Intermediate Composition

ENG 201: Intermediate Composition ©2018 Central Michigan University

Assignment 1: Writing to Evaluate

Assignment Overview

One of the most common genres in all disciplines and professions is the review (also sometimes called a critique, commentary, or response). It can take many forms. Critical book reviews are just one example. Others include

• editorials for general readers in response to a politician’s speech.

• a scholarly commentary for academic readers in response to a recently published journal article, with the commentary usually published in a subsequent issue of the same journal.

• a review for general readers of a book, web site, museum exhibit, theatrical or musical performance, poetry reading, film, sports event, etc.

• a review for general readers of a specific product or service, e.g., a new cell phone or computer, a new model of automobile, a new restaurant, etc.

• an internal or external evaluation written for a specific organization to assess the effectiveness of a new policy or procedure the organization has implemented. (Internal evaluation reports are written by people within the organization, while external evaluation reports written by consultants, government inspectors, or some other oversight agency.)

• an evaluation of a report released by some other organization, e.g., a response by the American Medical Association to an FDA report on the dangers to public health of a particular sugar substitute, or a response from university-based agricultural researchers to a Green Peace report on the destructive environmental practices of agri-businesses. These types of response reports are common in corporate settings, non-profit organizations, watchdog organizations, political think tanks, colleges and universities, etc.

For this assignment, you will be writing to evaluate. In your evaluation, you should (1) describe fairly and accurately whatever you are evaluating; the level of detail in your description depends on the rhetorical situation (i.e., whom you’re writing for, when, and why). You should (2) identify and analyze the relevant strengths and weaknesses of whatever it is you are evaluating; depending on your topic, you might need to state explicitly the criteria for evaluation. You should also (3) support all of your evaluative claims with facts, informed opinion from credible sources, and/or your own (well-explained) reasoning. In other words, you must construct an argument to support your claims about the merits (and/or lack thereof) of whatever it is you are evaluating.

Assignment Instructions

1. In TMHG, read Chapter 10, “Writing to Evaluate”; in TSIS, read the “Introduction,” Part 1, and Part 2.

2. Write a 1,250–1,500-word evaluation of a specific book, film, television show, product, service, policy, procedure, exhibit, lecture, restaurant, concert, sports event, or some other special public event you recently attended or place you recently visited.

3. Outside sources are not required for this assignment, but if you feel it necessary to draw on additional outside sources to support your own ideas, then use a combination of summary, paraphrase, and quotation from your sources, but no more than 10% (125–150 words) of the proposal should consist of quoted material. Instead, rely on summary and paraphrase. And as you should have learned in ENG 101 or ENG 103, all information from sources—

 

 

ENG 201: Intermediate Composition, ©2018 Central Michigan University A1: Writing to Evaluate

 

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whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized; whether words or images—must be cited. Keep in mind, though, that your voice, not your sources’, should be most prominent in your review.

4. Format your evaluation in a way that is appropriate for your intended audience and purpose. This assignment could take a form different from a traditional school “paper,” e.g., a blog essay, a review in a newspaper or magazine (whether hard copy or online), a formal workplace report, etc. Whatever final format it might take, develop the text for the peer draft as a print document.

See also TMHG, Part Five, Chapter 17, “Choosing a Medium, Genre, and Technology for Your Communication.”

Your peers and I will help you decide on an appropriate format, depending on what you see as your purpose and intended audience.

5. Include any appropriate visuals that will enhance the effectiveness of your report. Use of visuals in this assignment is optional, and visuals might not count toward the total word count for the assignment; it will depend on what kinds of visuals you use and whether you created them yourself or borrowed them. All borrowed visuals must be cited. Do not include gratuitous visuals, such as clip art; include only visuals that readers will find useful in understanding your critique.

See also TMGH, Part Five, Chapter 18, “Communicating with Design and Visuals.”

6. Cite any sources using correct, consistent MLA, APA, or Chicago citation style.

See also TMHG, Chapter 20, “Synthesizing and Documenting Sources.”

7. Give your review a title that will be effective and appropriate for the intended audience and purpose. Select a specific audience and purpose for your critique, and write this at the top of your paper so your peer reviewers and instructor will know.

8. Save your A1 draft as a MS Word® document or in Rich Text Format document with the following filenames (MS Word® will add the .docx or .rtf suffix automatically when you save the file in that format):

YourfirstnameYourlastnameDraft1A1docx [e.g., JohnDoeDraft1A1.docx] YourfirstnameYourlastnameDraft1A1.rtf [e.g., JohnDoeDraft1A1.rtf]

9. Upload your draft to the File Exchange in your Group page on Bb by the due date for peer review. See the instructions on the next page for peer review of this assignment.

10. After receiving peer feedback, revise your draft, save it with one of the following filenames, and upload it to Bb by the due date for instructor review.

YourfirstnameYourlastnameDraft2A1.docx [e.g., JohnDoeDraft2A1.docx] YourfirstnameYourlastnameDraft2A1.rtf [e.g., JohnDoeDraft2A1.rtf]

11. After receiving instructor feedback, revise your draft, save it with one of the following filenames, and upload it to Bb by the final draft due date for instructor re-evaluation.

YourfirstnameYourlastnameFinalDraftA1.docx [e.g., JohnDoeFinalDraftA1.docx] YourfirstnameYourlastnameFinalDraftA1.rtf [e.g., JohnDoeFinalDraftA1.rtf]

 

 

 

ENG 201: Intermediate Composition, ©2018 Central Michigan University A1: Writing to Evaluate

 

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Peer Review Instructions for A1

To see the due dates for submitting your draft for peer review and for commenting on your group members’ drafts, see the “Schedule of Assignments & Activities” on Bb. Don’t forget to save your draft using the filename stipulated in the assignment instructions above.

1. Go to the File Exchange in your Group page, and download and save each group member’s draft to your computer or flash drive using a new filename for each draft.

For example, if you are Jane Smith and you have just downloaded the draft named JohnDoeDraft1A1.docx, save the draft with the following filename:

JohnDoeDraft1A1JaneSmithComments.docx.

This way, both John and I will know that you are the group member who has commented on John’s draft. Each group member will obtain comments from every other group member, so you and your group members want to make very clear which files are which. Do this for each group member’s draft.

2. Open each file, and read the draft on screen.

3. Use the “Writer’s Workshop” questions on page 311 in Chapter 10 of TMHG to guide your review and comments.

4. To provide comments on each group member’s draft, use the Insert Comment tool in MS Word® to insert comments in the right margin of the draft.

Note: If you do not know how to use the Insert Comment feature in Word, view the Microsoft tutorial, a link for which has been placed in the Course Materials page of Bb.

5. Do NOT use Track Changes to edit or correct any grammar, punctuation, or spelling; however, if you think it necessary or helpful, remind the writer to proofread and edit the draft carefully before submitting it for instructor review.

6. After reviewing and commenting on all your group members’ drafts (or at least all that have been uploaded to your group’s File Exchange during the review period), download all your drafts on which group members have commented, and use their feedback to revise your draft before submitting it for instructor review by the due date and time.

If you have any questions about peer review, please post them to the Q&A discussion-board forum.