English 1121 - Evaluating an Expository Essay

English 1121: College Writing and Critical Reading

Spring 2008 / Sections 06 and 18

Essay #3 -- Evaluating a Piece of Informative / Expository Writing

Writing Assignment:

Write an essay of 3-4 pages in which you evaluate a piece of informative/expository writing; the piece is actually an "excerpt" from a full-length book. Support your evaluation by doing some research to find out about the original and current critical reception to the complete work from which your chosen excerpt was taken. The question behind this paper, this evaluation, might be: Based on your reading of this excerpt from a longer work, would you, or would you not, recommend other college students [or another audience of your choice] to read the entire book? Why or why not?

Defining Some Terms:

When we summarize another piece of writing, we break it down into its major units of information to be able to write a condensed version containing only the main ideas of the piece. (When you summarize the excerpt before you evaluate it, your summary should be no longer than one paragraph.) When we analyze another piece of writing, we break it down into parts, sometimes into its informational parts, other times into its structural and/or technical parts, to be able to see each part clearly and to see how the parts relate to each other and work together to achieve the overall effect; in other words, we seek to determine what the writer does and why he/she does it that way (or, how the writer's "choices" help him/her to accomplish his/her purpose for his/her chosen audience). When we evaluate another piece of writing, we judge it by looking for its strengths and weaknesses; we look for what the writer does very well and what we admire about the writing as well as what we feel detracts from the writing. In essay #3, we are going to evaluate, but analysis always precedes evaluation.

Doing the Research:

Challenge yourself, and challenge your reader, by picking some elements for evaluation that are not only interesting but are really worth exploring. Remember: the best academic writing makes the familiar strange and creates new knowledge about everyday life. You won't be able to do this if you always take the easy way out and pick the most obvious things.

To aid you in writing your evaluation, you must also do some research to find out both how the work was originally received on its initial publication and how that reception has changed since then. Find at least five (5) sources which provide you with information. Look for:

the original publishers' promotional materials
the original book reviews and scholarly critiques
the current publishers' promotional materials
current book reviews and scholarly critiques -- possibly even current blogs (as long as they are reputable)
perhaps even other student papers on your chosen writer or the work

Strive for a variety of researched sources. Then, use at least three (3) of these sources to write your evaluation of your chosen essay.

Note: You do not need to read the entire book from which your chosen excerpt is taken (although you can if you want). Copies of each book are on reserve in the ARCC library should you wish to page through the book and/or read the prefaces, forewards, introductions, conclusions, afterwards, etc.

The reason I’m asking you to do research as you write your evaluation is to encourage you to find some good ideas for your evaluation. For example, when you find a book review or a scholarly article which discusses the writer’s book, are there ideas in that source that you can apply to your own evaluation? Perhaps there's something you can use to "support" your own idea about the book. Or, perhaps there's something that you can use as a "counter-argument" to your own position, something that you can take issue with or argue against.

Keeping Track of Your Sources:

When you find your sources, you must print or photocopy them (if the source is a book, copy the pages you read) and be sure you have the following information for each source:

the author’s name.
the title of the source -- a chapter, an essay, an article, a webpage, etc.
the title of the “place” where you found the source -- a book, a magazine, a newspaper, a journal, a website, etc.
the original publication information of the source -- city, publisher, date, etc.
the date you printed the source, if it is an electronic source.
the web address of the source, if it is from the internet, or the name of the database, if it is another kind of electronic source, or the location in the library, if it is a print source.

You will need all of these items as you compile your working bibliographies and works cited pages. In addition, I will require you to submit the sources you use in your analysis with the final draft of your essay.

Formatting Requirements:

Your essay should be at least three (3) pages but no longer than four (4) pages -- double-spaced and word-processed -- with 1.0-1.25” margins, and a 12-point “normal” font (Times New Roman or Arial or Calibri). No title page is needed; put your name, the course, my name, and the date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page (see LBB on pages 41-43 and 521-530 for a picture of what the format should look like). We will continue to use the MLA documentation style for in-text signal phrases and parenthetical citations and end-of-text bibliographical citations.

Evaluation:

When I grade your essay, I will look for:

an introduction which clearly identifies the author and informational excerpt you are focusing on, and which clearly states the focus -- the argumentative thesis -- and perhaps the direction of the essay. Think of your introduction as a promise you are making to your readers -- it's what you hope to accomplish, show, or prove -- and the body of your essay needs to deliver on that promise.
Several body paragraphs which evaluate different aspects of the informational excerpt you are focusing on. Each body paragraph should focus on one main idea, it should include details from the excerpt you are focusing on, it should include your own critical thinking about the aspect under evaluation, and it should possibly include information from one or more research sources which support the point you are trying to make. Finally, your readers should be able to move clearly and smoothly from paragraph to paragraph.
A conclusion that brings things together in a satisfying way. A typical conclusion restates the focus or central idea (and perhaps the main ideas) of the essay, but a really good conclusion keeps readers thinking long after they put down the essay.
A pleasing style, an attention to sentences and words, that shows you care about what you are writing about. Sentences should be clear and complete, they should not be "comma splices" or "run ons," and fragments should be used sparingly and only for emphasis. Words should be carefully chosen, vivid, and used correctly -- remember, words can be spelled correctly but they might not be the right word.

Any questions?