, cinematography, production design, and special effects. Each of those criteria could in turn include sub-criteria. For example, the criteria for the quality of the special effects might include both how innovative and how spectacular they are.
• Operational Criteria: Sometimes the criteria that matter are very practical. We use operational criteria when we are looking for certain concrete results. What does the subject we are evaluating do? If we want to evaluate a new car’s safety features, we will examine to see how it performs under challenging conditions. When the FDA evaluates and tests a new vaccine, they follow a set of procedures to test how the vaccine affects first cells, then animal bodies, and finally human bodies. The FDA considers the results of all these procedures to help it decide whether to approve the vaccine or not. And if the consumer has confidence in the FDA’s standards for data collection, they can use the criteria about the vaccine’s past record of immune protection and side effects to help them decide whether or not to get vaccinated.
• Moral Criteria: An evaluation argument based on moral criteria will claim that something is right or wrong. It will need to appeal to shared values or make a case for a particular value that serves as criteria. Some values are nearly universal, such as honesty, reasonableness, and fairness. However, even values that seem universal may be defined differently by different groups. We each grow up in an environment that instills a particular set of family or cultural or religious values. These help to shape our own sense of morality, or personal values and codes that we choose to live by.

As an example, the Motion Pictures Academy includes some moral criteria as well as aesthetic criteria when it selects winners for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actors. Responding to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, the Academy of Motion Pictures decided to incorporate the value of inclusiveness into their criteria. In order to emphasize “the inclusion of people in underrepresented groups, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and those with cognitive or physical disabilities,” they developed a new set of criteria for nominations for Best Picture . The criteria state that starting in 2024, “to be eligible for best picture, a film must meet at least two standards across four categories: ‘Onscreen Representation, Themes and Narratives,’ ‘Creative Leadership and Project Team,’ ‘Industry Access and Opportunities’ and ‘Audience Development’” (Rottenberg). Each of these new criteria responds to the demands for inclusivity and equity and is evidence that criteria can and should evolve as social morals evolve.

Comparative Evaluation

Many times we will need to evaluate the worth of one subject in relation to another in order to judge which is better. Of course, we will need to decide on the basis for comparison, or the criteria to be used, and make that basis clear. Then we will need to evaluate each subject according to the criteria. In comparisons, ranking the criteria will often be important because one subject may do better on one criterion and worse on another. We’ll need to know which criterion is more important in order to decide which comes out ahead overall.

 Sample Evaluation Arguments

To get a sense of what research-based evaluation arguments look like in college classes, see this sample evaluation essay, “Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States.” Annotations on the essay point out how the author uses evaluation argument strategies.

• Sample evaluation essay “Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States” in PDF version with margin notes

Reflect on the following questions to construct your own evaluation argument.

• What makes a person a good role model? Choose your top three criteria.
• How would you rank those criteria in order of importance?
• Choose two prominent public figures from history, pop culture, or politics, dead or alive, who would be interesting to compare as role models.
• Evaluate each person according to the three criteria you identified.
• Which figure comes out as the better role model?
• If you ranked the criteria differently, would the other one come out ahead?
• What is most controversial in your evaluation? Is it the choice of criteria, the ranking of the criteria, or the idea that your figure fits certain criteria?

Rhetoric Matters: A Guide to Success in the First Year Writing Class Copyright © 2022 by Allison Murray; Anna Mills; Cathy Thwing; and Eric Aldrich is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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19 Evaluation Essays

Evaluative arguments center around the question of quality. Is something good?  Bad?  Honest?  Dishonest?  Evaluative judgments are also about values—what the writer thinks is important. Sometimes the writer’s values are not the same as his/her readers’ values, so he/she has to bridge the gap by showing respect for the audience’s opinions and clarifying the points that they do and don’t agree upon.

An important first step in writing an evaluation is to consider the appropriate standards/criteria for evaluating the subject. If a writer is evaluating a car, for example, the writer might consider standard criteria like fuel economy, price, crash ratings. But the writer also might consider style, warranty, color, special options, like sound systems. Even though all people might not base their choice of a car on these secondary criteria, they are still considered acceptable or standard criteria.

To be taken seriously, a writer must have valid reasons for his evaluation. These reasons are based on criteria. Imagine choosing your attire for a job interview at a very prestigious law firm. You look at the jeans and t-shirts in your closet and immediately decide to go shopping. Why? Because the clothes in your closet don’t meet the criteria for the interview.

The Purpose of Evaluative Writing

Writers evaluate arguments in order to present an informed and well-reasoned judgment about a subject. While the evaluation will be based on their opinion, it should not seem opinionated. Instead, it should aim to be reasonable and unbiased. This is achieved through developing a solid judgment, selecting appropriate criteria to evaluate the subject, and providing clear evidence to support the criteria.

Evaluation is a type of writing that has many real-world applications. Anything can be evaluated. For example, evaluations of movies, restaurants, books, and technology ourselves are all real-world evaluations.

Five Characteristics of an Evaluative Essay

by Dr. Karen Palmer

  1. Presenting the subject. 

Presenting the subject is an often misunderstood aspect of an evaluative essay. Either writers give too little information or too much. Presenting the subject occurs in two different places in the essay.

First, the writer should give a brief introduction of the subject in the introduction of the evaluation. This introduction occurs in the second part of the introduction–the intro to the topic. At this point, the writer should simply name the subject and give a very brief description. For example, a restaurant review should include at a minimum the name and location of the restaurant. An evaluation of a vehicle might include the make, model, and year of the vehicle and any important features.

Second, the writer should give a more detailed description of the subject following the introduction in the background section of the paper. Here the writer could give a more detailed overview of the restaurant (the type of decor, type of food, owners, history), describe the vehicle in detail, etc. Striking a balance between giving the reader the necessary information to understand the evaluation and telling readers everything is important. The amount of detail necessary depends on the topic. If you are reviewing a brand new technology or a machine, specific to your line of work, for example, you will need to give readers more information than if you are simply reviewing a restaurant or a doctor’s office.

The language used in your description can be evaluative. For example, a writer can use descriptive adjectives and adverbs to convey a certain impression of the subject, even before the claim is made.

2. Asserting an overall judgment.

The main point/thesis should be located at the end of the paper’s introduction. It should be definitive—certain, clear, and decisive. Asking a question does not pose a definitive claim. Giving several different perspectives also does not give a definitive claim. It is ok to balance your claim, though, acknowledging weaknesses (or strengths) even as you evaluate a subject positively: “While the Suburban is a gas guzzler, it is the perfect car for a large family….”

Providing a map of your reasons/criteria within the thesis is a great technique for creating organization and focus for your essay. For example, “While the Suburban is a gas guzzler, it is the perfect car for a large family because it can seat up to 9, it has a high safety rating, and it has the best in class towing capacity.” Not only does this example give a clear, balanced claim, but it also lays out the writer’s reasons upfront, creating a map in the reader’s mind that will help him follow the reasoning in the essay.

3. Giving Reasons and Support

After presenting the subject and providing readers with a clear claim, the writer must explain and justify his/her evaluation using reasons that are recognized by readers as appropriate. This occurs in the argument section of the paper and should be the most extensive part of the paper. Reasons should reflect values or standards typical for the subject. If a writer uses criteria that is not typical for the subject, he/she must be prepared to defend that decision in the essay. For example, “Buying local may not always be at the forefront of a buyer’s mind when shopping for eggs, but…” Each reason should be clearly stated as a topic sentence that both states the reason and refers back to the main claim. Going back to the suburban example, a body paragraph/section might begin with the following topic sentence: “One of the obvious reasons a suburban is great for large families is its capacity for holding that large family and all of their necessary traveling items.”

Following the topic sentence, a writer must include relevant examples, quotes, facts, statistics, or personal anecdotes to support the reason. Depending on what the subject is, the support might be different. To support a claim about a book/film, for example, a writer might include a description of a pivotal scene or quotes from the book/film. In contrast, to support a claim about gas mileage, a writer would probably simply give the information from the vehicle specifications. Support can come from a writer’s own knowledge and experience, or from published sources.

4. Counterarguing: 

Counterarguing means responding to readers’ objections and questions. In order to effectively counterargue, a writer must have a clear conception of his/her audience. What does the audience already know or believe about the subject? Effective counterarguing builds credibility in the eyes of the audience because it creates a sense that the writer is listening to the reader’s questions and concerns.

Counterarguments can occur at the end of the essay, after the writer has made his/her point, or throughout the essay as the writer anticipates questions or objections. Writers can respond to readers’ objections in two ways. First, a writer can acknowledge an objection and immediately provide a counter-argument, explaining why the objection is not valid. Second, a writer can concede the point, and allow that, the subject does have a flaw. In either case, it is important to be respectful of opposing positions, while still remaining firm to the original claim.

5. Establishing credibility and authority:   

A writer’s credibility and authority lead to readers’ confidence in your judgment and their willingness to recognize and acknowledge that credibility and authority. An author can gain credibility by showing that he/she knows a lot about the subject. In addition, the writer shows that his/her judgment is based on valid values and standards.

The writer’s authority is in large part based upon the background of the author—education, etc. Is the author qualified to make a judgment? For some subjects, like a film review, simply watching the film might be enough. In other instances, like evaluating the quality of newly constructed cabinets or the engine of a new car, more experience might be necessary.

The Structure of an Evaluation Essay

Evaluation essays are structured as follows.

First, the essay will present the  subject . What is being evaluated? Why? The essay begins with the writer giving any details needed about the subject.

Next, the essay needs to provide a  judgment  about a subject. This is the thesis of the essay, and it states whether the subject is good or bad based on how it meets the stated criteria.

The body of the essay will contain the  criteria  used to evaluate the subject. In an evaluation essay, the criteria must be appropriate for evaluating the subject under consideration. Appropriate criteria will help to keep the essay from seeming biased or unreasonable. If authors evaluated the quality of a movie based on the snacks sold at the snack bar, that would make them seem unreasonable, and their evaluation may be disregarded because of it.

The  evidence  of an evaluation essay consists of the supporting details authors provide based on their judgment of the criteria.

For example, if the subject of an evaluation is a restaurant, a judgment could be “Kay’s Bistro provides an unrivaled experience in fine dining.” Some authors evaluate fine dining restaurants by identifying appropriate criteria in order to rate the establishment’s food quality, service, and atmosphere. The examples are evidence.

Another example of evaluation is literary analysis; judgments may be made about a character in the story based on the character’s actions, characteristics, and past history within the story. The scenes in the story are evidence for why readers have a certain opinion of the character.

Job applications and interviews are more examples of evaluations. Based on certain criteria, management and hiring committees determine which applicants will be considered for an interview and which applicant will be hired.

Example Outline

Thesis: McAdoo’s is a fantastic family restaurant, offering young and old alike a great atmosphere, wonderful customer service, and a fantastic menu.

• Introduction
• Location–New Braunfels, TX
• History–old post office, restored
• Type of food
• Walking up to the restaurant–cool exterior
• Lobby–original post office doors, etc
• Tables–great decor–memorabilia from NB history
• prompt, courteous service
• refills, bread
• taking care of complaints–all you can eat lobster out–so price reduced
• land lovers
• Conclusion…If you’re ever in NB, I highly suggest stopping in at McAdoo’s and absorbing some of the great old world charm with some delicious food.

Possible “Get Started” Idea

• Evaluate a restaurant. What do you expect in a good restaurant? What criteria determine whether a restaurant is good?
• List three criteria that you will use to evaluate a restaurant. Then dine there. Afterward, explain whether or not the restaurant meets each criterion, and include evidence (qualities from the restaurant) that backs your evaluation.
• Give the restaurant a star rating. (5 Stars: Excellent, 4 Stars: Very Good, 3 Stars: Good, 2 Stars: Fair, 1 Star: Poor). Explain why the restaurant earned this star rating.

Time to Write

In this essay, you will evaluate potential obstacles to learning.  Think about the health and wellness of a college student during an international pandemic.  What do you need to be successful?  Do you have access to resources?  Are the GCC resources adequate to support the community and its students during the pandemic?

You will evaluate at least three campus resources.  Your recommendation should clearly state which of the resources should be maintained, which should be improved,  and which might be eliminated, if any.

Purpose:  This assignment will demonstrate the understanding of how to do a thorough evaluation of an approved topic. Students will review the complex elements of the topic they have chosen. Evaluative essays call for the writer to assess a subject in light of specific and explicit criteria and to make a judgment based on the assessment.

Task: This assignment evaluates a campus resource.

Write an Evaluation Essay. For this essay, you will choose a clear topic, give a reason for the evaluation, use description and categorization, create evaluation criteria, use concrete evidence and demonstrate the “why” of your position.

Possible Topics

Some topics to consider are listed here:

• Center for Learning
• Writing Center
• Math Solutions
• High Tech 1
• High Tech 2
• GCC Counseling and Career Services
• Fitness Center

Key Features of an Evaluation:

• Describe the particular phenomenon or work in a way that the rhetorical audience will understand and value.
• Present the criteria on which the phenomenon or work is to be evaluated clearly, persuasively, authoritatively, and often in an order indicating importance. Criteria can be categorized into three groups: necessary (crucial but not enough to meet your overall assessment), sufficient (meeting all of your minimum standards, including the necessary ones), and accidental (unnecessary but an added bonus to the necessary and sufficient criteria).
• Include concrete evidence and relevant examples from your personal experience and research illustrate the ways (usually in the form of assertions) the phenomenon does or does not meet each evaluative criterion. These fair and balanced assertions support the thesis statement.
• At least three (3) sources on the Works Cited; these could be from your personal experience, college web pages, public health information, or sources related to quality college resources.
• Articulate a clear argument (usually in the form of a thesis statement) about whether or not the object or phenomenon meets the criteria on which it is being evaluated.
• Demonstrate an ethical approach to the process.

Key Grading Considerations

• A clear reason for the evaluation
• Use of description
• Categorizing
• Clear evaluation criteria
• Concrete evidence & Examples
• A clear argument presented (Thesis)
• The establishment of ethos  (balanced argument)
• Secure closure to the argument (conclusion)
• Three (3) sources minimum
• Key Features are included
• One inch margins
• Typed and double-spaced
• The heading is double-spaced on the left side of the page (includes name, my name, class, date)
• Upper right-hand corner has last name and page number (EX: Dewey 1)
• The font is Times New Roman, size 12
• The title is original and is centered one line under the heading
• Works Cited page lists outside sources in MLA format
• Descriptive Language
• Correct, appropriate, and varied integration of textual examples, including in-text citations
• Limited errors in spelling, grammar, word order, word usage, sentence structure, and punctuation
• Good use of academic English
• Demonstrates cohesion and flow
• Works Cited page has hanging indents and is in alphabetical order by author’s last name

Attribution

• Content Adapted from “Five Characteristics of an Evaluative Essay” from The Worry-Free Writer by Dr. Karen Palmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
• Content Adapted from Susan Wood, “Evaluation Essay,” Leeward CC ENG 100 OER,  licensed under the  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
• Original Content contributed by Christine Jones “Time to Write” licensed under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

English 101: Journey Into Open Copyright © 2021 by Christine Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Secrets of Writing an Excellent Evaluation Essay

05 July, 2020

14 minutes read

Author:  Elizabeth Brown

Many people prefer to check reviews on the movie or book before watching or reading it. The summary information and honest point of view on the subject matter are usually included in an evaluation essay. You just need to analyze both sides of the chosen criterion through thorough research, analysis of your thesis, and examination of your own values. To write a good evaluation essay, you should forget about your feelings and create an objective overview of the topic. That way, you will reveal the truth about the real worth of the particular subject matter.

So, what is an evaluation essay? The answer to this question you will find out in this post.

What Is an Evaluation Essay?

An evaluation paper is a kind of essay in which you express your argumentative point of view on various topics. As a form of literary thinking, it is based on much more than just a quick judgment about a person, place, or object. The common standards of evaluation writing, such as clearance, objectivity, and coherence, are to be followed throughout the text. These standards help identify how well a subject meets up or falls short of the ideal. No wonder this kind of essay is widely used for scientific purposes when the comparison of two inventions or technologies is required. In an evaluation essay, all the arguments are delivered objectively, while your personal opinion is stated at the very end as a summary.

On the Internet, you can find lots of reviews with one sentence only: “This essay is fine.” Does it look informative to you? Can you rely on this kind of feedback? Let’s be honest, such a review can hardly provide you with a clear understanding of whether the subject is worth your attention or not. The main feature of an evaluation essay is that it contains details and evidence to support your point of view. Instead of discussing every observation, you just need to underpin your point of view with examples that will make your paper look convincing.

CJE guidelines

How to start an evaluation essay? What needs to be preconsidered? Every evaluation essay consists of three structural elements – criteria, judgement, and evidence. Let’s get deeper into details.

The criteria that you choose should evaluate a person or subject through the prism of their ideal version. What can their best features be? For instance, you would expect an interesting plot and professional acting from a movie. Once you have specific benchmarks in mind, they can be used to evaluate these points.

The judgement aspect is used to estimate whether or not the benchmarks have been met. For instance, you can start a movie evaluation from judging whether it aligns with the specific benchmark. Does it offer the quality acting you expect? Does it have gaps in the plot? These are only some of the possible options to consider.

Remember that you must develop clues to advocate your judgements. For instance, if you make the judgement that the movie quality does not meet your expectations, you should be ready to provide evidence. Without eligible evidence, your evaluation essay won’t look convincing.

When structuring your evaluation essay, it is crucial to address a different criterion in each paragraph. In that paragraph, you should reflect on each criterion, make the relevant judgements and provide supporting proofs.

How to Write an Evaluation Essay?

With this step-by-step guide, you will learn how to write an evaluation essay. Here are the major steps to be taken:

• Choose your topic. Whatever kind of essay you are writing, you will have to take this step. Your topic can be offered by your instructor, as the case may be. But if you have to choose it yourself, you should consider a subject that you are familiar with. Thus, it will be easier for you to take an in-depth look at the subject and make a judgement on its value.
• Create a thesis statement. This is an important element of your essay as it contains the general purpose of the evaluation. In the thesis, you need to reflect on the criteria being used to judge the subject matter and state its value. Your statement should look apparent and to the point. In the process of writing, you may revise it as your essay gets shaped.
• Identify the criteria to be used for accessing the subject matter. Determine the benchmarks in your essay in order to make it interesting and engaging. The criteria you choose will depend on the subject of your evaluation. For instance, a movie will be judged using different points of reference than a book.
• Find supporting evidence . Don’t forget that an essay is not just about your opinion. You will need to find some supporting information from trustworthy sources while making each judgement. Don’t think that stating the movie or book title is enough. Use some questions to find out answers that can help you collect more information. How can you evaluate the subject? What kind of readers are you focused on? Will you focus on good or bad sides of the subject?
• Write a draft of your essay . All you need to do is to continue writing. As soon as you have something written on paper, you will rewrite or restructure it unless you are totally happy with the result.

Review, revise and rewrite. When a draft is completed, you will read over your work and make some changes if needed. You should be ready to rewrite your paper several times to get it just right.

Evaluation Essay Example

Here, you will find a well-written evaluation essay example that you can use for yourself:

• https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/essays/evaluation/standardized-tests.html
• https://www.examples.com/education/evaluation-essay-examples.html

Evaluation Essay VS Review

An evaluation essay is widely associated with a review paper. This is a common mistake many students make. Although the two types of paper have some similarities, there are more differences that set them apart. You can take a look at those differences in the table below.

Tips on Writing an Evaluation Essay from Our Experts

Following the quick tips below, you will find it easier to write an effective evaluation argument essay:

• Provide the right amount of details: Make sure you explain your thoughts clearly and provide sufficient information to convince the reader in the correctness of your judgment.
• Thesis sentence should reveal your actual opinion. If you want to build up the basis for your body, you can include the main reasons for your evaluation in the thesis sentence.
• Know your target audience. By knowing your reader, you can adjust the plot to their specific needs. Whether you write for college students or professors, you will have to apply a bit different approach in the language choice.
• Make some notes. By using a three-column note-taking method, you can organize your thoughts. The columns of criteria, evidence, and judgment will contain the relevant information which will not let you forget or mix facts.
• Be opinionated . By sounding passionate in your evaluation essay, you will increase your chances of catching readers’ attention. The use of vivid nouns and engaging verbs will strengthen the effect produced by your paper. You should have a strong judgment of how the particular subject is either better or worse than other subjects of the same type.
• Back up every judgement you make. Every time you make a judgment, you should be ready to use specific, interesting, and convincing reasons to make it up. For evidence, you can describe the subject, use funny stories, or compare and contrast some notions with a similar subject.
• Provide counter-arguments. When you disagree with what most people think about the particular subject, it makes sense to provide some counter-arguments. This will make the narration more engaging for readers.

List of 50 Evaluation Topics

Since there are many people and objects you are able to assess, an evaluation essay can be written on a wide range of topics. To evaluate something, you will need to compare it with an example within a subject you have chosen. Some possible evaluation essay topics can be found below:

• Analyze the dissimilarity between seeing a sporting event live and watching it on ITV.
• Create a comparative assessment of watching a sporting event in a cafe and watching it without leaving the comfort of your home.
• Evaluate the experience of watching a sporting event on your own and with other people.
• Evaluate how a recent drama movie portrays the tragedies of real life.
• Evaluate a classic criminal movie and what it states about the real crime rates in the modern society.
• Evaluate your favorite Chinese restaurant.
• Compare two popular Chinese restaurants in your city.
• Appraise football or basketball from the perspective of a contestant or that of a watcher.
• Analyze the way in which football or basketball has advanced over the last decade.
• Discuss the influence of ESPN on sporting events.
• Evaluate the coverage of the latest Eurovision Song Contest.
• Evaluate a fancy restaurant for how it makes the customer feel after having the meal
• Analyze the way in which a popular horror movie depicts people’s fears.
• Assess a classic action movie and talk about its ideas regarding the functions of men and women.
• Explore the change that occurred in recent war movies if compared to classic war movies.
• How do drama books affect readers?
• Evaluate a book about war and analyze whether it addresses current concerns associated with war and peace.
• Evaluate the effects of online educational programs on students’ performance.
• Do historical movies encourage history learning?
• Evaluate an Italian cafe located in your city. What is the difference between the Italian and local food?
• What makes a traditional Italian meal great?
• Can hamburgers be healthy? Mention some details and provide relevant arguments.
• How mental health issues affect students’ academic performance?
• Analyze teachers’ responsibilities in terms of elementary students’ needs.
• Evaluate the power of verbal encouragement as a motivational factor in the educational process.
• Critically reflect on education services provided to children experiencing difficulties in learning.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of German secondary education.
• Evaluate teaching methods used at the American universities.
• Ways in which online libraries affect the students’ academic performance.
• How well the film “BraveHeart” portrays historical events?
• Analyze a movie produced in a foreign country and discuss how it reveals its national characteristics.
• Assess Kate Winslet’s play in “Titanic” and discuss which means this actor applies to adapt to this role.
• Make a comparison between modern and classic drama movies.
• Assess the distinct approaches used to transfer data from a smartphone to a PC.
• Make comparisons between various phone plans and determine which provider has the best deals for travelers.
• Assess current information security methods. Which one is the most efficient?
• Assess the key characteristics of WhatsApp.
• Compare the use of several cloud systems that can be implemented by the movie hub website.
• Estimate the chances of Facebook as a marketing resource.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of online advertising.
• Assess the existing approaches to using the Internet in colleges.
• Analyze the consequences of cultural shock.
• Assess the negative sides of overwhelming cultural diversity in the United States.
• Discuss the development path of rap and hip-hop music.
• What is the impact of Buddhism on Indian culture?
• Compare two popular social media platforms in terms of their  users, features, and benefits.
• Evaluate the latest version of your favorite smartphone and estimate the positive or negative changes that will affect the industry.
• Compare an educational approach in the military, Christian, or classical school.
• Evaluate the SAT versus the ACT tests.
• Compare the foreign policies established by a few states in the US.

Note that our company provides academic writing help. You can buy an essay written from scratch by our  essay writer .

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The ultimate guide to writing an evaluation essay, carla johnson.

• June 14, 2023
• Essay Topics and Ideas , How to Guides

Evaluation essays are a common type of writing assignment in school. They ask students to evaluate and analyze the quality or value of something like a book, movie, product, or service. In this article, we’ll give you the most complete guide to writing an evaluation essay. We’ll talk about everything from an evaluation essay’s purpose and importance to the steps you need to take to write a good one.

An evaluation essay is a type of writing that tries to give an unbiased opinion about a topic based on a set of criteria. It’s not just a summary of the topic; it’s a critical analysis of what’s good and bad about it . The writer should give a fair assessment of the topic by pointing out both its strengths and weaknesses.

The point of an evaluation essay is to give a critical analysis of a topic so that the reader can form a well-informed opinion about it. For this kind of essay , the writer needs to know a lot about the subject, including its background, history, and effects. It is a good activity for students to do because it helps them learn how to think critically , do research, and write well.

Evaluation essays are also important in academic writing because they help students show that they can think critically and explain their ideas clearly. Because of this, evaluation essays are often given in many different classes, such as literature, film studies, business, and marketing. By learning how to write an evaluation essay, students can do better in school and improve their chances of getting jobs in their chosen fields.

An evaluation essay is a type of academic writing that asks students to give a critical analysis of a certain topic based on a set of criteria. The point of writing an evaluation essay is to give the reader an unbiased look at the topic so that they can form an opinion about it.

Lastly, evaluation essays are an important part of academic writing because they help students improve their critical thinking, research, and writing skills, all of which are important for academic success and moving up in a career. In the sections that follow, we’ll talk more about the steps you need to take to write a good evaluation essay.

What You'll Learn

Choosing a Topic for an Evaluation Essay

Choosing the right topic is crucial when it comes to writing an effective evaluation essay. A well-chosen topic will not only make the writing process easier but will also ensure that the essay is engaging and relevant to the reader. Here are some tips for selecting an evaluation essay topic:

– Choose a topic that you are interested in: It is essential to choose a topic that you are passionate about and have some knowledge of. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and will also result in a more engaging and informative essay .

– Select a topic that is relevant: Choose a subject that is current and relevant to the reader. This will ensure that your essay is informative and interesting to read.

– Narrow down your topic: It is important to select a topic that is specific and narrow. This will enable you to focus on a particular aspect of the subject and provide a more detailed evaluation.

– Consider both sides of the argument: Choose a topic that allows you to evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of the subject. This will ensure that your essay is balanced and provides a fair evaluation .

– Use credible sources: Ensure that your topic is backed by credible sources, such as academic journals, books, and reputable websites.

Here is a list of 50 evaluation essay topics:

1. The impact of social media on modern relationships

2. The effectiveness of online learning compared to traditional classroom learning

3. The portrayal of mental health in popular media4. The impact of technology on our daily lives

5. The effectiveness of government policies on climate change

6. The quality of customer service in the hospitality industry

7. The effectiveness of performance-enhancing drugs in sports

8. The portrayal of women in the media

9. The impact of smartphones on communication skills

10. The effectiveness of gun control laws in reducing gun violence

11. The quality of healthcare services in rural areas

12. The impact of video games on children’s behavior

13. The effectiveness of alternative medicine in treating chronic illnesses

14. The portrayal of minorities in the media

15. The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem

16. The effectiveness of online dating in finding a partner

17. The quality of fast food restaurants

18. The impact of globalization on cultural diversity

19. The effectiveness of police body cameras in reducing police brutality

20. The portrayal of mental illness in popular media

21. The impact of artificial intelligence on job opportunities

22. The effectiveness of vaccination programs in preventing diseases

23. The quality of public transportation in urban areas

24. The impact of social media on political campaigns

25. The effectiveness of rehabilitation programs for prisoners

26. The portrayal of LGBTQ+ individuals in the media

27. The impact of technology on education

28. The effectiveness of animal testing in developing new drugs

29. The quality of public schools in low-income areas

30. The impact of social media onteenagers’ mental health

31. The effectiveness of renewable energy sources in reducing carbon emissions

32. The portrayal of disability in the media

33. The impact of celebrity culture on society

34. The effectiveness of anti-bullying programs in schools

35. The quality of public parks and recreation areas

36. The impact of social media on political polarization

37. The effectiveness of online therapy in treating mental illness

38. The portrayal of aging in the media

39. The impact of automation on job security

40. The effectiveness of recycling programs in reducing waste

41. The quality of public libraries

42. The impact of social media on privacy

43. The effectiveness of parenting classes in improving child behavior

44. The portrayal of mental health in the workplace

45. The impact of technology on the music industry

46. The effectiveness of drug rehabilitation programs

47. The quality of public restrooms

48. The impact of social media on activism

49. The effectiveness of sex education programs in schools

50. The portrayal of race in the media.

Understanding the Structure of an Evaluation Essay

A basic structure for an evaluation essay is an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The purpose of the introduction is to give background information about the subject and explain how it will be judged. Based on the criteria set out in the introduction, the body paragraphs should give a detailed analysis of the topic. In the end, the conclusion should summarize the main points of the essay and give a final opinion on the subject.

Here is a breakdown of each section of an evaluation essay:

1. Introduction: The introduction should begin with an attention-grabbing hook that draws the reader in and provides some background information on the subject. This should be followed by a clear thesis statement that outlines the criteria that will be used to evaluate the subject.

2. Body Paragraphs: Each of the body paragraphs should look at a different part of the topic and judge it based on the criteria set out in the introduction. Every paragraph should start with a topic sentence that makes it clear what is being evaluated and how. The evaluation should then be backed up with evidence , such as examples, statistics, and quotes from reliable sources.

3. Conclusion: The conclusion should provide a summary of the main points made in the essay and restate the thesis statement . The writer should then provide a final evaluation of the subject based on the evidence presented in the body paragraphs. This evaluation should be balanced and fair, taking into account both the strengths and weaknesses of the subject.

An evaluation essay outline can be helpful in organizing and structuring the essay. Here is an example of an evaluation essay outline:

I. Introduction

– Hook

– Background information

– Thesis statement

II. Body Paragraphs

– Aspect 1

  – Criteria

  – Evidence

– Aspect 2

– Aspect 3

  -Criteria

III. Conclusion

– Summary of main points

– Restate thesis statement

– Final evaluation

Understanding the structure of an evaluation essay and choosing the right topic are both critical to writing an effective evaluation essay. By following the tips provided for selecting a topic and using an evaluation essay outline, you can create a well-organized and engaging essay that provides a fair assessment of the subject.

Writing an Effective Evaluation Essay

Writing an effective evaluation essay requires careful planning and execution. Here are some tips to help you write a powerful evaluation essay:

1. Developing a thesis statement for an evaluation essay: A strong thesis statement should clearly state the criteria that will be used to evaluate the subject. It should also provide a clear indication of the writer’s stance on the subject, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral.

2. Tips for writing a powerful evaluation essay:

– Use specific criteria: Provide clear and specific criteria for evaluating the subject, and use evidence to support your evaluation.

– Use credible sources: Use credible sources to support your evaluation, such as academic journals, books, and reputable websites.

– Be objective: Provide a balanced evaluation of the subject, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses.

– Use clear and concise language: Use clear and concise language to make your evaluation easy to understand and engaging to read.

– Use transitions: Use transitions to connect your ideas and ensure that the essay flows smoothly.

3. Common mistakes to avoid when writing an evaluation essay:

– Being too subjective: Avoid being too subjective and provide a balanced evaluation of the subject.

– Failing to provide evidence: Use evidence to support your evaluation, and avoid making unsupported claims.

– Focusing too much on summary: Avoid simply summarizing the subject and focus on providing a critical analysis of its merits and demerits.

– Failing to use credible sources: Use credible sources to support your evaluation andavoid relying solely on personal opinions or unsupported claims.

Examples of Evaluation Essays

To help you get a better understanding of how to write an effective evaluation essay, here are 10 inspiring evaluation essay examples from different fields:

1. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy in the United States

2. Evaluation of the impact of the #MeToo movement on workplace culture

3. Evaluation of the nutritional value of plant-based diets compared to meat-based diets

4. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Paris Climate Agreement in reducing global carbon emissions

5. Evaluation of the impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior

6. Evaluation of the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in reducing stress and anxiety

7. Evaluation of the quality of customer service provided by leading airlines

8. Evaluation of the portrayal of mental illness in popular TV shows

9. Evaluation of the effectiveness of online therapy in treating depression and anxiety

10. Evaluation of the impact of video games on children’s cognitive development

Writing an effective evaluation essay involves selecting the right topic, understanding the structure of the essay, and following the tips provided to develop a powerful evaluation essay. By avoiding common mistakes and using credible sources, you can create an engaging and informative evaluation essay that provides a balanced assessment of the subject. The examples provided can also serve as a guide to help you craft a compelling evaluation essay in any field.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what is an evaluation essay.

An evaluation essay is a type of academic writing that asks students to evaluate and analyze the quality or value of something like a book, movie, product, or service. The writer should give a fair assessment of the topic by pointing out both its strengths and weaknesses.

2. What are the elements of an evaluation essay?

An evaluation essay has three parts: an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the introduction, you should give some background information about the topic and explain how it will be judged. Based on the criteria set out in the introduction, the body paragraphs should give a detailed analysis of the topic. In the end, the conclusion should summarize the main points of the essay and give a final opinion on the topic .

3. How do I choose a topic for an evaluation essay?

To pick a topic for an evaluation essay, think about something you are interested in and know a little bit about. It’s also important to choose a topic that is relevant and specific. Think about both sides of the argument and back up your opinion with information from reliable sources.

4. What is the difference between an evaluation essay and a review?

The main difference between an evaluation essay and a review is that an evaluation essay has a different focus and goal. An evaluation essay tries to give a critical analysis of the subject based on a set of criteria, while a review gives a summary of the subject and often includes personal opinions.

In conclusion, writing an effective evaluation essay is an essential skill for students to master, as it helps to develop critical thinking , research, and writing abilities. To write an effective evaluation essay, it is important to choose the right topic, understand the structure of the essay, and follow the tips provided in this guide. It is also important to avoid common mistakes and use credible sources to support your evaluation.

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Definition and Examples of Evaluation Essays

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• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
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• B.A., English, State University of New York

An evaluation essay is a  composition that offers value judgments about a particular subject according to a set of criteria. Also called  evaluative writing , evaluative essay or report , and critical evaluation essay .

An evaluation essay or report is a type of argument that provides evidence to justify a writer's opinions about a subject.

"Any kind of review is essentially a piece of evaluative writing," says Allen S. Goose. "This type of writing calls for the critical thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation" ( 8 Kinds of Writing , 2001). 

Observations

• "Without good reasons for liking or disliking certain things, students can never get beyond being passive receivers of marketing, fickle consumers without a basis for their opinions. Writing evaluation papers asks them to question why they feel the way they do." (Allison D. Smith, et al., Teaching in the Pop Culture Zone: Using Popular Culture in the Composition Classroom . Wadsworth, 2009)

How to Evaluate

• "If you are evaluating a piece of writing, then you are going to need to thoroughly read the work. While you read the work, keep in mind the criteria you are using to evaluate. The evaluative aspects may be: grammar, sentence structure, spelling, content, usage of sources, style, or many other things. Other things to consider when evaluating a piece of writing is whether the writing appealed to its target audience . Was there an emotional appeal? Did the author engage the audience, or was the piece lacking something? ..."If you are evaluating anything else, use your head. You need to try, use, or test whatever thing you are evaluating. That means you should not evaluate a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette unless you have the $45,000 (or more) to buy one, or the money to rent one. You also need the know-how of driving a car of that power and a base of knowledge of other cars that you have tested to compare it to." (Joe Torres, Rhetoric and Composition Study Guide . Global Media, 2007)

Identifying Criteria for an Evaluation

• " Make a list of prominent, widely recognized standards for judging your subject. If you do not know the standards usually used to evaluate your subject, you could do some research . For example, if you are reviewing a film, you could read a few recent film reviews online or in the library, noting the standards that reviewers typically use and the reasons that they assert for liking or disliking a film. If you are evaluating a soccer team or one winning (or losing) game, you could read a book on coaching soccer or talk to an experienced soccer coach to learn about what makes an excellent soccer team or winning game." (Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, Axelrod & Cooper's Concise Guide to Writing , 4th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006)

Ways of Organizing an Evaluation Essay

• "One way to organize an  evaluation essay is point-by-point: describe one element of the subject and then evaluate it; present the next element and evaluate it; and so on. Comparison/contrast could be an organizing structure as well, in which you evaluate something by comparing (or contrasting) it to a known item. Culinary and music reviews often use this strategy.  Chronological organization can be used for evaluating an event (either current or historical). Sequential organization can be used when describing how something works and evaluating the effectiveness of the process, procedure, or mechanism. Spatial organization can be used for evaluating art or architecture in which you describe and evaluate one element of the artifact and then move spatially to the next major element to be described and evaluated." (David S. Hogsette,  Writing That Makes Sense: Critical Thinking in College Composition . Wipf and Stock, 2009)
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Evaluation Essay

Evaluation Essay - Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips

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Are you unsure about what it takes to evaluate things from your perspective in an evaluation essay?

If you’re having a hard time understanding how to present a balanced assessment of the subject, worry not!  We are here to help you get through the evaluation essay writing process.

In this blog, you will learn all about evaluation essays. From the definition, writing process, topics, tips, and a lot more, you’ll learn how to write an evaluation essay effortlessly!  

Continue reading to get a better idea.

• 1. What is an Evaluation Essay?
• 2. Evaluation Essay Structure
• 3. How to Start an Evaluation Essay?
• 4. How to Write an Evaluation Essay?
• 5. How to Format Your Evaluation Essay?
• 6. Evaluation Essay Examples
• 7. Evaluation Essay Topics For College Students
• 8. Evaluation Essay vs. Review

What is an Evaluation Essay?

Let’s first understand the evaluation essay meaning, here is the standard definition:

An evaluation essay offers a value judgment or an opinion of something. It presents an overall view of a particular subject’s quality. Moreover, it provides a critical analysis and a complete evaluation of something.

What is the Purpose of an Evaluation Essay?

The main purpose of an evaluation essay is to present an opinion and evaluate a topic critically. This type of writing determines the condition, worth, or significance by careful appraisal and study.  

This essay features the writer’s opinion, but when done correctly, it does not sound opinionated. Instead, it provides the facts and evidence to justify the opinions about the essay’s subject.

To write a good evaluation essay, you need to master critical evaluation and present the evaluation in an unbiased manner. You may also discuss both the pros and cons of the subject.

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Evaluation Essay Structure

The four different ways to format and organize the evaluation essay are as follows.

1. Chronological Structure

It is a sequential organization that could be used for evaluating historical or current events. It tells how something works and assesses the effectiveness of a mechanism, procedure, or process.

2. Spatial Structure

The spatial organization structure is used for evaluating or describing art or architecture. Here, you will define one element of the artifact and spatially move to the next. 

3. Compare and Contrast Structure

The compare and contrast structure is used to evaluate or review the culinary or music genre. Here the writer evaluates a subject by comprising and contrasting it with the known subject.

4. Point-by-Point Structure

The point-by-point structure is also used for culinary and music reviews. But, in this structure, you describe one element and then evaluate it, describe the second element and evaluate it, and so on.

After setting the criteria and collecting evidence for strengthening your judgment, you’ll start your evaluation essay. Let’s see what are the steps involved in starting an evaluation essay.

How to Start an Evaluation Essay?

When you start writing an evaluation essay, grabbing the reader’s attention is essential. For this, hook the reader from the beginning until the end to ensure that your essay’s opening follows an engaging tone. 

Step 1. Choose an Interesting Topic

Deciding the topic and evaluation essay criteria is important. Make sure it's not just compelling and interesting, but also informative so that you can find enough material for a detailed evaluation. 

Step 2. Set the Evaluation Essay Criteria

For an evaluation essay, you have to set the criteria for evaluation first. Criteria are the standards or measures by which someone assesses the quality or value of the subject. 

Some key points to establish the criteria are:

• Identifying relevant aspects that relate to the subject 
• Defining the criteria clearly so that it is specific and understandable for readers
• Your criteria should be directly relevant to the nature of the subject
• Always consider the audience’s expectations and standards while setting the criteria
• Your thesis statement should always align with your evaluation criteria

Step 3. Collect Evidence for Your Judgment

The author’s judgment of the subject states whether the subject is good or bad. It is an overall assessment or the opinion supported by the evidence. The judgment corresponds to the benchmarks set by the author in the essay criteria. 

The evidence is a combination of supporting data and facts. Using the evidence, the author demonstrates how well the subject meets the judgment. The evidence serves as the foundation of your evaluation. 

Without providing strong and accurate evidence, you will not be able to convince the readers of your judgment. 

Step 4. Decide the Essay Structure

After that, decide on the structure that you want to follow. It can be a chronological or point-by-point structure

Step 5. Craft the Essay Outline

When you create an essay outline , evaluate what should be added and removed. If you skip this step before writing, you may lose track of what to include in your essay while you write.   

So, writing an outline for your evaluation essay is a critical step that eases your writing journey. 

Here is a sample evaluation essay outline:

Step 6. Declare Your Thesis Statement

For an evaluation essay that keeps the reader hooked from the start, opt for a catchy thesis statement . The thesis should state the main point of the evaluation. 

In the thesis statement, you should always express your stance on the subject clearly. In doing so, the readers will have a clear idea about the purpose and direction of your essay. 

Now, understand how to write an evaluation essay by following the detailed procedure mentioned below.

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How to Write an Evaluation Essay?

Here is a step-by-step guide for you to write an evaluation essay.

Step 1. Write the Introduction

The introduction is the first impression your readers will have of you, so it's crucial to make a good one. It should capture attention and excite readers, drawing them into what you have to say about this topic. 

The following are the elements that you should consider while writing the introduction:

• Start with an interesting hook statement so that you can get the reader’s attention.
• Provide background information about the topic for the reader to understand the subject
• Establish the evaluation essay thesis statement. It sets out the overall purpose of the evaluation, so make sure it is apparent and to the point

Read this evaluation essay introduction example, and you’ll understand exactly what to pen down in yours:

Step 2. Draft the Body Section

The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs. Each paragraph holds different ideas related to one another and flows smoothly from start to finish, just like how a good story should be told.

Here are the important points that must be included in the body paragraphs.

• Start with the topic sentence that presents your judgment about the topic
• Present the supporting evidence to back up the topic sentence and your viewpoint.
• Present a balanced evaluative argument to show impartiality
• Compare and contrast the subject to another subject to show the strengths and weaknesses
• Present the evaluation from multiple perspectives, while being both positive and critical
• Always use transition words between your paragraphs to ensure a smooth and coherent flow for the reader. 

Step 3. Write the Conclusion

It is the final chance to convince your reader to agree with your point of view. You’re supposed to summarize and conclude the essay. In the conclusion , you present your final evaluation of the essay. 

Keep in mind the following aspects while writing a closing paragraph of an evaluation essay. 

• Summarize the points and evaluative arguments that you made in the body section.
• Justify your thesis statement.
• Provide a concrete and secure conclusion to your argument by ultimately leaving the reader convinced by your evaluation.

Step 4. Proofread, Revise, and Edit

The final step is proofreading and editing. Always spend enough time reading your essay carefully. It will help you catch the unintentional mistakes you have made and recover them. If needed, you can also revise your essay 2–3 times.

How to Format Your Evaluation Essay?

For formatting your evaluation essay, follow the standard academic writing guidelines. You can opt for different formatting styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago. 

In general, you should stick to the below formatting guidelines: 

Font and Size:

• Use a legible font such as Times New Roman or Arial.
• Choose a standard font size, often 12-point.
• Set one-inch margins on all sides of the paper.
• Double-space the entire essay, including the title, headings, and body paragraphs.
• Create a title for your essay that reflects the subject and purpose of the evaluation.
• Center the title on the page.
• Use title case (capitalize the first letter of each major word).
• Include a header with your last name and page number in the top right corner.
• Follow the format “Last Name Page Number” (e.g., “Smith 1”).

Citations (if applicable):

• Include citations for any sources used in your evaluation.
• Follow the citation style specified by your instructor or the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago).

Counterargument (if included):

• Clearly label and present any counterargument.
• Provide a well-reasoned response to the counterargument.

References or Works Cited Page (if applicable):

• Include a separate page for references or a works cited page if your essay includes citations.
• List all sources in the appropriate citation style.

Well, the time has come to look at some great evaluation essay examples. Getting help from sample essays is always a great way to perfect your evaluation papers.

Evaluation Essay Examples

Evaluation can be written on any topic, i.e., book, movie, music, etc. Below, we have given some evaluation essay examples for students: 

Evaluation Essay Sample PDF

Movie Evaluation Essay Example

Critical evaluation Essay Example PDF

Product Evaluation Essay PDF

Source Evaluation Essay Example PDF

Employee Self-Evaluation Essay Example

How to Start A Self-Evaluation Essay Example PDF

Evaluation Essay Topics For College Students

For writing an amazing evaluation essay, the first thing that you require is an essay topic.  Here are some incredible topic ideas for college students. You can use or mold them according to your preference. 

• Artificial intelligence's impact on society: A double-edged sword?
• Evaluate the online teaching and on-campus teaching styles
• Analyze and evaluate the Real Madrid football team and their performance
• Is media a threat to cultural cohesion or a source of enrichment?
• Compare and evaluate recorded music and live performance
• Evaluate how a university's football team impacts students' personalities
• Critically evaluate a remake of an original movie you have watched recently
• Analyze how the roles of females and males changed in recent romantic movies
• Evaluate your favorite restaurant, its food, aroma, and everything
• Critically evaluate gender disparities in college majors and career choices.

Evaluation Essay vs. Review

At first glance, an evaluation essay might look like a review. But, there are some notable differences between them. See this table to see how both pieces of writing differ from each other.

To conclude, 

After reading the step-by-step guide and examples, you must have learned the art of writing a good evaluation essay. We’re confident that you’re now able to provide a balanced and effective evaluation of the topics you choose for your essay.

But writing a perfect essay is not that simple; you require a lot of practice and experience to become a good writer. That is why we are here to help you write any type of academic essay. 

MyPerfectWords.com is a professional essay writing service that offers help for all academic writing assignments. We have a team of professional writers who are experts in writing all types of essays and evaluation papers. 

So what are you waiting for? Let us handle your evaluation essay worries and have a sigh of relief! 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what are the four components of an evaluation essay.

The four components of an evaluation essay are:

• Introduction
• Background information

2. What are the 4 types of evaluation?

The four types of evaluation are:

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Evaluation Essay: Writing Guide, Outline & Free Samples

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Are you wondering how to write an evaluation essay? We are here to inspire and let you know all the essential steps to get started. This blog post will describe what is an evaluative essay, including its purpose and elements. In addition, you will be enlightened on how to actually write evaluations - all the necessary factors and steps will be elaborated on. These steps are: deciding what to appraise, what criteria to apply, and how to develop arguments and outlines. Toward the end, you will be provided with evaluation essay samples that will enable you to put theoretical guidelines into practice. Strictly follow this blog post from our essay writer services to the end.

What Is an Evaluation Essay: Definition

The starting point of being well-versed in this from of writing is understanding its definition and purpose, as it will lay a good foundation for further work. Evaluation essay is a paper that offers evidence that helps to justify writer's opinion on different subjects by providing enough facts to convince readers. Such type of writing requires critical thinking skills when analyzing, synthesizing, and assessing given topics to avoid misleading your audience. The main purpose of this type of paper is to provide objective criticism oт various subjects and make conclusions about them. As a result, the latter helps readers to take a stance about a topic. In addition, there is an exhaustive review of fundamental characteristics, styles, and quality of subjects under discussion. The value of a particular topic is obtained through supportive and factual evidence provided. Finally, this paper helps present well-reasoned and informed judgment on particular standards, hence clearing concerning issues about a given subject.

Things You Can Write an Evaluation About

Preparing evaluative essay is a broad topic, and you need to be well-organized, or else the text will quickly lose meaning and purpose. There are various abstract categories and exact things that you can assess in writing. When you write evaluations, ensure you deeply understand your topic of discussion. Reading through an evaluation example will help you know what to do. Some evaluation essay topics and objects suitable for assessment include:

• Experience: gaming, traveling, and shopping.
• Music: its content, the impact, instruments played, and comparison to other works by artists.
• Furniture: chair, desk, stool, table, etc.
• Fruits: guava, mangoes, oranges, pineapples.
• Trees: oak, teak, pine.
• Sports: volleyball, table tennis, golf.
• Clothes: casual wear, sportswear, formalwear.
• Class: methods of teaching , challenges, type of assessments, etc.
• Social trend: origin, overall influence, and objectives.
• Courses: journalism, mathematics, business, and history.

Elements of an Evaluation Essay

Understanding all components of evaluation papers - three in total - is important during writing. They include:

• Criteria In order to determine aspects you will assess about certain brands, services, or products, a proper set of standards is required. Standard helps in demonstrating expectations. During evaluative writing, it is essential to think about some good samples of similar brands, services, or products. Also, contemplate on related significant features. For instance, a house can be well-ventilated, secure, and clean, which are quite helpful benchmarks.
• Judgment A second element in essay evaluation is judgment. This aspect helps to establish if stated standards were met. Considering the previous example of a house discussed under this criteria, you may first assess if the house is secure or not. Find out if the house meets, exceeds, or falls short of your anticipated security standards, then move on to other criteria.
• Evidence This component focuses on providing facts supporting the judgment. For instance, in the house example, if you conclude that security level does not meet the expected standards, provide evidence to prove this judgment. When you structure an evaluation essay, ensure each paragraph discusses a different criterion. It helps you to make judgments and provide evidence under each paragraph.

What to Consider Before Writing an Evaluation

There are two factors to put into consideration before writing evaluations. One of them is ensuring that evaluation argument remains objective. Objectivity is achieved by not including personal opinions in disputes. Besides, one remains objective by supporting claims with relevant facts. Also, included references need to fully support your stand. You should know that a discourse must be balanced and fair. Secondly, deciding on evaluative standards is another important factor to consider. You need to have a deeper understanding of subjects before deciding on measures to use during this analysis. Chosen standards must adequately and appropriately represent particular subjects' features, qualities, and values. Besides, when deciding on evaluation essay criteria, ensure that you focus on defending your stated thesis. In addition, have enough evidence and details to support the chosen criterion. Finally, appropriately organize your facts and make sure you have imperative and unbiased information concerning your subjects of discussion.

Evaluation Essay Outline

A clear outline provides a map of organizing ideas when you write evaluation essay. An evaluation essay outline covers at least five structured paragraphs. The first is an introductory paragraph followed by three or more body paragraphs, and finally, an essay conclusion . Below is an evaluation paper outline example under the topic of practicing vaping.

Introduction

• An introduction presents subjects, hooks readers, and elaborates on topic of evaluation.
• The last part of your introduction is a thesis statement, which asserts arguments, determines focus, and helps understand essays’ gist.
• The body must contain a minimum three paragraphs.
• Each body paragraph needs to have a criterion followed by judgment.
• Support judgments with relevant evidence.
• When concluding, summarize main points.
• Give some food for thought.

Here’s how your evaluation essay outline look:

Introductory paragraph  

• Do you know that vaping is a better alternative to smoking? How is it rated?
• Some notable issues with vaping include its safety, cost, and utility.
• This essay discusses vaping while focusing on safety issues, incurred costs, and utility to prove how it is preferred compared to traditional smoking.

Body part  

• Safety: According to the British government, vaping is 95% safer when compared to cigarette smoking. Vaping is less harmful. No second-hand smoke is produced during vaping, hence the best smoking alternative.
• Cost: Vaping is cheaper when compared to smoking. The price for a vape pen is almost $20. Coils and E-juice are inexpensive, unlike a cigarette carton, and can last twice longer.
• Utility: From environmental health, vaping has high utility. Many places have banned cigarette smoking; thus, vaping is the best alternative. Indoors and outdoor vaping is allowed, unlike cigarette smoking, which is banned indoors.

Concluding paragraph

• Vaping offers the best smoking alternative. It is of high quality, and people need to embrace it. Also, it is less costly, practical, and safer.

How to Start an Evaluation Essay

There are various steps that one can follow when writing an evaluation essay. These steps include:

• Choosing a topic A topic provides credibility for opinions and gives room for a thorough analysis of essential issues. Always start an evaluation essay by choosing an appropriate subject. You must be familiar with and have in-depth knowledge of a chosen theme to avoid misleading and losing readers. Ensure it is well-engaging for both the readers and you.
• Thesis statement development Coming up with a thesis statement is the second step, actual writing starts here. Thesis statements define main purposes of evaluative essays. Besides, they offer directions for distinguishing criteria from the examples provided. Use only relevant information when writing thesis statements.
• Criteria determination A third step to consider when preparing evaluation is thinking about criteria. Assess if evaluating a chosen topic is difficult or easy. In case of problematic topics, subdivide them into various points to make it easier.
• Conduct research and obtain supportive evidence You need to support your opinion with logical and physical facts, or else it will remain invalid. Your readers must make sense of your proof and have opportunities to use those facts to make their assumptions. After this step, you can start composing your essay.

How to Write an Evaluation Essay

Several steps exist that one can follow during evaluative writing. The first step in how to write an evaluation is to decide on a particular subject you wish to assess, followed by coming up with criteria you will use. Besides, develop solid arguments backed up with evidence. Also, create an outline, and start writing. Once you complete your writing, proofread your work. The steps below describe the chronological order of writing your essay.

1. Decide on What You Want to Evaluate

The first step when writing this essay is deciding on a topic you will assess. During writing to evaluate, choose a subject you understand better so that you have enough facts to support or oppose it. The chosen issue needs to be engaging to your readers, otherwise yo may lose your audience. Besides, when selecting a theme, ensure it is interesting in general to avoid boredom. Also, a chosen subject needs to be relevant to keep the readers informed about current trends and new developments. The majority of your audience must be aware of the concept. Always ensure that chosen topics are specific and not generic.

2. Find Criteria for Evaluation Essay

Once you discuss a subject, you must come up with criteria for essay evaluation. At this point, turn your opinions into assessments to help you define a chosen subject. You may use different ways to find criteria on how to do an evaluation paper. For instance, you can focus on a chosen characteristics of a topic to help you develop standards. Besides, you might assess the relevance of that topic and decide whether it is good or bad for your readers. Also, focusing on the impacts of subjects helps find standards when evaluating. Researching positive or negative impacts of the topic helps in mastering what and how to evaluate in an essay. Also, you may find criteria by focusing on the effectiveness of that subject, whether it is successful or not. Apart from that, one may focus on the morals or aesthetic standards of a particular subject to develop measures to discuss.

3. Come Up With an Evaluation Argument

Reader understands your decision by following the argument. Evaluative arguments refer to claims concerning the quality of particular subjects being assessed. This argument will always rate subjects as either negative or positive. With this rating, one can think of subjects as harmful or helpful, bad or good. An argument in evaluation essay defines and supports criteria. A judgment always elaborates and explains reasons for choosing particular standards despite controversy. Evaluation argument essay assesses subjects depending on chosen measures. Considered factors include practicability, aesthetics, and ethics. Make sure to determine which standards will convince your audience. Effective development of arguments starts by creating an evaluative thesis statement: take position, develop criteria, and find out if topic meets standards. For instance, when evaluating meal’s quality, you may say:

Meal’s strength depended on its presentation, it was enticing, and its outlook was appropriate.

Another example could be: 

Meal’s weakness was in overcooking, as its flavor became less pronounced.

Additionally, another example of a subject could be practicing vaping. In such case, an evaluation argument example will be: 

Vaping is safe, inexpensive, and highly practical when compared to cigarette smoking, and due to these reasons, it is a recommendable practice for traditional smokers who wish to break old habits.

4. Create an Evaluative Essay Outline

After choosing a discussion topic, one can create an outline for essay . Outlines start with the development of thesis statements, followed by a list of main ideas and a conclusion. For this essay type, outlines require a minimum of five paragraphs. The first paragraph of the evaluation in writing is introduction that ends with a thesis statement. An introduction is followed by at least three body paragraphs and a conclusion. Outlines are important as they form a basis for thoughtfully constructing ideas. Also, they help in organizing your points sequentially for them to remain orderly. In addition, they are useful in picking relevant information, providing steady foundation when starting to write. Thus, it is worth noting that outlines form a crucial part of these essays, and they give a sketch of writing.

5. Write an Evaluation Paper

When you write evaluative papers, ensure you follow everything stated in your outline. The sections discussed below will help you understand how to write evaluation:

• Introduction When writing your introductory paragraph, ensure it engages you and your readers. Introduce subjects by capturing the reader’s attention. Elaborate on selected subjects, their influence, and reasons for assessing those topics. Be clear with chosen criteria you will be discussing. Generally, when writing your introductory paragraph, provide your entire subject overview.
• Thesis statement The last sentence of an introduction is a thesis statement. It tells your readers what they should expect from evaluation essay and its purpose. Include evaluative arguments that rate subjects either positive or negative with supportive facts. A good evaluation thesis example must include all the stated parts.
• Body A body is commonly the lengthiest part in this type of writing. You must develop a minimum of three body paragraphs in your evaluation paper. When writing body paragraphs, always use transition words while moving from a thesis statement to the first reason and other successive reasons. During evaluate writing, all body paragraphs must start with topic sentences, which inform your reader about your opinion. After stating topic sentences, write your criteria. A criterion will elaborate on the standards of a topic you are discussing. When you are done with it, provide judgments. Judgments must elaborate whether the standards of subjects were met or not. Thereafter, provide evidence supporting your argument. Following that, mention any objections about your judgment, then finalize by refuting those claims. Repeat all these steps for each body paragraph. Ensure you remain relevant in all the paragraphs to avoid losing your readers.
• Conclusion A conclusion is the final evaluation paragraph. When concluding, start by restating your thesis statement and follow by summarizing and reflecting on major points.

6. Proofread Your Evaluation Essay

When you complete your evaluation writing, the last step is proofreading and revising your work. Reading through your work helps improve your paper's quality and remove mistakes. Besides, it enables you to locate and correct inconsistencies in your text. Also, when you edit your work, you ensure that the ideas of your paper are well-defined. Revising your work helps in assessing if the content was appropriately conveyed. Also, it guarantees that sentences are grammatically appropriate by correcting typing and spelling errors to avoid readers’ confusion. Finally, you should read through your work critically and develop better ways of improving clarity, good structure of sentences, and entire effectiveness.

Evaluative Essay Structure

There are various examples of evaluation essays format. These formats include:

• Chronological structure It is used when describing events based on how they happened in an orderly manner, starting from the earliest to the last, like when evaluating current or historical events. Chronological essay structures are more descriptive because they are detailed.
• Spatial structure In contrast to previous type, this one is used when presenting details of particular subjects depending on their location in space. A spatial essay form is used when describing an item like architecture or art depending on how they appear when observed. Something else that people need to understand is that it is easy to remember a spatial essay structure because physical location is used when describing subjects.
• Compare and contrast structure Compare structure is used when exploring existing similarities between subjects, while contrast structure exists for discussing differences between items. Mostly, subjects discussed in compare and contrast papers fall under the same category; however, there may exist exceptions to this rule.
• Point-by-point format structure This is a subtype of compare and contrast essay that provides a general view of individual items being analyzed. This essay type compares a set of subjects because paragraph arrangement depends on main points and not by topic. Each paragraph discusses the main point and include subjects as they relate to each main point.

Evaluation Essay Example

There are millions of evaluative essays samples posted online. These examples offer impressive descriptions of evaluative essays with all the key steps to follow and will help you polish your skills when writing this paper. However, not all of the examples posted online are reliable. Therefore, the only preferred evaluation essay sample that students can use must come from peer-reviewed sources. Essay types from scholarly sites are written by reputable authors who meet all required standards; moreover, you can easily find an excellent book on this subject with appropriate examples. Attached are evaluation essays samples from credible writers. 

Tips on How to Write Evaluation Essay

For one to write perfect essays, there are some helpful tips you may follow. Following these points will help you produce impressive evaluation and your readers will enjoy.  Some of those tips when writing an evaluation essay include:

• Carefully read certain materials while making notes and analyzing content.
• Read through each paragraph before transitioning to another section.
• Avoid leaving out negative aspects, but try to discuss both pros and cons of your subjects.
• When reading other’s evaluative essay, analyze each paragraph and notice the authors’ mistakes: is information helpful? what can you do better?
• Avoid adding minor details with insufficient supportive evidence, as they will mislead you and your readers.
• Express your thoughts concisely and clearly as you peruse the written evaluation examples.
• Ensure that your evaluation essay thesis is anchored to your judgment.
• Write your paper with precision and attention to details while avoiding wordiness and providing enough useful information as you keenly follow the guide.
• Enable your readers to feel and agree with your assessment.

Bottom Line on Writing Evaluation Essays

Understanding the text’s definition and purpose is your first step toward knowing how to write a good evaluation. Thereafter, list categories and respective things you will assess during your writing. Master the three elements of an evaluative essay and use them effectively. Your argument must be objective and help clearly decide on what criteria to use. Besides, you need to understand all sections of an outline, how to start evaluative essay, and then, follow essential steps. In addition, get acquainted with the four types of essay structure. Remember that you always can increase your experience by reading some good evaluative writing examples. Keep all these tips in mind to ensure you write a proper essay.

Contact Studycrumb and order essays online from professional writers. From topic research to writing and formatting, our experts can do everything from A to Z.

FAQ About Evaluation Papers

1. what are the four components of an evaluation essay.

• Introduction is the first component of evaluation essay that hooks readers, introduces the subject, and contains thesis statement.
• Background information is the second component; it clarifies to readers your evaluation topic.
• Criteria is the third component, which entails standards for evaluating subjects.
• Conclusion is the fourth component; it restates your thesis statements and summarizes main points.

2. What to write in an evaluation essay?

There are numerous things that one can consider during essay evaluations. Evaluation writing examples and their respective criteria include:

• Movies: A plot, relationship among actors, and scenes.
• Restaurants: Quality of food, price, and cleanliness.
• Websites: Type of content, its design, and ease of navigating.
• House: Overall quality, accessibility, and cost.
• Business: Market share, its strengths and weaknesses.
• Social trend: Origin, overall influence, and objectives.
• Leader: Overall achievements, style of leadership, integrity.
• University: Offered programs, number of graduates per year, online or in-person, reputation.
• Class: Methods of teaching, challenges, type of assessments.
• Job: Nature of work, working hours, bosses, salary, demand.
• Advertisement: Media used when advertising, effectiveness, level of convincing, level of engagement.
• Speech: Type of audience, main purpose, compelling.

3. What is the difference between an evaluation and review?

Despite similarities existing between an evaluation essay and a review, the two differ. An evaluative essay focuses on deeper research and analysis of certain subjects, while a review provides a general outlook of particular subjects. Evaluative essays must have criteria that judge specific subjects, and reviews do not need criteria. In addition, under certain conditions, it is mandatory to cite sources used in writing evaluative essays, while reviews do not require references.

4. What is a good evaluative thesis example?

A good evaluative thesis must inform readers what to expect and its impact and determine an essay’s focus. Also, a strong thesis must state evaluative arguments. Here is a proper evaluation essay thesis example: Vaping is highly practical, inexpensive, and safe compared to cigarette smoking, and following these reasons, it is a recommendable practice for traditional smokers wishing to leave old habits.

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• How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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10 Type 2: Evaluation Argument

Evaluation arguments, what is an evaluation argument.

In college, professional life, politics, and everyday life, we constantly must assess how things measure up. We are faced with questions like the following:

• Does our employer treat us fairly?
• Does our local cafe deserve five stars or four?
• Is the “Free City” program that makes City College of San Francisco tuition free for residents a success?
• Is a particular hillside a good location for a wind farm?
• Does the president deserve their current approval rating?

To answer each of these questions and convince others that our answer is valid, we would need to make an evaluation argument. Most commonly, evaluation arguments rate their subject on a scale from positive to negative. Evaluation arguments make a claim about the quality of something. We can think of them as answering the question “How good or bad is it?”

Photo by  Liza Summer  from  Pexels  under the Pexels License .

Evaluation arguments usually need to define and justify the criteria they use to make the evaluation. These criteria may consist of moral standards, aesthetic standards, or tests of successful functioning. Depending on how controversial the criteria are, the argument may need to defend and explain why they have been chosen. How can we support our choice of criteria? We may cite precedent or the authoritative sources in the field, or we may discuss the merit of the criteria in themselves by arguing for the good results they lead to and aligning them with values we believe our audience will share.

Once we have convinced readers that the criteria for quality are valid, we will need to articulate our judgment about the extent to which the subject meets or doesn’t meet those criteria.

Finally, the argument will need to provide evidence of the way in which the subject meets or does not meet the criteria. See 4.4: Decide How Strong the Evidence Is  and 12.5: Developing Paragraphs.  for ideas on the types of evidence to choose from.

Ranking criteria

In cases where there are multiple valid criteria, the writer may need to rank them in order of importance and justify this ranking. For example, an editorial supporting Alyesha Jenkins for mayor would need to explain what the city should be looking for in a mayor at the moment. The editorial might argue that the top priority should be finding someone who has a workable plan to address the homelessness crisis. It might then go on to identify as secondary priority finding someone who has been an effective leader of a large organization. Finally, it might argue that finding a candidate who will focus on ending police brutality in the city should be the third priority.  Given these criteria, the argument might praise describe Alyesha Jenkins’ concrete, popular plan on homelessness and background as a successful city supervisor and head of a law firm. It might note that her record on police brutality is limited, but we still judge her to be a strong candidate.

Types of criteria

We can classify evaluative arguments by the kind of criteria they use. They may focus on aesthetics, that is the appearance or appeal of something (a movie, a work of art, or a building), or practical concerns about how something functions, or moral judgements based on values.

Aesthetic Criteria

What makes a great film can be an academic question or an everyday debate among friends going to the movies. Film critics and Film Studies classes try to identify clear aesthetic criteria for award-worthy movies.  Film blogger Tyler Schirado , who writes for the San Diego Film festival, details criteria including acting quality, dialogue, pacing, plot coherence, cinematography, production design, and special effects. Each of those criteria could in turn include sub-criteria.  For example, the criteria for the quality of the special effects might include both how innovative and how spectacular they are.

Operational Criteria

Sometimes the criteria that matter are very practical.  We use operational criteria when we are looking for certain concrete results.  What does the subject we are evaluating do?  If we want to evaluate a new car’s safety features, we will ended to see how it performs under challenging conditions. When the FDA evaluates and tests a new vaccine, they follow an set of procedures to test how the vaccine affects first cells, then animal bodies, and finally human bodies. The FDA considers the results of all these procedures to help it decide whether to approve the vaccine or not.  And if the consumer has confidence in the FDA’s standards for data collection, they can use the criteria about the vaccine’s past record of immune protection and side effects to help them decide whether or not to get vaccinated.

Moral Criteria

An evaluation argument based on moral criteria will claim that something is right or wrong.  It will need to appeal to shared values or make a case for a particular value that serves as criteria. Some values are nearly universal, such as honesty, reasonableness, and fairness, as we will discuss in 9.6: Moral Character . However, even values that seem universal may be defined differently by different groups. We each grow up in an environment that instills a particular set of family or cultural or religious values. These help to shape our own sense of morality, or personal values and codes that we chose to live by.

Many values may be unconsciously held, but a moral argument will need to articulate them explicitly in order to make its case. Remembering our discussion of assumptions in 4.5: Check the Argument’s Assumptions , we recall that each argument is based upon spoken or unspoken beliefs (warrants), such as “free speech is worthy of protection,” or “democracy is desirable,” or “cheating is wrong.” As we saw in 7.2: Tailoring an Argument to an Audience , it can be helpful to recognize our particular audience’s values and see where they align with our own. Convincing readers that we share values can enhance the sense of trust between reader and writer, as we will see in Chapter 9: How Arguments Appeal to Trust and Connection (Ethos) .

As an example, the Motion Pictures Academy includes some moral criteria as well as aesthetic criteria when it selects winners for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actors. Responding to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, the Academy of Motion Pictures decided to incorporate the value of inclusiveness into their criteria. In order to emphasize “the inclusion of people in underrepresented groups, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and those with cognitive or physical disabilities,” they developed a new set of criteria for nominations for Best Picture . The criteria state that starting in 2024, “To be eligible for best picture, a film must meet at least two standards across four categories: ‘Onscreen Representation, Themes and Narratives,’ ‘Creative Leadership and Project Team,’ ‘Industry Access and Opportunities’ and ‘Audience Development,’ (Rottenberg).  Each of these new criteria responds to the demands for inclusivity and equity, and is evidence that criteria can and should evolve as social morals evolve.

Comparative Evaluation

Many times we will need to evaluate the worth of one subject in relation to another in order to judge which is better. Of course, we will need to decide on the basis for comparison, or the criteria to be used, and make that basis clear. Then we will need to evaluate each subject according to the criteria. In comparisons, ranking the criteria will often be important because one subject may do better on one criterion and worse on another.  We’ll need to know which criterion is more important in order to decide which comes out ahead overall.

The point-by-point organizational technique described in 3.9: Comparing and Contrasting Arguments can be helpful in structuring such an essay because it allows us to write about one criterion at a time and see how both subjects compare on that one point before moving on to the next criterion. For example, we might compare the job of being a nanny with the job of being a preschool teacher.  In one section, we would compare earnings for each job, and in another section, we would discuss potential for professional growth. If nannies come out ahead on earnings and teachers come out ahead on professional growth opportunities, then we will need to rank these criteria in order of importance to decide which job to recommend.

Sample evaluation arguments

To get a sense of what research-based evaluation arguments look like in college classes, see this  sample evaluation argument essay prompt and the  sample outline to match it. For a full sample evaluation essay, see “Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States.” Annotations on that essay point out how the author uses evaluation argument strategies.    We offer it in two formats:

• Sample evaluation essay “Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States” in PDF version with margin notes
• Sample evaluation essay “Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States” accessible version with notes in parentheses

Reflect on the following questions to construct your own evaluation argument.

• What makes a person a good role model?  Choose your top three criteria.
• How would you rank those criteria in order of importance?
• Choose two prominent public figures from history, pop culture or politics, dead or alive, who would be interesting to compare as role models.
• Evaluate each person according to the three criteria you identified.
• Which figure comes out as the better role model?
• If you ranked the criteria differently, would the other one come out ahead?
• What is most controversial in your evaluation?  Is it the choice of criteria, the ranking of the criteria, or the idea that your figure fits certain criteria?

Sample Evaluation Argument Prompt and Outline

Below is a sample essay prompt that calls on students to make a case that a particular environmental focus will meet certain criteria for engaging the public.  We offer one sample argument outline to respond to the prompt.

Sample Evaluation Argument Prompt

Environmental groups and journalists choose many different approaches to engaging the public. Clearly, they need to raise awareness about urgent concerns, but they also need to consider what viewers will connect to emotionally. Some issues have direct adverse effects for humans, like toxins in the water we drink. Others have immediate effects on ecosystems, like the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Others, like endangered species such as elephants and whales, become symbols of human longing, empathy, and reverence.

Choose one environmental issue you would recommend such groups to focus on and explain your choice.  What makes this issue both scientifically urgent and emotionally appealing?  In order to make your case, consider how you will measure urgency (By statistics on health impacts? Species extinction? Economic disruptions?) and how you will gauge the emotional appeal (By the popularity of past memes and documentaries and campaigns on the issue? By its connection to popular leisure activities? By how relatable it is?).

Sample Evaluation Argument Outline

Photo by  Mohamed Nashah  on  Unsplash  under the Unsplash License.

Title: My Love is as Great as the Ocean: Engaging Citizen Oceanic Stewards

I. thesis statement: because of its scientific importance and its power in the human imagination, the ocean should be a focus of environmental advocacy., ii. topic sentence: the ocean has symbolic resonance because in many cultures, it is connected with the birth of life and powerful goddesses and gods..

• Mami Wata, a West African water goddess, is important to many in the African Diaspora and has her own priests today.
• In Hindu mythology and classic texts, Samudra and Varuna play key roles as gods of the ocean.
• In Greek mythology, Eros, or love, gave birth to earth, Gaia, which included the sea.
• Greek gods like Poseidon and Roman Neptune have figured in western popular culture for many centuries.
• In the Ancient Summerian text Enuma Elish , the goddess Tiamat gives birth to all life by releasing her waters around Earth.

III. Topic Sentence: The ocean also has symbolic resonance because it gave rise to the first life forms.

• Ancient myths have their parallel in scientific fact.
• Science has popularized the idea that life likely originated in the oceans over 3 billion years ago.
• 2021 research into microbe fossils in South African gold mines supports the idea that life first formed in thermal vents on the sea floor.

III. Topic Sentence: Our visceral response to the ocean’s presence is even more powerful than its symbolism.

• Our intuitive sensory and emotional response to the ocean is deep.
• We love the ocean because it’s powerful; it humbles us with its relentless kinetic energy.
• It grounds us with its refreshing breeze and rhythmic waves, renewing our spirits.
• It promotes well-being: water contains negative ions which counter the positive ions that cause bad moods.

III. Topic Sentence: Oceans help heal our planet; they counteract various environmental problems.

• In addition to fast-disappearing rainforests, oceans provide the majority of our oxygen
• Recent climate science tells us we’re at the tipping point. Oceans help maintain atmospheric temperatures by absorbing carbon dioxide.

IV. Topic Sentence: Yet oceans are being profoundly damaged by human activities.

• As oceans absorb carbon dioxide, they get more acidic, which threatens species that depend on hard shells.
• Millions of tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, creating huge garbage patches.
• Overfishing has depleted fish stocks: there may be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 unless trends change.

Conclusion: Perhaps if environmental groups focus more on spreading these ideas, many more people will help protect the ocean and feel their love for it grow.

• While science is an excellent reason to take action, our basic humanity should be commanding us to protect and cherish the oceans that begat us.
• Love is the greatest quality humans possess and it can and should guide us to protect our mother ocean.

Attributions

Original content by Allison Murray with additions by Anna Mills, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 .  

Screen-Reader Accessible Annotated Evaluation Argument

Format note: This version is accessible to screen reader users.  Refer to these  tips for reading our annotated sample arguments with a screen reader . For a more traditional visual format, see the PDF version of “Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States” above.

Anonymous Student

Anonymous Professor

English 101

Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States

The United States is the only modernized Western nation that does not offer publicly funded health care to all its citizens; the costs of health care for the uninsured in the United States are prohibitive, and insurance companies are often more interested in profit margins than providing health care. These conditions are incompatible with U.S. ideals and standards. Universal health care coverage is a better system for all citizens because it is more cost-effective and upholds the value of human life. (Note: The thesis evaluates universal healthcare based on two specific criteria.)

One of the most common arguments against providing universal health care coverage (UHC) is that it will cost too much money, but in fact, UHC is a cheaper option than private insurance if one considers all costs. (Note: This body paragraph addresses the criteria of cost by answering the question, “How cheap is universal healthcare?” The author summarizes a counterargument about cost and then refutes it.) While providing health care for all U.S. citizens would cost a lot of money for every tax-paying citizen, citizens need to examine exactly how much money it would cost, and more importantly, how much money is too much when it comes to opening up health care for all. Those who have health insurance already pay a considerable amount of money, and those without coverage are charged unfathomable amounts. The cost of publicly funded health care versus the cost of current insurance premiums is unclear. In fact, some Americans, especially those in lower income brackets, could stand to pay less than their current premiums.

Under the current system, even patients with coverage must pay for some treatments out of pocket. (Note: This paragraph continues the discussion of cost, introducing a particular case in which the current system means high costs for patients.) Each day an American acquires a form of cancer, and the only effective treatment might be considered experimental by an insurance company and thus is not covered. The costs may be so prohibitive that the patient will either opt for a less effective, but covered, treatment; opt for no treatment at all; or attempt to pay the costs of treatment and experience unimaginable financial consequences. Medical bills in these cases can easily rise into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is enough to force even wealthy families out of their homes and into perpetual debt. Even though each American could someday face this unfortunate situation, many still choose to take the financial risk. Instead of gambling with health and financial welfare, U.S. citizens should press their representatives to set up UHC, where their coverage will be guaranteed and affordable.

A common argument against UHC in the United States is that other comparable national health care systems, like that of England, France, or Canada do not deliver timely patient care. (Note: Introduces a counterargument.) UHC opponents claim that sick patients in these countries often wait in long lines or long wait lists for basic health care. A fair amount of truth lies in these claims, but Americans must remember to put those problems in context with the problems of the current U.S. system as well. (Note: The author admits seeing some merit in the counterargument before they go on to offer a rebuttal.) It is true that people often wait to see a doctor in countries with UHC, but we in the United States wait as well, and we often schedule appointments weeks in advance, only to have onerous waits in the doctor’s waiting rooms.

Even if UHC would cost Americans a bit more money each year, we ought to reflect on what type of country we would like to live in, and what types of morals we represent if we are more willing to deny health care to others on the basis of saving a few hundred dollars per year.  (Note: This paragraph focuses on the criteria of values.) In a system that privileges capitalism and rugged individualism, little room remains for compassion and love. It is time that Americans realize the amorality of U.S. hospitals forced to turn away the sick and poor. UHC is a health care system that aligns more closely with the core values that so many Americans espouse and respect, and it is time to realize its potential.

Despite the opponents’ claims against UHC, a universal system will save lives and encourage the health of all Americans. It is time for Americans to start thinking socially about health in the same ways they think about education and police services: as a right of U.S. citizens.

Adapted from an essay included in Writing for Success , licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 . Annotations by Natalie Peterkin, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 .  

Chapter Attribution

This chapter is from “Forming a Research-Based Argument” in in How Arguments Work: A Guide to Writing and Analyzing Texts in College by Anna Mills under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Upping Your Argument and Research Game Copyright © 2022 by Liona Burnham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Jun 29, 2023

Evaluation Essay Examples: Master the Art of Critical Assessment with Examples and Techniques

Want to turn good evaluation essays into great ones? We've got you covered with the guidance and insights you need. Join us as we delve into the art of critical assessment!

An evaluation paper's main purpose is to assess entities like a book, movie, restaurant, or product and provide constructive criticism. This writing style can be approached with serious objectivity or with humor and sarcasm. Reviewing is a common form of academic writing that serves to assess something and is often used in various fields as a research method. For example, research papers might include literature reviews or case studies, using evaluation as an analytical tool.

Evaluation reports can also take the form of analyses and critiques. A critique of a scientific study would look at its methodology and findings, while an analysis of a novel would focus on its themes, characters, and writing style. It's essential to consider your audience and your purpose before starting an evaluation document.

Evaluation papers are a versatile and meaningful writing form that can both educate and entertain audiences. Regardless of whether the tone is serious or humorous, objective or subjective, a well-written review can engage and educate.

To understand everything about evaluation essays, from their definition and purpose to potential topics and writing tips, read on.

What are Evaluation Essays?

An evaluation essay allows the author to make a claim and offer a verdict on a topic. This essay type can be used to identify the best option among several alternatives, or to analyze a specific method, product, or situation. It is a common academic task across all levels. Evaluation essays come in different forms, from online product reviews to business cases prepared by management professionals.

In contrast to a descriptive essay, an evaluation essay aims to express the author's judgment. However, this essay type is defined by an objective tone. The author's judgment should be based on careful examination of the available evidence. This differs from a persuasive essay, which seeks to convince the reader to adopt the author's point of view. An evaluation essay starts with the facts and forms conclusions based on these facts.

How to Write an Evaluation Essay?

To write an effective evaluation essay, follow these essential writing tips:

1. Select a Topic

The essay topic is crucial. It should be both educational and interesting, providing enough information to fill an entire essay.

2. Draft an Evaluation Essay Outline

Professional writers always advise creating an evaluation essay outline before writing the essay itself. This aids in writing and ensures content coherence. An outline is also easier to modify than a complete essay. Think about what should be included and excluded when designing your essay's outline. However, skipping this step and diving straight into the essay writing can create extra work later, as it can mean editing and revising the entire piece.

The general components of an evaluation essay outline include:

a. Introduction

The introduction is vital as it forms the readers' first impression. It should engage readers and arouse their interest in the topic. The aspects to consider when writing the introduction are as follows:

Begin with a compelling hook statement to capture the reader's interest.

Provide background information on the topic for better understanding.

Formulate a clear and concise thesis statement, outlining the main objective of the evaluation.

b. Body Section

The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs. Each paragraph should deliver several related ideas and flow seamlessly from start to finish. The key ideas to cover in the body paragraphs include:

Start with a sentence that presents your view on the topic.

Provide arguments that support the topic sentence and your stance.

Present a well-rounded argument to show impartiality.

Compare the subject to a different topic to showcase its strengths and weaknesses.

Present the evaluation from various angles, applying both approving and critical thinking.

c. Conclusion

This is your final chance to convince the reader of your viewpoint. The conclusion should summarize the essay and present the overall evaluation and final assessment. When composing an evaluation essay's conclusion, keep the following points in mind:

Restate your main points and arguments from the essay body.

Present evidence to support your thesis.

Conclude your argument convincingly, ultimately persuading the reader of your assessment.

3. Review, Edit, and Proofread

The final steps after writing the essay are editing and proofreading. Carefully reading your essay will help identify and correct any unintentional errors. If necessary, review your draft multiple times to ensure no mistakes are present.

Structure of an Evaluation Essay

An evaluation essay, like any good piece of writing, follows a basic structure: an introduction, body, and conclusion. But to make your evaluation essay standout, it's crucial to distinctly outline every segment and explain the process that led you to your final verdict. Here's how to do it:

Introduction

Start strong. Your introduction needs to captivate your readers and compel them to read further. To accomplish this, begin with a clear declaration of purpose. Provide a brief background of the work being evaluated to showcase your expertise on the topic.

Next, rephrase the essay prompt, stating the purpose of your piece. For example, "This essay will critically assess X, utilizing Y standards, and analyzing its pros and cons." This presents your comprehension of the task at hand.

Wrap up your introduction with a thesis statement that clearly outlines the topics to be discussed in the body. This way, you set the stage for the essay's content and direction, sparking curiosity for the main body of the work.

Body of the Essay

Dive deep, but not without preparation. Before delving into the assessment, offer an unbiased overview of the topic being evaluated. This reaffirms your understanding and familiarity with the subject.

Each paragraph of the body should focus on one evaluation criterion, presenting either support or criticism for the point. This structured approach ensures clarity while presenting evidence to substantiate each point. For instance, discussing the benefits of a product, you can outline each advantage and back it up with supporting evidence like customer reviews or scientific studies.

Ensure a smooth flow of thoughts by linking paragraphs with transitional phrases like "in addition," "moreover," and "furthermore." Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, explanation, and supporting evidence or examples for easy understanding.

Your conclusion is where you make your final, compelling argument. It should focus on summarizing the points made according to your evaluation criteria. This isn't the place for new information but rather a concise summary of your work.

To conclude effectively, revisit your thesis and check whether it holds up or falls short based on your analysis. This completes the narrative arc and provides a solid stance on the topic. A thoughtful conclusion should consider the potential impact and outcomes of your evaluation, illustrating that your findings are based on the available data and recognizing the potential need for further exploration.

Evaluation Essay Examples

Now that we've covered the structure, let's take a look at some examples. Remember, an evaluation essay is just one type of essay that can be generated using tools like Jenni.ai. This AI-powered software can produce high-quality essays on any topic at impressive speeds. Here are some ideas to kickstart your assessment essay writing journey.

Evaluation Essay: Online Teaching vs. On-campus Teaching

In the face of technological evolution, education has seen a shift in teaching styles, with online learning platforms providing an alternative to traditional on-campus teaching. This essay will evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these two teaching styles, delving into various factors that contribute to their strengths and weaknesses.

The landscape of education has transformed significantly with the advent of online learning. This essay will scrutinize and juxtapose the effectiveness of online teaching against traditional on-campus teaching. The evaluation will take into account numerous factors that contribute to the success of each teaching style, focusing on their individual benefits and drawbacks.

On-campus Teaching

On-campus teaching, the time-tested method of education, has proven its effectiveness repeatedly. The physical classroom setting provides students direct access to their teachers, promoting immediate feedback and real-time interaction. Moreover, the hands-on learning, group discussions, and collaborative projects intrinsic to on-campus teaching cultivate crucial soft skills like communication and teamwork.

A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that students attending on-campus classes show higher academic performance and are more likely to complete their degrees compared to those in online classes (Bettinger & Loeb, 2017). However, on-campus teaching isn't without its challenges. It offers limited flexibility in scheduling and requires physical attendance, which can be inconvenient for students residing far from campus or those with mobility constraints.

Online Teaching

Online teaching, propelled by technological advancements and digital learning platforms, offers a compelling alternative. The most significant benefit of online teaching is its scheduling flexibility. Students can access classes and course materials from anywhere, at any time, providing a superior balance for work, family, and other commitments.

Online teaching democratizes education by enabling access for students in remote areas or with mobility challenges. The use of innovative teaching methods like interactive multimedia and gamification enhances engagement and enjoyment in learning.

Despite its numerous advantages, online teaching presents its own set of challenges. A major drawback is the lack of direct interaction with teachers and peers, potentially leading to delayed feedback and feelings of isolation. Furthermore, online classes demand a higher degree of self-motivation and discipline, which may be challenging for some students.

Both online teaching and on-campus teaching present their unique benefits and drawbacks. While on-campus teaching fosters direct interaction and immediate feedback, online teaching provides unmatched flexibility and accessibility. The choice between the two often depends on factors such as the course content, learning objectives, and student preferences.

A study by the University of Massachusetts reports that the academic performance of students in online classes is on par with those attending on-campus classes (Allen & Seaman, 2017). Furthermore, online classes are more cost-effective, eliminating the need for physical classrooms and related resources.

In conclusion, while both teaching styles have their merits, the effectiveness of each is heavily dependent on the subject matter, learning objectives, and the individual needs and preferences of students.

Citations: Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2017). Digital learning compass: Distance education enrollment report 2017. Babson Survey Research Group. Bettinger, E., & Loeb, S. (2017). Promises and pitfalls of online education. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring 2017, 347-384.

Evaluation essay: Analyze how the roles of females and males changed in recent romantic movies

Romantic movies have long been a popular genre, offering a glimpse into the complex and varied world of relationships. Over the years, the portrayal of gender roles in romantic movies has evolved significantly. This essay aims to evaluate and analyze how the roles of females and males have changed in recent romantic movies.

Historical Context of Gender Roles in Romantic Movies:

Gender roles have played a significant role in shaping the portrayal of romantic relationships in movies. In the past, traditional gender roles were often reinforced, with women playing the role of the damsel in distress, and men playing the role of the protector and provider.

However, over the years, the feminist movement and other social changes have led to a more nuanced portrayal of gender roles in romantic movies. Women are no longer just passive objects of desire, and men are not just dominant figures. Instead, both genders are portrayed as complex and multifaceted individuals with their desires, needs, and struggles.

Analysis of Recent Romantic Movies:

In recent years, romantic movies have become more diverse and inclusive, featuring a wider range of gender identities, sexual orientations, and cultural backgrounds. As a result, the portrayal of gender roles in these movies has also become more nuanced and complex.

One significant trend in recent romantic movies is the portrayal of female characters as strong, independent, and empowered. Female characters are no longer just passive objects of desire, waiting for the male lead to sweep them off their feet. Instead, they are shown to be capable of taking charge of their own lives, pursuing their goals, and making their own decisions.

For example, in the movie "Crazy Rich Asians," the female lead, Rachel, is portrayed as a strong and independent woman who stands up for herself and refuses to be intimidated by the wealthy and powerful people around her. Similarly, in the movie "The Shape of Water," the female lead, Elisa, is portrayed as a determined and resourceful woman who takes action to rescue the creature she has fallen in love with.

Another trend in recent romantic movies is the portrayal of male characters as vulnerable and emotionally expressive. Male characters are no longer just stoic and unemotional but are shown to have their insecurities, fears, and vulnerabilities.

For example, in the movie "Call Me By Your Name," the male lead, Elio, is shown to be sensitive and emotional, struggling with his feelings for another man. Similarly, in the movie "Moonlight," the male lead, Chiron, is shown to be vulnerable and emotionally expressive, struggling with his identity and his relationships with those around him.

However, while there have been significant changes in the portrayal of gender roles in recent romantic movies, there are still some aspects that remain problematic. For example, female characters are still often portrayed as objects of desire, with their value determined by their physical appearance and sexual appeal. Male characters are still often portrayed as dominant and aggressive, with their masculinity tied to their ability to assert control over others.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the portrayal of gender roles in recent romantic movies has evolved significantly, with female characters being portrayed as strong, independent, and empowered, and male characters being portrayed as vulnerable and emotionally expressive. These changes reflect the shifting social norms and values of our society and offer a more nuanced and complex portrayal of romantic relationships.

However, there are still some problematic aspects of the portrayal of gender roles in romantic movies, such as the objectification of female characters and the perpetuation of toxic masculinity. Filmmakers and audiences need to continue to push for greater diversity, inclusivity, and nuance in the portrayal of gender roles in romantic movies so that everyone can see themselves reflected in these stories.

"Crazy Rich Asians" Directed by Jon M. Chu, performances by Constance Wu, Henry Golding, and Michelle

Final Thoughts

The step-by-step guide and examples provided should have equipped you with the skills necessary to write a successful evaluation essay. However, crafting the perfect essay isn't a simple task; it demands practice, patience, and experience.

Incorporate Jenni.ai into your academic journey to revolutionize your writing experience. This advanced AI writing tool is designed to assist with a range of academic writing projects. With Jenni.ai, you can confidently tackle essays on any topic, easing your writing tasks considerably. Don't hesitate to register with Jenni.ai today ! Discover a world of writing opportunities and take your essay writing skills to new heights!

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Writing Studio

Identifying and evaluating arguments.

In an effort to make our handouts more accessible, we have begun converting our PDF handouts to web pages. Download this page as a PDF: Identifying and Evaluating Arguments Return to Writing Studio Handouts

An argument differs from a description, a statement of belief or opinion, a hypothetical scenario, a command, or a mere set of facts. While each of these may have its own intents and purposes, an argument uses a series of statements to convince a listener or reader that certain facts, conditions, or positions are true.

Premises and Conclusions

An argument’s premise is an initial or foundational statement or assumption that sets forth the reason or evidence, and from which the conclusion of the argument follows. Often, the premises and the conclusions of an argument can be identified by the use of key words or phrases.

The following words and phrases might indicate a premise :

• as indicated by
• for the reason that
• in as much as
• may be inferred from
• seeing that

The following words and phrases might indicate a conclusion :

• accordingly
• entails that
• we may conclude
• it must be that
• it follows that
• consequently
• implies that
• as a result

Useful Questions for Evaluating an Argument

1. what assumptions does the writer make.

Does the writer assume that you will come to the text with certain knowledge, or that you will share certain of his or her values?

2. Does the writer have an agenda?

If the writer has a particular political slant, for example, where does it show through in the argument? Does it sway or influence his or her interpretations of the evidence? How?

3. How does the author use language?

What is the writer’s tone of voice? Are there specific words that you find intriguing, effective, ineffective, or downright bizarre? Are there specific rhetorical “moves” being made, effectively or ineffectively?

4. How convincing is the writer’s evidence?

Does it come from trustworthy and credible sources? Is it relevant? Does the writer interpret that evidence in a way that makes sense?

5. How convincing is the writer’s overall argument?

Do you think the writer accomplishes what she set out to accomplish? Depending on the assignment, your answer to this question may be your thesis!

Last revised: 7/2008 |  Adapted for web delivery: 2/2021

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 3 strong argumentative essay examples, analyzed.

General Education

Need to defend your opinion on an issue? Argumentative essays are one of the most popular types of essays you’ll write in school. They combine persuasive arguments with fact-based research, and, when done well, can be powerful tools for making someone agree with your point of view. If you’re struggling to write an argumentative essay or just want to learn more about them, seeing examples can be a big help.

After giving an overview of this type of essay, we provide three argumentative essay examples. After each essay, we explain in-depth how the essay was structured, what worked, and where the essay could be improved. We end with tips for making your own argumentative essay as strong as possible.

What Is an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay is an essay that uses evidence and facts to support the claim it’s making. Its purpose is to persuade the reader to agree with the argument being made.

A good argumentative essay will use facts and evidence to support the argument, rather than just the author’s thoughts and opinions. For example, say you wanted to write an argumentative essay stating that Charleston, SC is a great destination for families. You couldn’t just say that it’s a great place because you took your family there and enjoyed it. For it to be an argumentative essay, you need to have facts and data to support your argument, such as the number of child-friendly attractions in Charleston, special deals you can get with kids, and surveys of people who visited Charleston as a family and enjoyed it. The first argument is based entirely on feelings, whereas the second is based on evidence that can be proven.

The standard five paragraph format is common, but not required, for argumentative essays. These essays typically follow one of two formats: the Toulmin model or the Rogerian model.

• The Toulmin model is the most common. It begins with an introduction, follows with a thesis/claim, and gives data and evidence to support that claim. This style of essay also includes rebuttals of counterarguments.
• The Rogerian model analyzes two sides of an argument and reaches a conclusion after weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each.

3 Good Argumentative Essay Examples + Analysis

Below are three examples of argumentative essays, written by yours truly in my school days, as well as analysis of what each did well and where it could be improved.

Argumentative Essay Example 1

Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money because libraries are expensive to maintain. They also believe it will encourage more people to read because they won’t have to travel to a library to get a book; they can simply click on what they want to read and read it from wherever they are. They could also access more materials because libraries won’t have to buy physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they need.

However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. First, digital books and resources are associated with less learning and more problems than print resources. A study done on tablet vs book reading found that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same information in print. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes, headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does. People who use tablets and mobile devices excessively also have a higher incidence of more serious health issues such as fibromyalgia, shoulder and back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and muscle strain. I know that whenever I read from my e-reader for too long, my eyes begin to feel tired and my neck hurts. We should not add to these problems by giving people, especially young people, more reasons to look at screens.

Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only available if the library has a physical location. Some of these benefits include acting as a quiet study space, giving people a way to converse with their neighbors, holding classes on a variety of topics, providing jobs, answering patron questions, and keeping the community connected. One neighborhood found that, after a local library instituted community events such as play times for toddlers and parents, job fairs for teenagers, and meeting spaces for senior citizens, over a third of residents reported feeling more connected to their community. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered, benefits tablets can’t offer nearly as well or as easily.

While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite the myriad issues surrounding them. It would also end access to many of the benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. In many areas, libraries are such an important part of the community network that they could never be replaced by a simple object.

The author begins by giving an overview of the counter-argument, then the thesis appears as the first sentence in the third paragraph. The essay then spends the rest of the paper dismantling the counter argument and showing why readers should believe the other side.

What this essay does well:

• Although it’s a bit unusual to have the thesis appear fairly far into the essay, it works because, once the thesis is stated, the rest of the essay focuses on supporting it since the counter-argument has already been discussed earlier in the paper.
• This essay includes numerous facts and cites studies to support its case. By having specific data to rely on, the author’s argument is stronger and readers will be more inclined to agree with it.
• For every argument the other side makes, the author makes sure to refute it and follow up with why her opinion is the stronger one. In order to make a strong argument, it’s important to dismantle the other side, which this essay does this by making the author's view appear stronger.
• This is a shorter paper, and if it needed to be expanded to meet length requirements, it could include more examples and go more into depth with them, such as by explaining specific cases where people benefited from local libraries.
• Additionally, while the paper uses lots of data, the author also mentions their own experience with using tablets. This should be removed since argumentative essays focus on facts and data to support an argument, not the author’s own opinion or experiences. Replacing that with more data on health issues associated with screen time would strengthen the essay.
• Some of the points made aren't completely accurate , particularly the one about digital books being cheaper. It actually often costs a library more money to rent out numerous digital copies of a book compared to buying a single physical copy. Make sure in your own essay you thoroughly research each of the points and rebuttals you make, otherwise you'll look like you don't know the issue that well.

Argumentative Essay Example 2

There are multiple drugs available to treat malaria, and many of them work well and save lives, but malaria eradication programs that focus too much on them and not enough on prevention haven’t seen long-term success in Sub-Saharan Africa. A major program to combat malaria was WHO’s Global Malaria Eradication Programme. Started in 1955, it had a goal of eliminating malaria in Africa within the next ten years. Based upon previously successful programs in Brazil and the United States, the program focused mainly on vector control. This included widely distributing chloroquine and spraying large amounts of DDT. More than one billion dollars was spent trying to abolish malaria. However, the program suffered from many problems and in 1969, WHO was forced to admit that the program had not succeeded in eradicating malaria. The number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa who contracted malaria as well as the number of malaria deaths had actually increased over 10% during the time the program was active.

One of the major reasons for the failure of the project was that it set uniform strategies and policies. By failing to consider variations between governments, geography, and infrastructure, the program was not nearly as successful as it could have been. Sub-Saharan Africa has neither the money nor the infrastructure to support such an elaborate program, and it couldn’t be run the way it was meant to. Most African countries don't have the resources to send all their people to doctors and get shots, nor can they afford to clear wetlands or other malaria prone areas. The continent’s spending per person for eradicating malaria was just a quarter of what Brazil spent. Sub-Saharan Africa simply can’t rely on a plan that requires more money, infrastructure, and expertise than they have to spare.

Additionally, the widespread use of chloroquine has created drug resistant parasites which are now plaguing Sub-Saharan Africa. Because chloroquine was used widely but inconsistently, mosquitoes developed resistance, and chloroquine is now nearly completely ineffective in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 95% of mosquitoes resistant to it. As a result, newer, more expensive drugs need to be used to prevent and treat malaria, which further drives up the cost of malaria treatment for a region that can ill afford it.

Instead of developing plans to treat malaria after the infection has incurred, programs should focus on preventing infection from occurring in the first place. Not only is this plan cheaper and more effective, reducing the number of people who contract malaria also reduces loss of work/school days which can further bring down the productivity of the region.

One of the cheapest and most effective ways of preventing malaria is to implement insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs).  These nets provide a protective barrier around the person or people using them. While untreated bed nets are still helpful, those treated with insecticides are much more useful because they stop mosquitoes from biting people through the nets, and they help reduce mosquito populations in a community, thus helping people who don’t even own bed nets.  Bed nets are also very effective because most mosquito bites occur while the person is sleeping, so bed nets would be able to drastically reduce the number of transmissions during the night. In fact, transmission of malaria can be reduced by as much as 90% in areas where the use of ITNs is widespread. Because money is so scarce in Sub-Saharan Africa, the low cost is a great benefit and a major reason why the program is so successful. Bed nets cost roughly 2 USD to make, last several years, and can protect two adults. Studies have shown that, for every 100-1000 more nets are being used, one less child dies of malaria. With an estimated 300 million people in Africa not being protected by mosquito nets, there’s the potential to save three million lives by spending just a few dollars per person.

Reducing the number of people who contract malaria would also reduce poverty levels in Africa significantly, thus improving other aspects of society like education levels and the economy. Vector control is more effective than treatment strategies because it means fewer people are getting sick. When fewer people get sick, the working population is stronger as a whole because people are not put out of work from malaria, nor are they caring for sick relatives. Malaria-afflicted families can typically only harvest 40% of the crops that healthy families can harvest. Additionally, a family with members who have malaria spends roughly a quarter of its income treatment, not including the loss of work they also must deal with due to the illness. It’s estimated that malaria costs Africa 12 billion USD in lost income every year. A strong working population creates a stronger economy, which Sub-Saharan Africa is in desperate need of.  

This essay begins with an introduction, which ends with the thesis (that malaria eradication plans in Sub-Saharan Africa should focus on prevention rather than treatment). The first part of the essay lays out why the counter argument (treatment rather than prevention) is not as effective, and the second part of the essay focuses on why prevention of malaria is the better path to take.

• The thesis appears early, is stated clearly, and is supported throughout the rest of the essay. This makes the argument clear for readers to understand and follow throughout the essay.
• There’s lots of solid research in this essay, including specific programs that were conducted and how successful they were, as well as specific data mentioned throughout. This evidence helps strengthen the author’s argument.
• The author makes a case for using expanding bed net use over waiting until malaria occurs and beginning treatment, but not much of a plan is given for how the bed nets would be distributed or how to ensure they’re being used properly. By going more into detail of what she believes should be done, the author would be making a stronger argument.
• The introduction of the essay does a good job of laying out the seriousness of the problem, but the conclusion is short and abrupt. Expanding it into its own paragraph would give the author a final way to convince readers of her side of the argument.

Argumentative Essay Example 3

There are many ways payments could work. They could be in the form of a free-market approach, where athletes are able to earn whatever the market is willing to pay them, it could be a set amount of money per athlete, or student athletes could earn income from endorsements, autographs, and control of their likeness, similar to the way top Olympians earn money.

Proponents of the idea believe that, because college athletes are the ones who are training, participating in games, and bringing in audiences, they should receive some sort of compensation for their work. If there were no college athletes, the NCAA wouldn’t exist, college coaches wouldn’t receive there (sometimes very high) salaries, and brands like Nike couldn’t profit from college sports. In fact, the NCAA brings in roughly $1 billion in revenue a year, but college athletes don’t receive any of that money in the form of a paycheck. Additionally, people who believe college athletes should be paid state that paying college athletes will actually encourage them to remain in college longer and not turn pro as quickly, either by giving them a way to begin earning money in college or requiring them to sign a contract stating they’ll stay at the university for a certain number of years while making an agreed-upon salary.  

Supporters of this idea point to Zion Williamson, the Duke basketball superstar, who, during his freshman year, sustained a serious knee injury. Many argued that, even if he enjoyed playing for Duke, it wasn’t worth risking another injury and ending his professional career before it even began for a program that wasn’t paying him. Williamson seems to have agreed with them and declared his eligibility for the NCAA draft later that year. If he was being paid, he may have stayed at Duke longer. In fact, roughly a third of student athletes surveyed stated that receiving a salary while in college would make them “strongly consider” remaining collegiate athletes longer before turning pro.

Paying athletes could also stop the recruitment scandals that have plagued the NCAA. In 2018, the NCAA stripped the University of Louisville's men's basketball team of its 2013 national championship title because it was discovered coaches were using sex workers to entice recruits to join the team. There have been dozens of other recruitment scandals where college athletes and recruits have been bribed with anything from having their grades changed, to getting free cars, to being straight out bribed. By paying college athletes and putting their salaries out in the open, the NCAA could end the illegal and underhanded ways some schools and coaches try to entice athletes to join.

People who argue against the idea of paying college athletes believe the practice could be disastrous for college sports. By paying athletes, they argue, they’d turn college sports into a bidding war, where only the richest schools could afford top athletes, and the majority of schools would be shut out from developing a talented team (though some argue this already happens because the best players often go to the most established college sports programs, who typically pay their coaches millions of dollars per year). It could also ruin the tight camaraderie of many college teams if players become jealous that certain teammates are making more money than they are.

They also argue that paying college athletes actually means only a small fraction would make significant money. Out of the 350 Division I athletic departments, fewer than a dozen earn any money. Nearly all the money the NCAA makes comes from men’s football and basketball, so paying college athletes would make a small group of men--who likely will be signed to pro teams and begin making millions immediately out of college--rich at the expense of other players.

Those against paying college athletes also believe that the athletes are receiving enough benefits already. The top athletes already receive scholarships that are worth tens of thousands per year, they receive free food/housing/textbooks, have access to top medical care if they are injured, receive top coaching, get travel perks and free gear, and can use their time in college as a way to capture the attention of professional recruiters. No other college students receive anywhere near as much from their schools.

People on this side also point out that, while the NCAA brings in a massive amount of money each year, it is still a non-profit organization. How? Because over 95% of those profits are redistributed to its members’ institutions in the form of scholarships, grants, conferences, support for Division II and Division III teams, and educational programs. Taking away a significant part of that revenue would hurt smaller programs that rely on that money to keep running.

While both sides have good points, it’s clear that the negatives of paying college athletes far outweigh the positives. College athletes spend a significant amount of time and energy playing for their school, but they are compensated for it by the scholarships and perks they receive. Adding a salary to that would result in a college athletic system where only a small handful of athletes (those likely to become millionaires in the professional leagues) are paid by a handful of schools who enter bidding wars to recruit them, while the majority of student athletics and college athletic programs suffer or even shut down for lack of money. Continuing to offer the current level of benefits to student athletes makes it possible for as many people to benefit from and enjoy college sports as possible.

This argumentative essay follows the Rogerian model. It discusses each side, first laying out multiple reasons people believe student athletes should be paid, then discussing reasons why the athletes shouldn’t be paid. It ends by stating that college athletes shouldn’t be paid by arguing that paying them would destroy college athletics programs and cause them to have many of the issues professional sports leagues have.

• Both sides of the argument are well developed, with multiple reasons why people agree with each side. It allows readers to get a full view of the argument and its nuances.
• Certain statements on both sides are directly rebuffed in order to show where the strengths and weaknesses of each side lie and give a more complete and sophisticated look at the argument.
• Using the Rogerian model can be tricky because oftentimes you don’t explicitly state your argument until the end of the paper. Here, the thesis doesn’t appear until the first sentence of the final paragraph. That doesn’t give readers a lot of time to be convinced that your argument is the right one, compared to a paper where the thesis is stated in the beginning and then supported throughout the paper. This paper could be strengthened if the final paragraph was expanded to more fully explain why the author supports the view, or if the paper had made it clearer that paying athletes was the weaker argument throughout.

3 Tips for Writing a Good Argumentative Essay

Now that you’ve seen examples of what good argumentative essay samples look like, follow these three tips when crafting your own essay.

#1: Make Your Thesis Crystal Clear

The thesis is the key to your argumentative essay; if it isn’t clear or readers can’t find it easily, your entire essay will be weak as a result. Always make sure that your thesis statement is easy to find. The typical spot for it is the final sentence of the introduction paragraph, but if it doesn’t fit in that spot for your essay, try to at least put it as the first or last sentence of a different paragraph so it stands out more.

Also make sure that your thesis makes clear what side of the argument you’re on. After you’ve written it, it’s a great idea to show your thesis to a couple different people--classmates are great for this. Just by reading your thesis they should be able to understand what point you’ll be trying to make with the rest of your essay.

#2: Show Why the Other Side Is Weak

When writing your essay, you may be tempted to ignore the other side of the argument and just focus on your side, but don’t do this. The best argumentative essays really tear apart the other side to show why readers shouldn’t believe it. Before you begin writing your essay, research what the other side believes, and what their strongest points are. Then, in your essay, be sure to mention each of these and use evidence to explain why they’re incorrect/weak arguments. That’ll make your essay much more effective than if you only focused on your side of the argument.

#3: Use Evidence to Support Your Side

Remember, an essay can’t be an argumentative essay if it doesn’t support its argument with evidence. For every point you make, make sure you have facts to back it up. Some examples are previous studies done on the topic, surveys of large groups of people, data points, etc. There should be lots of numbers in your argumentative essay that support your side of the argument. This will make your essay much stronger compared to only relying on your own opinions to support your argument.

Summary: Argumentative Essay Sample

Argumentative essays are persuasive essays that use facts and evidence to support their side of the argument. Most argumentative essays follow either the Toulmin model or the Rogerian model. By reading good argumentative essay examples, you can learn how to develop your essay and provide enough support to make readers agree with your opinion. When writing your essay, remember to always make your thesis clear, show where the other side is weak, and back up your opinion with data and evidence.

What's Next?

Do you need to write an argumentative essay as well? Check out our guide on the best argumentative essay topics for ideas!

You'll probably also need to write research papers for school. We've got you covered with 113 potential topics for research papers.

Your college admissions essay may end up being one of the most important essays you write. Follow our step-by-step guide on writing a personal statement to have an essay that'll impress colleges.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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7.4.2: Annotated Sample Evaluation Argument

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English 101

Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States

The United States is the only modernized Western nation that does not offer publicly funded health care to all its citizens; the costs of health care for the uninsured in the United States are prohibitive, and insurance companies are often more interested in profit margins than providing health care. These conditions are incompatible with U.S. ideals and standards. Universal health care coverage is a better system for all citizens because it is more cost-effective and upholds the value of human life. (Note: The thesis evaluates universal healthcare based on two specific criteria.)

One of the most common arguments against providing universal health care coverage (UHC) is that it will cost too much money, but in fact, UHC is a cheaper option than private insurance if one considers all costs. (Note: This body paragraph addresses the criteria of cost by answering the question, "How cheap is universal healthcare?" The author summarizes a counterargument about cost and then refutes it.) While providing health care for all U.S. citizens would cost a lot of money for every tax-paying citizen, citizens need to examine exactly how much money it would cost, and more importantly, how much money is too much when it comes to opening up health care for all. Those who have health insurance already pay a considerable amount of money, and those without coverage are charged unfathomable amounts. The cost of publicly funded health care versus the cost of current insurance premiums is unclear. In fact, some Americans, especially those in lower income brackets, could stand to pay less than their current premiums.

 Under the current system, even patients with coverage must pay for some treatments out of pocket. (Note: This paragraph continues the discussion of cost, introducing a particular case in which the current system means high costs for patients.) Each day an American acquires a form of cancer, and the only effective treatment might be considered experimental by an insurance company and thus is not covered. The costs may be so prohibitive that the patient will either opt for a less effective, but covered, treatment; opt for no treatment at all; or attempt to pay the costs of treatment and experience unimaginable financial consequences. Medical bills in these cases can easily rise into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is enough to force even wealthy families out of their homes and into perpetual debt. Even though each American could someday face this unfortunate situation, many still choose to take the financial risk. Instead of gambling with health and financial welfare, U.S. citizens should press their representatives to set up UHC, where their coverage will be guaranteed and affordable.

A common argument against UHC in the United States is that other comparable national health care systems, like that of England, France, or Canada do not deliver timely patient care. (Note: Introduces a counterargument.) UHC opponents claim that sick patients in these countries often wait in long lines or long wait lists for basic health care. A fair amount of truth lies in these claims, but Americans must remember to put those problems in context with the problems of the current U.S. system as well. (Note: The author admits seeing some merit in the counterargument before they go on to offer a rebuttal.) It is true that people often wait to see a doctor in countries with UHC, but we in the United States wait as well, and we often schedule appointments weeks in advance, only to have onerous waits in the doctor’s waiting rooms.

Even if UHC would cost Americans a bit more money each year, we ought to reflect on what type of country we would like to live in, and what types of morals we represent if we are more willing to deny health care to others on the basis of saving a few hundred dollars per year.  (Note: This paragraph focuses on the criteria of values.) In a system that privileges capitalism and rugged individualism, little room remains for compassion and love. It is time that Americans realize the amorality of U.S. hospitals forced to turn away the sick and poor. UHC is a health care system that aligns more closely with the core values that so many Americans espouse and respect, and it is time to realize its potential.

Despite the opponents’ claims against UHC, a universal system will save lives and encourage the health of all Americans. It is time for Americans to start thinking socially about health in the same ways they think about education and police services: as a right of U.S. citizens.

Attributions

Adapted from an essay included in Writing for Success , licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 . Annotations by Natalie Peterkin, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 .  

Evaluation Essay

Creating an essay is a part of every student’s academic journey. There are different kinds of essays that can be a part of a  student writing  task. One of these essays is the evaluation essay. What can set apart an evaluation essay from various kinds of academic essays is that it can also be used in different undertakings within the corporate and professional environment. Evaluation essays are not limited to be used for educational purposes as it can also be beneficial in the fields of business, research and community development.

An evaluation essay contains an objective assessment that is written by an individual who should be fully-knowledgeable of what he or she is writing about. More so, this essay relays the sound judgement about a specific subject matter or topic of discussion. Each evaluation essay are based on evaluative writing that are commonly created in accordance to a set of criteria or value measurements. We have curated ten evaluation essays that you can refer to if you want to write your own evaluation essay.

Self-Evaluation Essay Sample

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Student Self-Evaluation Essay

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Things to Remember When Writing an Evaluation Essay

An evaluation essay should always be direct to the point and specific as it contains factual information that is essential to be known by the readers. To avoid  common essay mistakes , some of the things that you should always remind yourself when writing an evaluation essay are listed below.

• When writing an evaluation essay, a writer must always be backed up by evidences so that he or she can support the evaluation being made. If you are writing an evaluation essay, you should always be objective with the content that you are presenting. Your opinion matters but you should make sure that it is based on reality. Evaluation essays work best if the readers can identify the sources that you have used to come up with the assessment that they are currently reading. If you will ensure that there is enough evidences to support you, then your evaluation essay can be more credible and relevant.
• Be specific with the kind of evaluation essay that you are creating. An evaluation essay can only be effective if you are aware of the purpose on why you are writing the document. Being able to present details, comments, and information that is directly related to the kind of evaluation essay that you are writing can help you create a highly-usable output. There are different kinds of evaluation essays and you should be aware that each of them have differences depending on the purpose of their creation. Come up with a highly-usable and effective evaluation essay by directly providing the needs of your readers.
• Always be clear when presenting your evaluation. Since the main purpose of an evaluation essay is to relay your viewpoint about a specific subject, you have to make sure that you will be precise and concise when delivering the message that you want your readers to be knowledgeable of. You have to explain how you were able to create the evaluation which includes the specification of the factors that you have considered within the entirety of the evaluation and writing process.

Humanities Project Evaluation Essay

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Printable Self-Evaluation Essay Example

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Purposes of an Evaluation Essay

There is a wide variety of evaluation  essay examples that are specifically created for particular purposes. Evaluation essays can cover a lot of topics which is why it is used in a range of industries and processes. The different kinds of evaluation essays can be used for the following instances and activities:

• To create a book report or a review of a book’s content and how it has affected the reader
• To identify critical points of a written work may it be a poem, another essay or a research paper
• To create a literature or literary review to fully identify the content of a literary piece
• To give critique about an initial analysis or a full process
• To support the processes of employment regularization or employee promotion
• To assess and analyze the results of a reading activity
• To add value to a recommendation letter
• To analyze a research topic that can fully affect the entire research activity
• To evaluate the work performance of either a student or an employee
• To identify the strengths and weaknesses of an individual through a self-evaluation

With the different ways on how you can use an evaluation essay, it is safe to say that there are a lot of fields of expertise that can benefit from this document. When creating your own evaluation essay, you should always keep in mind that the content of your essay must be relevant to the message that you would like to disseminate or share to your target readers.

Thesis Paper Evaluation Essay Example

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Evaluation Essay Sample in PDF

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Qualitative Evaluation Essay Example

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Steps in Writing an Evaluation Essay

If you want to create an evaluation essay, you should be strategic when it comes to the presentation of information that can be helpful in the writing activity. Your evaluation essay can only be fully-maximized if there is an organized discussion of your evaluation as well as the facts that can support your thesis statement.

Here is an  essay writing basic guide  that you may follow when writing an evaluation essay:

• Be aware of your topic. The first thing that you need to do when writing an evaluation essay is to be knowledgeable about the topic that you will write about. As much as possible, research about the subject of discussion so you can easily identify the characteristics that you can evaluate and the criteria that you will use for evaluation.
• Make sure to have a set of criteria that can help you determine your evaluation. Once you are already aware of your topic, you can already set criteria that will serve as the basis for your evaluation. If you will properly identify the criteria that will best fit your needs for the specific evaluation, then you can make your evaluation essay stronger and more effective.
• Refer to samples and templates of evaluation essays. It will be helpful if you will look at different kinds of evaluation essay samples and templates. These documents can help you be more familiar with what an evaluation essay is and how the details present in this kind of essay should be arranged and presented.
• Create an evaluation essay draft. It will depend on you if you will use a template as your guide when writing an evaluation essay. You can also just browse through samples and start your evaluation essay from scratch. One thing that we highly suggest you should do is to make a draft or an outline of the discussion that you would like to have. This can help you ensure that all the necessary information will be placed in your final evaluation essay.
• Start writing the content of your evaluation essay. Through the help of the draft that you have created, write a thesis in the first paragraph of your essay. This is the part where you can discuss the topic that you will use for evaluation and the statement on whether you think positively or negatively of the subject. The way that you create a thesis statement will be based on the nature of operations or functions where the essay will be used.
• Incorporate evidences in your discussion so you can support your claims and/or opinions. After your thesis statement and discussion of important details, your next paragraphs should contain your opinions as well as the evidence that you have used as references. You can end your evaluation essay by having a firm statement of your conclusion.

Printable Self-Evaluation Essay Sample

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Self-Assessment Essay Example

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Simple Self-Evaluation Essay Example

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Evaluation Essay as an Important Written Document

An evaluation essay should be taken seriously especially in matters where its content can affect other people or even an entire community. Since an evaluation essay is not only a part of  college essay examples  as it can also be used in business and corporate processes, you have to understand the weight of its effectiveness. May it be a self-evaluation essay or a project evaluation essay, always keep in mind that you should put together all the evident facts and your statements in a professional and objective manner.

Whether it is a  last minute essay writing  or a thoughtfully planned evaluation essay composition, being aware of the items that we have discussed in this post can help you further improve the content and structure of an evaluation essay. It will also be easier for you to come up with an evaluation that can be trusted by your readers. Present all the details that you need to discuss in an organized and informative manner so you can come up with an evaluation essay that will truly work.

Evaluation Essay Generator

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Write an Evaluation Essay on the effectiveness of online learning platforms.

Discuss the quality of a school cafeteria's lunch options in an Evaluation Essay.

Home — Essay Types — Evaluation Essay

Evaluation Essay Examples

As you progress through your high school journey, you'll encounter numerous opportunities to delve into evaluative writing. Evaluation essays, akin to position papers or argumentative essays, serve as platforms to justify viewpoints using evidence. However, they distinguish themselves by assessing the attributes of a subject against specific criteria, resembling the process of writing a review.

In the realm of evaluation essay topics, a diverse array awaits, spanning across various domains. From scrutinizing the functionality of technological gadgets to critiquing the effectiveness of public policies, each evaluative essay topics demands a thorough understanding, balanced judgment, and well-supported argument. These evaluation essay topics necessitate careful consideration of criteria, evidence, and judgments.

Choosing the Right Evaluation Essay Topics

Selecting the right topics for evaluation essays is a critical step in ensuring a successful and engaging writing process. To identify good topics for evaluation essays, it's essential to consider several factors. First and foremost, choose subjects that genuinely interest you and align with your expertise or passions. This ensures that you remain motivated and engaged throughout the writing process. Additionally, opt for topics that are relevant and timely, addressing current issues or trends in your field of study or society at large.

Evaluate the feasibility of your chosen topics by considering the availability of credible sources and evidence to support your evaluation. Look for topics that offer ample opportunities for analysis and discussion, allowing you to delve deep into the subject matter. Lastly, consider the potential audience for your essay and select topics that are likely to resonate with them, sparking their interest and prompting meaningful reflection.

By carefully considering these factors and exploring various evaluation essay ideas, you can select topics that not only showcase your analytical skills but also captivate your readers, fostering meaningful dialogue and debate.

So, It's enough to wait! Get acquainted with carefully selected evaluation essay topics and evaluation essay ideas for you right now

🔝 Top 15 Evaluation Essay Topics 2024

Choosing a compelling topic is the first step towards writing an engaging evaluation essay. Here are fifteen topics that are ripe for analysis and discussion in 2024:

• The Ethical Implications of Gene Editing Technology
• Evaluating the Efficacy of Remote Work Policies Post-Pandemic
• Assessing the Impact of Cryptocurrency on Traditional Banking Systems
• The Role of Social Media Influencers in Shaping Consumer Behavior
• Examining the Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Initiatives
• Evaluating the Accessibility of Healthcare Services in Rural Areas
• The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment Opportunities
• Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Therapy Platforms
• Evaluating the Influence of Virtual Reality on Education
• The Role of Biometric Authentication in Enhancing Security Measures
• Examining the Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion
• Assessing the Efficacy of Mental Health Awareness Campaigns
• The Impact of Digital Privacy Regulations on Internet Users
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Disaster Preparedness Plans
• Examining the Role of Social Media in Political Activism

Good Topics for Evaluation Essays

When selecting a topic for your evaluation essay, consider ones that offer ample opportunities for analysis and discussion. Here are some good topics to consider:

• The Effectiveness of Online Learning Platforms
• Evaluating the Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health
• Assessing the Nutritional Value of Plant-based Diets
• The Role of Public Art in Urban Spaces
• Effectiveness of Gun Control Policies in Reducing Crime
• Evaluating the Influence of Streaming Services on Traditional Television
• The Impact of Globalization on Small Businesses
• Examining the Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Sources versus Fossil Fuels
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mental Health Awareness Campaigns
• Assessing the Efficacy of Remote Work Policies Post-Pandemic

Easy Evaluation Essay Topics

For those seeking straightforward yet intriguing topics, here are some easy evaluation essay topics to consider:

• Evaluating a Favorite Restaurant's Quality of Service
• Assessing the Effectiveness of a Fitness App
• Reviewing a Recent Movie Release
• Evaluating the User Experience of a Social Media Platform
• Assessing the Efficiency of Public Transportation in Your City
• Reviewing a Popular Book or Novel
• Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Single-Use Plastics
• Social Work Field Education: Self-assessment
• Assessing the Quality of Customer Service at a Local Store
• Reviewing a Recent Technology Purchase
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of a New School Curriculum

Evaluation Essay Topics on Science

Science offers a wealth of topics for evaluation essays. Here are some intriguing ideas to explore:

• Assessing the Efficacy of Vaccination Campaigns
• Evaluating the Impact of Climate Change Policies
• The Role of Technology in Advancing Medical Research
• Examining the Ethics of Animal Testing in Scientific Research
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Alternative Medicine Practices
• Assessing the Impact of Space Exploration on Scientific Discovery
• The Role of Genetic Engineering in Crop Improvement
• Evaluating the Safety of Genetically Modified Foods
• Assessing the Efficacy of Stem Cell Research in Treating Diseases
• Examining the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Scientific Innovation

Evaluation Essay Topics on Relationships & Dating

Relationships and dating provide rich fodder for evaluation essays. Here are some topics to consider:

• Assessing the Impact of Long-Distance Relationships on Couples
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Online Dating Platforms
• The Role of Communication in Maintaining Healthy Relationships
• Examining the Impact of Social Media on Romantic Relationships
• Assessing the Factors That Lead to Relationship Satisfaction
• Evaluating the Importance of Trust in Relationships
• The Role of Gender Norms in Shaping Relationship Dynamics
• Assessing the Impact of Technology on Modern Dating Culture
• Examining the Role of Compatibility in Relationship Success
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Couples Therapy in Resolving Conflicts

Evaluation Topics on Environmental Issues

Environmental issues are pressing concerns that warrant evaluation. Here are some topics to delve into:

• Assessing the Impact of Deforestation on Biodiversity
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Recycling Programs
• The Role of Renewable Energy in Combating Climate Change
• Examining the Impact of Air Pollution on Public Health
• Assessing the Efficacy of Wildlife Conservation Efforts
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Environmental Education Programs
• The Role of Government Policies in Addressing Environmental Concerns
• Assessing the Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecosystems
• Examining the Effectiveness of Clean Energy Initiatives
• Evaluating the Sustainability of Current Agricultural Practices

Evaluative Essay Topics on Movies and TV

Movies and television offer rich material for evaluation essays. Here are some intriguing topics to explore:

• Assessing the Impact of Streaming Services on Traditional Television
• Evaluating the Representation of Gender in Contemporary Films
• The Role of Diversity in Shaping Popular TV Shows
• Examining the Influence of Film Scores on Audience Perception
• Assessing the Impact of Remakes and Reboots on Movie Quality
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Documentary Films in Advocacy
• The Role of Nostalgia in Shaping Film and TV Trends
• Assessing the Impact of Streaming Platforms on Film Distribution
• Titanic Movie Review: Acting and Emotions
• The Blind Side Movie Review and Analysis
• Examining the Representation of Mental Health Issues in Movies
• Evaluating the Accuracy of Historical Dramas in Depicting Events

Evaluation Essay Ideas on AI

Artificial intelligence is a rapidly evolving field with many facets to explore. Here are some ideas for evaluation essays on AI:

• Assessing the Impact of AI in Healthcare Diagnosis
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of AI Chatbots in Customer Service
• The Role of AI in Personalized Learning Environments
• Examining the Ethics of AI Surveillance Technologies
• Assessing the Impact of AI Algorithms on Social Media Content
• Evaluating the Role of AI in Autonomous Vehicles
• The Effectiveness of AI in Predicting Natural Disasters
• Assessing the Impact of AI in Financial Markets
• Examining the Role of AI in Criminal Justice Systems
• Evaluating the Ethical Implications of AI in Warfare

Writing an evaluation essay can be an engaging and insightful process, offering a unique opportunity to express your thoughts and judgments on a particular subject. Whether you’re evaluating a piece of art, a film, a product, or even a policy, the goal remains the same: to present a comprehensive and reasoned assessment. This guide, enriched with keywords for SEO purposes, aims to provide you with a solid foundation for crafting compelling evaluation essays.

What are Evaluation Essays

Evaluation essays require you to present a critical analysis of a subject, using evidence and examples to support your views. These essays are more than just your opinion; they demand a balanced examination of a topic, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. A good evaluation essay example will not only provide a judgment but also offer a clear criterion for evaluation, allowing readers to understand the basis of the assessment.

How to Write an Evaluation Essay

Embarking on the journey of writing an evaluation essay invites you into a world where critical thinking meets persuasive argumentation. This type of essay not only assesses your ability to engage deeply with a topic but also to articulate your evaluation in a structured, coherent manner. It’s about dissecting a subject, examining its components, and presenting an informed verdict. Whether you’re critiquing a piece of literature, a product’s effectiveness, or a movie’s storytelling prowess, the aim is to illuminate and persuade. Here’s how you can achieve this with finesse and depth:

• Select a Topic

Your first step is to choose a compelling topic. The best topics for evaluation essays are those that are current, controversial, or close to your heart. This selection process is crucial as it sets the tone for your entire essay. Think about what interests you and what you feel passionate about discussing.

• Draft an Evaluation Essay Outline

An outline is an essential tool in organizing your thoughts and ensuring your essay flows logically. Your evaluation essay outline should include the main points you plan to discuss, structured around an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. This will serve as a roadmap, guiding you through the writing process.

• Review, Edit, and Proofread

Once your draft is complete, take the time to review, edit, and proofread your work. This step is vital in ensuring your evaluation essay is clear, concise, and free of errors. It’s also an opportunity to strengthen your arguments and refine your evaluation criteria.

Crafting an evaluation essay requires a keen eye for detail and a profound understanding of the subject matter. Taking a closer look at an exploratory essay example can offer insightful strategies for evaluating arguments, enhancing your ability to deliver a nuanced and comprehensive critique that goes beyond surface-level analysis.

Structure of an Evaluation Essay

Understanding the structure of an evaluation essay is akin to mastering the blueprint of a sophisticated architectural design. This structure is the skeleton upon which your content hangs; it guides the reader through your evaluation with clarity and purpose. A well-structured essay not only enhances the readability of your work but also ensures that your arguments are presented coherently and persuasively. Each section of the essay has a specific role, from setting the stage in the introduction to delving into the nuanced analysis of the body, and finally, wrapping up with a conclusive verdict that resonates with the reader. Let’s explore the intricacies of each part to better understand how they contribute to the overall effectiveness of an evaluation essay.

• Introduction. Your introduction should provide background information on your topic and state your thesis, which includes your overall judgment and the criteria you will use for evaluation.
• Body of the Essay. The body of your evaluation essay is where you delve into the details of your evaluation, discussing each criterion and providing examples and evidence to support your judgments. Each paragraph should focus on a specific aspect of your evaluation.
• Conclusion. The conclusion of your evaluation essay should summarize your main points and restate your overall judgment. This is your final opportunity to make an impact on the reader, so ensure your conclusion is strong and persuasive.

Understanding the structure is crucial for writing effective evaluation essays. A well-organized essay not only makes your arguments more compelling but also easier for the reader to follow. Ensure each section of your essay seamlessly transitions to the next, maintaining a coherent and persuasive argument throughout.

Popular Writing Tips for Evaluation Essay

Diving into the realm of evaluation essays, one must arm themselves with a set of strategies designed to enhance the quality and impact of their writing. Evaluation essays are not just about presenting an opinion but constructing an argument that is both persuasive and grounded in evidence. To elevate your evaluation essay, consider the following popular writing tips, which include the pivotal role of engaging with examples of evaluation essays.

• Develop Clear Criteria for Evaluation

Your evaluation should be based on a set of clear, defined criteria. These criteria are the standards by which you assess your subject. Whether it’s a film, a piece of literature, or a policy, outline the benchmarks early in your essay to guide your analysis and judgment.

• Be Objective and Balanced

While evaluation essays often involve personal judgment, it’s crucial to maintain objectivity. Offer a balanced perspective by considering multiple viewpoints and acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of your subject. This balanced approach not only lends credibility to your evaluation but also provides a more comprehensive analysis.

• Use Evidence to Support Your Judgments

Every claim or judgment you make should be supported by concrete evidence. This could include quotations, examples, and theoretical analysis. Evidence not only bolsters your arguments but also helps to persuade your readers by showing the depth of your analysis.

• Engage with Examples

One of the most effective ways to understand and improve your own writing is to engage with evaluation essay examples, examples of evaluation essays, and evaluation essay samples. These resources offer invaluable insights into how effective arguments are structured and presented. By studying these examples, you can learn how to:

• Craft compelling thesis statements that encapsulate your evaluation.
• Develop a coherent structure that logically organizes your criteria and evidence.
• Use language that is both persuasive and academic.
• Balance personal voice with objective analysis.
• Address Counterarguments

Anticipate and address potential counterarguments to your evaluation. This not only demonstrates the depth of your analysis but also strengthens your position by showing you have considered alternative perspectives.

By integrating these tips into your writing process and actively engaging with evaluation essay examples, you can enhance your analytical skills, develop stronger arguments, and produce essays that are not only informative but also compelling and persuasive.

Creating an Outline for Your Evaluation Essay

In the context of an evaluation essay, the importance of creating an outline cannot be overstated. Many writers tend to skip this crucial step in their eagerness to complete their essays quickly. However, neglecting this step can lead to significant issues. Designing an outline for your evaluation essay is the first and essential step before you even begin writing. It streamlines the entire writing process, providing you with a clear understanding of your goals and where to incorporate supporting evidence and examples.

Moreover, an outline for your evaluation essay offers a roadmap for your writing, breaking down your work into manageable sections. This approach is especially beneficial for those who prefer a structured approach and helps in organizing thoughts and ideas effectively. Ultimately, creating an outline not only saves you time but also ensures that your essay is well-structured, precise, and straightforward. Your instructor is likely to appreciate the thoughtful organization and effort you put into your essay’s arrangement.

This outline provides a structured framework for your evaluation essay. It ensures that you cover all essential elements, from introducing the subject to presenting criteria and evidence for your assessment. Remember to adjust the outline as needed based on the specific requirements of your assignment or the complexity of the subject you are evaluating.

When perfecting your evaluation essay, it’s pivotal to scrutinize various types of compositions to refine your critiquing abilities. By exploring a research essay example , you can discover new dimensions of analysis and evaluation, broadening your perspective on how to effectively assess and articulate the strengths and weaknesses of any subject.

How to Use Examples of Evaluation Essays

Studying evaluation essay examples for students can provide valuable insights into how to structure your essay and present your arguments effectively. Pay attention to the criteria used for evaluation and how evidence is integrated to support judgments.

One of the key benefits of engaging with examples of evaluation essays is the opportunity to observe how experienced writers establish and apply criteria for their evaluations. This process is fundamental to the essay’s effectiveness, as it grounds your evaluation in specific, understandable standards. By examining a variety of evaluation essay samples, you can identify different ways to articulate and justify these criteria, tailoring them to suit your topic and perspective.

Furthermore, these examples showcase how to seamlessly integrate evidence into your essay. Whether through direct quotes, summaries, or paraphrasing, evidence strengthens your evaluation, providing the factual basis for your judgments. Evaluation essay examples demonstrate the art of balancing subjective opinions with objective analysis, ensuring that your evaluations are both personal and persuasive.

Utilizing evaluation essay samples is an invaluable strategy for developing your writing skills. These resources not only inspire and inform but also provide a concrete framework upon which you can build your own unique evaluation essay.

Good Evaluation Essay Examples

Good evaluation essay examples will demonstrate a balanced analysis, clear criteria for evaluation, and persuasive arguments. These examples can serve as inspiration and a benchmark for your own writing.

• Evaluation of a Classic Novel: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. This essay could explore themes of racial injustice and moral growth, evaluating how Lee’s narrative technique and character development contribute to the novel’s enduring relevance and impact on its readers.
• Evaluation of a Breakthrough Technology: Electric Vehicles. Such an essay might assess the impact of electric vehicles (EVs) on reducing carbon emissions, their economic viability, and the infrastructure challenges they face, providing a comprehensive look at their potential to revolutionize transportation.
• Evaluation of a Film: “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho. An evaluation essay on this film could examine its storytelling techniques, use of symbolism, and social commentary, critiquing how effectively these elements work together to engage and provoke audiences globally.
• Evaluation of a Restaurant: A Local Farm-to-Table Eatery. This essay could focus on the restaurant’s success in providing locally sourced, high-quality dishes, its contribution to the local economy, and the overall dining experience, including ambiance, service, and menu diversity.
• Evaluation of an Educational Policy: No Child Left Behind Act. An essay on this policy might analyze its effects on student achievement, teacher performance, and the educational disparity gap, evaluating whether it has met its objectives and what unintended consequences have arisen.

Evaluation Essay Examples for Students

Evaluation essay examples for students are particularly useful as they often include annotations and feedback that can highlight key elements of effective writing, such as clarity of argument, evidence use, and essay structure.

• A Critical Evaluation of Renewable Energy Sources versus Fossil Fuels
• The Influence of Streaming Services on Traditional Television
• Performance Evaluation of Electric Cars in Today’s Market
• Analyzing the Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Each of these topics allows for a deep dive into specific criteria relevant to the subject matter, encouraging a nuanced and informed evaluation. They provide a framework for discussing broader issues through the lens of particular examples, demonstrating the power of evaluation essays to offer insightful critiques and analyses.

Short Writing Checklist for Evaluation Essay

Before submitting your essay, go through this checklist to ensure you’ve covered all the bases:

✔️ Is your thesis statement clear and concise? ✔️ Have you provided clear criteria for your evaluation? ✔️ Are your arguments supported by evidence and examples? ✔️ Have you addressed potential counterarguments? ✔️ Is your essay free of spelling and grammatical errors?

Final Thoughts

Writing an evaluation essay is a rewarding process that sharpens your analytical and critical thinking skills. By following this guide and incorporating these tips into your writing, you’ll be well on your way to crafting evaluation essays that are not only persuasive and well-structured but also engaging and informative. Remember, the key to a successful evaluation essay lies in your ability to present a balanced analysis supported by strong evidence and clear examples.

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What is an Evaluation Essay?

The purpose here is to evaluate an already existing work by presenting an analytical opinion with a clear point of view. It can be compared to a summary writing with the help of argumentation. You must follow a clear structure and support your ideas with related examples and references. The topics for the evaluation essay may deal with the recent movies you have seen or talk about your favorite author.

How to Write Evaluation Essays?

The topics that you choose must have enough evidence to include in your essay. The trick is to write down all the key elements to show the value or the importance of what you describe. See our evaluation essay example to see how the structure analyzes available information and connects the dots. It will help you to see how you can work both with existing or newly created essay content.

How is an Evaluation Essay Different from Other Essays?

Unlike other essays that primarily focus on presenting arguments or narratives, an evaluation essay revolves around analyzing and critiquing the attributes of a subject. It requires the writer to assess the subject's strengths and weaknesses against predetermined criteria.

How to Choose a Topic for an Evaluation Essay?

When selecting a topic for an evaluation essay, consider subjects that are relevant, interesting, and offer ample opportunities for analysis. Choose topics that you have knowledge about or are passionate about, as this will enhance your engagement with the writing process.

Where to Find Sample Evaluation Essays for Reference?

For comprehensive examples of evaluation essays, we recommend exploring our website first. Our platform provides curated samples specifically tailored to various subjects and topics, offering valuable insights and guidance for your own writing endeavors. Additionally, you can find examples of evaluation essays in academic journals, online databases, and writing guides. Many educational websites and writing platforms also offer sample essays for reference and study purposes.

The most popular topics for Evaluation Essay

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• Great Depression
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