by: Jessica Johnson, jr

An evaluation essay estimates an object, prompting the reader to accept the writer?s point of view. Features of the evaluative essays are very similar to those of cause and effect essays, but no cause-effect relations are considered in evaluation essays. The evaluation technique is widely used for dwelling upon many processes and events: recent events, books, articles, movies, famous people and other.

In the first paragraph of the evaluation essay, the writer should provide the description of an evaluated object, carefully selecting the features he is willing to disclose. As stated above, the purpose of the evaluation essay is to persuade the reader that the writer?s judgment is correct, and therefore each sentence should demonstrate the writer?s competence. The writer should also provide brief historical information about the subject of evaluation in case he is going to evaluate a movie, book, canvas or any other subject with peculiar historical background (this may include the author?s name, the history of creation, the date of publication, etc.). Further, the writer should express his opinion by formulating a definitive judgment in the form of a thesis statement. The following paragraphs should support and substantiate the formulated thesis refuting the possible counterarguments. However, profound argumentation should be left for an argumentative essay, while the evaluation essay should state the writer?s estimation of an object in an authoritative manner.

The writer of an evaluation essay should be reasonable in his judgments, i.e. his estimations should be based upon some objective, universally recognized criteria. Each judgment should be supported by evidence (example, description, statistics, opinion of other individuals, etc.). In case the writer chooses to utilize comparisons in his evaluation, he has to be sure that the compared objects are equivalent. The writer should demonstrate an unbiased tone, though remembering the necessity to formulate his own opinion. The writing style should correspond to the object of evaluation.