General Guidelines for Writing an Evaluation Essay

Well, you may need to write an evaluation essay to provide a general idea and an overall view of the quality of certain services, items, business, etc. It is supposed to sound quite suitable to incorporate a few elements of the writer`s opinion or standpoint. However, the whole essay should not be interpreted as obstinate and opinionated.

While learning how to write an evaluation essay, it is of significant importance to present an unbiased and reasonable evaluation. In this article, we are going to present several useful steps to assist you in writing an evaluation paper. Please, note that this is only a brief guide and you should study this topic further. Ask your professor to clarify all information and check the requirements according to your personal task.

Basic Steps for Creating an Evaluation Essay

In order to help you write a well-structured and quality evaluation essay, we are producing a concise outline that may come in handy when creating an evaluation paper.

Here below, there are several crucial steps:

• Topic selection. So, in case the instructor has not allocated a particular topic, it is highly recommended taking a subject that you are aware of. You are expected to do thorough research and deeply investigate the subject matter so that you can make an assessment of its worth. Thus, you have a perfect chance to apply all your knowledge in a specific subject area, thoroughly study as well as substantially deepen the existing expertise in a given area.
• Thesis statement creation. According to the fact that an appropriate thesis statement plays a key role in the essay, you ought to determine the criteria that have been used with the aim of the item judgment and evaluation. Moreover, you should state the value of a particular item. Similar to any other academic essay, the thesis statement has to be clear and to the point. You might meet the necessity of revising it a little bit during the process of writing. Of course, you may explore some new facets of the topic, and, thus, you might need to review the thesis statement.
• Definition of the benchmarks. You should determine the number of various criteria to make an assessment of the product. Surely, your writing ought to sound interesting. The criteria usually depend on the item so that different benchmarks can be used when evaluating diverse brands or products, etc.
• Searching for corroborative evidence. It is really essential to keep in mind that an evaluation essay is not only your opinion. The writer should make each judgment using confirming clues and supporting data from reliable sources.
• Make a draft of the essay. You may create the first version of the evaluation paper. The suggested line of action here is just to write. It is a lot easier to reorganize, revise, edit, or specify several points of the essay when it is already written to some extent so that you may find it better to improve the areas in the essay that is, in your opinion, not as strong as other ones.
• Revision, reviewing and rewriting. If you have finished the draft of your evaluation essay, you need to carefully proofread the composition and implement any required changes. Remember to thoroughly revise the paper several times and make all the necessary corrections.

More In-depth Analysis of the Criteria, Evidence and Judgments

Actually, these three essential elements (criteria, evidence, judgments) are at the focus of the evaluation essay. Here below, we would like to present some more details on them.

Criteria

In fact, you are expected to consider several characteristics that the ideal product or service should contain. This means you ought to proceed from what is best for a product/service of the same type. So, in order to evaluate carefully, you need to choose particular benchmarks as well as indicators. For instance, such criteria for evaluating a hotel might be the following ones: comfortable accommodation, perfect service, cleanliness, price/quality ratio, and others. Then, you can make an assessment in terms of these reference points.

Evidence

Note that you have to present proof and clues in order to support your judgments correctly. Remember to provide reasonable grounds and strong arguments to advocate the judgment. Furthermore, you should be prepared and avoid giving the unsupported allegations. While comparing some examples of services or items, you need to have sufficient evidence in order to confirm several conclusions.

It is important to care about the structure of the supplemental essay. Each paragraph should include a different criterion. Certainly, you ought to completely explain the criterion, provide the appropriate judgments as well as present supporting evidence.

Judgment

This aspect refers to the establishment of whether or not the chosen criteria have been met. According to this fact, you should decide if the product/service meets, exceeds the expected quality, or just falls short.

The Basic Difference between the Evaluation Essay and Review

Sometimes the students may think that an evaluation paper is the same as a review. Although they have some similarities, there are several differences as well. Let us succinctly highlight some of them.

The general points to distinguish are going to concern the next aspects:

• Type of Analysis. In the evaluation essay, the writer should provide a thorough analysis of the topic, whereas reviews prone to need a more general look without digging too deep.
• Opinions. Of course, it is quite natural for an evaluation essay to contain an element of the writer`s opinion; it ought to sound unbiased; all the statements and claims should be sustained by the evidence. A review may be based on the writer`s personal opinion, and the evidence might not be necessary.
• Identification of Criteria. In the evaluation paper, you should use a specified set of criteria in order to judge a topic. As for the review, the writer doesn`t have to stick to a defined criterion; your own opinion can be offered.
• Evidence. An evaluation paper has to include it while it is not required in the review.
• References. It may be necessary to cite or reference some sources in the evaluation essay. A review does not usually require any references.

Useful Tips for Writing an Evaluation Essay

Here below, there are some supplementary recommendations that may help you write a great evaluation essay and engage the readers:

• Provide an Appropriate Amount of Detail. Give a great number of detail concerning how you came to such conclusions. It is of great importance to use supporting evidence and relevant examples in order to demonstrate some points where necessary.
• Be Sure to Evaluate Precisely. A successful introductory part can help you set out what you are going to evaluate as well as the criteria you are using to do this.
• Let the Readers Agree with Your Point of View. Whether the evaluation is biased or prejudiced, it can be difficult for the readers to agree with the judgments and conclusions. Indeed, you ought to present enough information and evidence so that it will be easier to trust.

Anyway, please, note that this brief guide is only for a general overview so that you should study all the available credible information sources further. Choose reliable sources of data. Remember to check all the necessary requirements and peculiarities of writing by asking your teacher. Provide detailed research and start practicing. The paper should be with no kinds of mistakes, so keep an eye on this. So, proofread your essay several times carefully, revise, and edit when necessary. Good luck to you!