Evaluation Argument Assignment

Due dates:

• Proposal (250 words) with six sources: 17 February to the wiki prior to class
• Draft: 20 February, bring two copies to class
• Final version: 24 February, 11:59PM to the wiki

Length: 1000-1200 words

Evaluations are often prepatory steps for proposing a course of action. If you agree that something is bad, then you'll be more likely to follow my suggested improvement. Consequently, evaluations are an important rhetorical tactic. The purpose of this assignment is to teach you how to evaluate carefully and persuasively.

Assignment Objectives

This assignment will ask you to take a side and argue about the quality of a situation or thing--in other words, to evaluate it. Similar to your argument about definition, you will need to find an issue not only important to you but to a particular audience; you should demonstrate exigence. Some examples of evaluative claims other students have researched and presented include the following:

Of course, none of these claims should go unchallenged. Each claim should be backed up with solid reasons and evidence, and each should be thought about in terms of warrants and backing to determine their effectiveness for their audiences. In addition--and just as important for this assignment--you will need to develop criteria to use for evaluating the situation or thing you are discussing. For instance, what do you mean by "effective" or "great"? What standards do these terms imply? Where do you "set the bar" for someone or something to jump over? As we will discuss in class, it is useful to think about evaluating in terms of the "value categories" or genres to generate criteria.

Once you have established criteria, you will need to anticipate possible objections to the criteria themselves or to the "warrant" part of your argument. If you argued, for example, that one reason fertility drugs are harmful is because they often produce multiple births, you would need to argue your warrant that multiple births are undesirable. You would also need to show evidence that fertility drugs do indeed produce enough multiple births to be a problem. Choose both your reasons and your evidence carefully, because your choices will affect your credibility.

Once you have thought about exigence and an appropriate audience, you will need to determine an effective genre. Should your argument be a formal paper for publication? A letter? An address? An article in a magazine or newspaper?

Check out "Guide to writing an evaluation" (EA, pp. 190-194) for hints and strategies.