1. Evaluations and Reviews
Ch. 6

2. Communicating Meaningful Judgements
How many of you read reviews for products you have no intention of buying or consuming, or of places you have no intention of visiting?
Why do we do this? What is it that we enjoy about it?
Compelling evaluations and reviews serve more than a practical purpose
They enlighten readers about issues that touch on every facet of life
People often read reviews of things they cannot afford or don’t’ intend to buy just for knowledge of pleasure
This serves our aspirations to better understand and function in the complex world that we inhabit

3. The proposal
Plan this essay, as always, with communication goals in mind
Focus on an issue or problem that the subject raises and a central view or argument that your evaluation will support
Your proposal should contain the following:
1. the subject
2. The main issue or problem
3. The central view, argument, thesis, or solution
4. reason for choosing the subject
5. reader relevance
Example on pg. 214

4. Practice
1. the most common type of evaluation are consumer reviews of products and services
Choose a product that you recently purchased and write a one-two paragraph consumer review
Describe your experience with the product or service
Did it exceed or fall short of your expectations?
2. As you consider subjects to write about for this project, think about our campus here at MCC. What features or facilities do you like or dislike? Examples on pg. 220
Choose a feature of the campus that you have positive or negative feelings about and write a one-two paragraph review that supports your judgement. When you finish, exchange with a classmate.

5. Practice
Read Del F. Cowie’s review of Kendrick Lamar’s album good kib, m.A.A.d. city on pg
with a partner, or in a small group, respond to the questions on pg about the review
Read Clive Thompson’s review, “In Defense of Pinterest.”
With a partner, or in a small group, respond to the questions on pg

6. Considering Subjects and Communication Goals
While your review can be about anything, make it your goal to write for an audience of educated readers who may or may not know very much about your subject, AND who may or may not care very much about your subject, BUT who are willing to take up a perspective that YOU provide in your review
To help you decide on a subject, ask the questions below about the subject you are considering:
1. do you have strong feelings or a strong opinion about the subject?
2. Why do you feel the way you do? What criteria are your opinions based on?
3. Do you have enough knowledge about the subject to develop a convincing evaluation?
4. Will general readers care about this subject? If not, how can you make them care?
5. What will be the “takeaway” for your readers – in other words, what can your readers learn that will be of value to them?

7. To recap …. Choose a subject that you ….
1. Know well and ...
2. have convictions about
Find some helpful exampls of subjects on pg. 230

8. Peer Review
Step 1. Go to a computer in the library, and pull up the document that contains your evaluation rough draft (if it is in your blog, copy and paste it into a Word document). REMOVE YOUR NAME OR ANY INFORMATION THAT WOULD IDENITFY YOU FROM THE DOCUMENT, then print it and hand it to me.
Step 2. I will hand each of you an evaluation rough draft that is not yours. You will conduct a peer review of the rough draft using the criteria on the next slide (I will also provide a hard copy list). You will hand your peer review back to me when you finish.
Step 3. I will return each of your rough drafts to you with the peer feedback and you will use the suggestions to improve your evaluation.

9. Peer Review
1. Before you started reading this essay, what was your opinion of the subject of the evaluation? If your opinion was different from the writer’s, did the essay change your mind or “open your eyes” in any way?
2. What are the writer’s criteria for this evaluation? Are there criteria that should be added or clarified? Point out any parts of the essay that you think are too subjective or too reducible to “personal taste.”
3. Does the opening of the essay capture your interest? What issue or set of issues about the subject does the writer raise? If you can, offer suggestions for improving the opening.
4. Is the writer’s analysis interesting and convincing? Is there enough or too much descriptive information about the subject? Point out any parts of the evaluation that you disagree with or think should be supported more effectively.
5. Is the essay well-edited and enjoyable to read? Point out any problems you noticed with paragraphing, word choice, grammar, or punctuation.