evaluate essay question

7 Steps for How to Write an Evaluation Essay (Example & Template)

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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In this ultimate guide, I will explain to you exactly how to write an evaluation essay.

1. What is an Evaluation Essay?

An evaluation essay should provide a critical analysis of something.

You’re literally ‘evaluating’ the thing you’re looking up.

Here’s a couple of quick definitions of what we mean by ‘evaluate’:

Merriam-Webster defines evaluation as: “to determine the significance, worth, or condition of usually by careful appraisal and study”
Collins Dictionary says: “If you evaluate something or someone, you consider them in order to make a judgment about them, for example about how good or bad they are.”

Here’s some synonyms for ‘evaluate’:

So, we could say that an evaluation essay should carefully examine the ‘thing’ and provide an overall judgement of it.

Here’s some common things you may be asked to write an evaluation essay on:

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Really, you can evaluate just about anything!

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2. How to write an Evaluation Essay

There are two secrets to writing a strong evaluation essay. The first is to aim for objective analysis before forming an opinion. The second is to use an evaluation criteria.

Aim to Appear Objective before giving an Evaluation Argument

Your evaluation will eventually need an argument.

The evaluation argument will show your reader what you have decided is the final value of the ‘thing’ you’re evaluating.

But in order to convince your reader that your evaluative argument is sound, you need to do some leg work.

The aim will be to show that you have provided a balanced and fair assessment before coming to your conclusion.

In order to appear balanced you should:

Discuss both the pros and cons of the thing
Discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of the thing
Look at the thing from multiple different perspectives
Be both positive and critical. Don’t make it look like you’re biased towards one perspective.

In other words, give every perspective a fair hearing.

You don’t want to sound like a propagandist. You want to be seen as a fair and balanced adjudicator.

Use an Evaluation Criteria

One way to appear balanced is to use an evaluation criteria.

An evaluation criteria helps to show that you have assessed the ‘thing’ based on an objective measure.

Here’s some examples of evaluation criteria:

Strength under pressure
Longevity (ability to survive for a long time)
Ease of use
Ability to get the job done
Friendliness
Punctuality
Ability to predict my needs
Calmness under pressure
Attentiveness

A Bed and Breakfast

Breakfast options
Taste of food
Comfort of bed
Local attractions
Service from owner
Cleanliness

We can use evaluation criteria to frame out ability to conduct the analysis fairly.

This is especially true for if you have to evaluate multiple different ‘things’. For example, if you’re evaluating three novels, you want to be able to show that you applied the same ‘test’ on all three books!

This will show that you gave each ‘thing’ a fair chance and looked at the same elements for each.

3. How to come up with an Evaluation Argument

After you have:

Looked at both good and bad elements of the ‘thing’, and
Used an evaluation criteria

You’ll then need to develop an evaluative argument. This argument shows your own overall perspective on the ‘thing’.

Remember, you will need to show your final evaluative argument is backed by objective analysis. You need to do it in order!

Analyze first. Evaluate second.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you’re evaluating the quality of a meal.

You might say:

A strength of the meal was its presentation. It was well presented and looked enticing to eat.
A weakness of the meal was that it was overcooked. This decreased its flavor.
The meal was given a low rating on ‘cost’ because it was more expensive than the other comparative meals on the menu.
The meal was given a high rating on ‘creativity’. It was a meal that involved a thoughtful and inventive mix of ingredients.

Now that you’ve looked at some pros and cons and measured the meal based on a few criteria points (like cost and creativity), you’ll be able to come up with a final argument:

Overall, the meal was good enough for a middle-tier restaurant but would not be considered a high-class meal. There is a lot of room for improvement if the chef wants to win any local cooking awards.

Evaluative terms that you might want to use for this final evaluation argument might include:

All things considered
With all key points in mind

4. Evaluation Essay Outline (with Examples)

Okay, so now you know what to do, let’s have a go at creating an outline for your evaluation essay!

Here’s what I recommend:

4.1 How to Write your Introduction

In the introduction, feel free to use my 5-Step INTRO method . It’ll be an introduction just like any other essay introduction .

And yes, feel free to explain what the final evaluation will be.

So, here it is laid out nice and simple.

Write one sentence for each point to make a 5-sentence introduction:

Interest: Make a statement about the ‘thing’ you’re evaluating that you think will be of interest to the reader. Make it a catchy, engaging point that draws the reader in!
Notify: Notify the reader of any background info on the thing you’re evaluating. This is your chance to show your depth of knowledge. What is a historical fact about the ‘thing’?
Translate: Re-state the essay question. For an evaluative essay, you can re-state it something like: “This essay evaluates the book/ product/ article/ etc. by looking at its strengths and weaknesses and compares it against a marking criteria”.
Report: Say what your final evaluation will be. For example you can say “While there are some weaknesses in this book, overall this evaluative essay will show that it helps progress knowledge about Dinosaurs.”
Outline: Simply give a clear overview of what will be discussed. For example, you can say: “Firstly, the essay will evaluate the product based on an objective criteria. This criteria will include its value for money, fit for purpose and ease of use. Next, the essay will show the main strengths and weaknesses of the product. Lastly, the essay will provide a final evaluative statement about the product’s overall value and worth.”

If you want more depth on how to use the INTRO method, you’ll need to go and check out our blog post on writing quality introductions.

4.2 Example Introduction

This example introduction is for the essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society.

“Facebook is the third most visited website in the world. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in his college dorm. This essay evaluates the impact of Facebook on society and makes an objective judgement on its value. The essay will argue that Facebook has changed the world both for the better and worse. Firstly, it will give an overview of what Facebook is and its history. Then, it will examine Facebook on the criteria of: impact on social interactions, impact on the media landscape, and impact on politics.”

You’ll notice that each sentence in this introduction follows my 5-Step INTRO formula to create a clear, coherent 5-Step introduction.

4.3 How to Write your Body Paragraphs

The first body paragraph should give an overview of the ‘thing’ being evaluated.

Then, you should evaluate the pros and cons of the ‘thing’ being evaluated based upon the criteria you have developed for evaluating it.

Let’s take a look below.

4.4 First Body Paragraph: Overview of your Subject

This first paragraph should provide objective overview of your subject’s properties and history. You should not be doing any evaluating just yet.

The goal for this first paragraph is to ensure your reader knows what it is you’re evaluating. Secondarily, it should show your marker that you have developed some good knowledge about it.

If you need to use more than one paragraph to give an overview of the subject, that’s fine.

Similarly, if your essay word length needs to be quite long, feel free to spend several paragraphs exploring the subject’s background and objective details to show off your depth of knowledge for the marker.

4.5 First Body Paragraph Example

Sticking with the essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society , this might be your paragraph:

“Facebook has been one of the most successful websites of all time. It is the website that dominated the ‘Web 2.0’ revolution, which was characterized by user two-way interaction with the web. Facebook allowed users to create their own personal profiles and invite their friends to follow along. Since 2004, Facebook has attracted more than one billion people to create profiles in order to share their opinions and keep in touch with their friends.”

Notice here that I haven’t yet made any evaluations of Facebook’s merits?

This first paragraph (or, if need be, several of them) should be all about showing the reader exactly what your subject is – no more, no less.

4.6 Evaluation Paragraphs: Second, Third, Forth and Fifth Body Paragraphs

Once you’re confident your reader will know what the subject that you’re evaluating is, you’ll need to move on to the actual evaluation.

For this step, you’ll need to dig up that evaluation criteria we talked about in Point 2.

For example, let’s say you’re evaluating a President of the United States.

Your evaluation criteria might be:

Impact on world history
Ability to pass legislation
Popularity with voters
Morals and ethics
Ability to change lives for the better

Really, you could make up any evaluation criteria you want!

Once you’ve made up the evaluation criteria, you’ve got your evaluation paragraph ideas!

Simply turn each point in your evaluation criteria into a full paragraph.

How do you do this?

Well, start with a topic sentence.

For the criteria point ‘Impact on world history’ you can say something like: “Barack Obama’s impact on world history is mixed.”

This topic sentence will show that you’ll evaluate both pros and cons of Obama’s impact on world history in the paragraph.

Then, follow it up with explanations.

“While Obama campaigned to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, he was unable to completely achieve this objective. This is an obvious negative for his impact on the world. However, as the first black man to lead the most powerful nation on earth, he will forever be remembered as a living milestone for civil rights and progress.”

Keep going, turning each evaluation criteria into a full paragraph.

4.7 Evaluation Paragraph Example

Let’s go back to our essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society .

I’ve decided to use the evaluation criteria below:

impact on social interactions;
impact on the media landscape;
impact on politics

Naturally, I’m going to write one paragraph for each point.

If you’re expected to write a longer piece, you could write two paragraphs on each point (one for pros and one for cons).

Here’s what my first evaluation paragraph might look like:

“Facebook has had a profound impact on social interactions. It has helped people to stay in touch with one another from long distances and after they have left school and college. This is obviously a great positive. However, it can also be seen as having a negative impact. For example, people may be less likely to interact face-to-face because they are ‘hanging out’ online instead. This can have negative impact on genuine one-to-one relationships.”

You might notice that this paragraph has a topic sentence, explanations and examples. It follows my perfect paragraph formula which you’re more than welcome to check out!

4.8 How to write your Conclusion

To conclude, you’ll need to come up with one final evaluative argument.

This evaluation argument provides an overall assessment. You can start with “Overall, Facebook has been…” and continue by saying that (all things considered) he was a good or bad president!

Remember, you can only come up with an overall evaluation after you’ve looked at the subject’s pros and cons based upon your evaluation criteria.

In the example below, I’m going to use my 5 C’s conclusion paragraph method . This will make sure my conclusion covers all the things a good conclusion should cover!

Like the INTRO method, the 5 C’s conclusion method should have one sentence for each point to create a 5 sentence conclusion paragraph.

The 5 C’s conclusion method is:

Close the loop: Return to a statement you made in the introduction.
Conclude: Show what your final position is.
Clarify: Clarify how your final position is relevant to the Essay Question.
Concern: Explain who should be concerned by your findings.
Consequences: End by noting in one final, engaging sentence why this topic is of such importance. The ‘concern’ and ‘consequences’ sentences can be combined

4.9 Concluding Argument Example Paragraph

Here’s a possible concluding argument for our essay question: Write an Evaluation Essay on Facebook’s Impact on Society .

“The introduction of this essay highlighted that Facebook has had a profound impact on society. This evaluation essay has shown that this impact has been both positive and negative. Thus, it is too soon to say whether Facebook has been an overall positive or negative for society. However, people should pay close attention to this issue because it is possible that Facebook is contributing to the undermining of truth in media and positive interpersonal relationships.”

Note here that I’ve followed the 5 C’s conclusion method for my concluding evaluative argument paragraph.

5. Evaluation Essay Example Template

Below is a template you can use for your evaluation essay , based upon the advice I gave in Section 4:

Introduction	Use the to write an introduction. This introduction should clearly state what you are evaluating, the criteria that you will be using to evaluate it, and what will be.
Body Paragraph 1: Outline of the Subject	Before evaluating the subject or ‘thing’, make sure you use a paragraph or two to clearly explain what it is to the reader. This is your chance to show your depth of knowledge about the topic.
Body Paragraphs 2 – 5: Evaluate the Subject	Use the evaluation criteria you have decided upon to evaluate the subject. For each element of the criteria, write one paragraph looking at the pros and cons of the subject. You might want to use my to write your paragraphs.
Conclusion	Use my to write a 5-sentence conclusion. Make sure you show your final evaluative argument in the conclusion so your reader knows your final position on the issue.

6. 23+ Good Evaluation Essay Topics

Okay now that you know how to write an evaluation essay, let’s look at a few examples.

For each example I’m going to give you an evaluation essay title idea, plus a list of criteria you might want to use in your evaluation essay.

6.1 Evaluation of Impact

Evaluate the impact of global warming on the great barrier reef. Recommended evaluation criteria: Level of bleaching; Impact on tourism; Economic impact; Impact on lifestyles; Impact on sealife
Evaluate the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on poverty. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on jobs; Impact on childhood poverty; Impact on mental health rates; Impact on economic growth; Impact on the wealthy; Global impact
Evaluate the impact of having children on your lifestyle. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on spare time; Impact on finances; Impact on happiness; Impact on sense of wellbeing
Evaluate the impact of the internet on the world. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on connectedness; Impact on dating; Impact on business integration; Impact on globalization; Impact on media
Evaluate the impact of public transportation on cities. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on cost of living; Impact on congestion; Impact on quality of life; Impact on health; Impact on economy
Evaluate the impact of universal healthcare on quality of life. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on reducing disease rates; Impact on the poorest in society; Impact on life expectancy; Impact on happiness
Evaluate the impact of getting a college degree on a person’s life. Recommended evaluation criteria: Impact on debt levels; Impact on career prospects; Impact on life perspectives; Impact on relationships

6.2 Evaluation of a Scholarly Text or Theory

Evaluate a Textbook. Recommended evaluation criteria: clarity of explanations; relevance to a course; value for money; practical advice; depth and detail; breadth of information
Evaluate a Lecture Series, Podcast or Guest Lecture. Recommended evaluation criteria: clarity of speaker; engagement of attendees; appropriateness of content; value for monet
Evaluate a journal article. Recommended evaluation criteria: length; clarity; quality of methodology; quality of literature review ; relevance of findings for real life
Evaluate a Famous Scientists. Recommended evaluation criteria: contribution to scientific knowledge; impact on health and prosperity of humankind; controversies and disagreements with other scientists.
Evaluate a Theory. Recommended evaluation criteria: contribution to knowledge; reliability or accuracy; impact on the lives of ordinary people; controversies and contradictions with other theories.

6.3 Evaluation of Art and Literature

Evaluate a Novel. Recommended evaluation criteria: plot complexity; moral or social value of the message; character development; relevance to modern life
Evaluate a Play. Recommended evaluation criteria: plot complexity; quality of acting; moral or social value of the message; character development; relevance to modern life
Evaluate a Film. Recommended evaluation criteria: plot complexity; quality of acting; moral or social value of the message; character development; relevance to modern life
Evaluate an Artwork. Recommended evaluation criteria: impact on art theory; moral or social message; complexity or quality of composition

6.4 Evaluation of a Product or Service

Evaluate a Hotel or Bed and Breakfast. Recommended evaluation criteria: quality of service; flexibility of check-in and check-out times; cleanliness; location; value for money; wi-fi strength; noise levels at night; quality of meals; value for money
Evaluate a Restaurant. Recommended evaluation criteria: quality of service; menu choices; cleanliness; atmosphere; taste; value for money.
Evaluate a Car. Recommended evaluation criteria: fuel efficiency; value for money; build quality; likelihood to break down; comfort.
Evaluate a House. Recommended evaluation criteria: value for money; build quality; roominess; location; access to public transport; quality of neighbourhood
Evaluate a Doctor. Recommended evaluation criteria: Quality of service; knowledge; quality of equipment; reputation; value for money.
Evaluate a Course. Recommended evaluation criteria: value for money; practical advice; quality of teaching; quality of resources provided.

7. Concluding Advice

Evaluation essays are common in high school, college and university.

The trick for getting good marks in an evaluation essay is to show you have looked at both the pros and cons before making a final evaluation analysis statement.

You don’t want to look biased.

That’s why it’s a good idea to use an objective evaluation criteria, and to be generous in looking at both positives and negatives of your subject.

Read Also: 39 Better Ways to Write ‘In Conclusion’ in an Essay

I recommend you use the evaluation template provided in this post to write your evaluation essay. However, if your teacher has given you a template, of course use theirs instead! You always want to follow your teacher’s advice because they’re the person who will be marking your work.

Good luck with your evaluation essay!

Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 101 Class Group Name Ideas (for School Students)
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 19 Top Cognitive Psychology Theories (Explained)
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 119 Bloom’s Taxonomy Examples
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ All 6 Levels of Understanding (on Bloom’s Taxonomy)

2 thoughts on “7 Steps for How to Write an Evaluation Essay (Example & Template)”

What an amazing article. I am returning to studying after several years and was struggling with how to present an evaluative essay. This article has simplified the process and provided me with the confidence to tackle my subject (theoretical approaches to development and management of teams).

I just wanted to ask whether the evaluation criteria has to be supported by evidence or can it just be a list of criteria that you think of yourself to objectively measure?

Many many thanks for writing this!

Usually we would want to see evidence, but ask your teacher for what they’re looking for as they may allow you, depending on the situation.

The Writing Guide

The First Thing
Step 1: Understanding the essay question

Identify task, content & limiting words in the essay question

Words, words, words..., academic writing webinar part 1.

Step 2: Critical note-taking
Step 3: Planning your assignment
Step 4a: Effective writing
Step 4b: Summarizing & paraphrasing
Step 4c: Academic language
Step 5: Editing and reviewing
Getting started with research
Working with keywords
Evaluating sources
Research file
Reading Smarter
Sample Essay
What, why, where, when, who?
Referencing styles
Writing Resources
Exams and Essay Questions

Essay topics contain key words that explain what information is required and how it is to be presented. Using the essay question below indentify task content & limiting words. Regardless of your topic or discipline, if you can identify these words in your essay topic, you can begin to consider what you will need to do to answer the question.

Task words : These are words that tell you what to do, for example “compare”, “discuss”, “critically evaluate”, “explain” etc.

Content words : These words in the essay topic will tell you which ideas and concepts should form the knowledge base of the assignment. Refer to subject specific dictionary or glossary.

Effective communication is considered a core skill in higher education and is usually conveyed through the medium of academic papers and essays. Discuss the process of writing academic essays and critically examine the importance of structure and content.

Before you scroll down to the next box, what can you unpack from this topic? What are you actually going to look for in a search tool like One Search? What are you supposed to do?

Content Words
Limiting Words
Context Words

Task words are usually verbs and they tell you what to do to complete your assignment.

You need to identify these words, because you will need to follow these instructions to pass the assignment. As you research and write your assignment, check these words occasionally to make sure you are still doing what you have been asked to do.

Here are some definitions of different academic task words. Make sure you know exactly what you need to do for your assignment.

Don't try to use them in your research - they aren't things to find, only things to do.

The task words from our sample question are:

Discuss means to "consider and offer an interpretation or evaluation of something; or give a judgment on the value of arguments for and against something"
Examine means to inspect something in detail and investigate the implications

So, you would need to give a short description of what essay writing is all about, and then offer an evaluation of the essay structure and the way it presents content.

Task Words Here are some definitions of different academic task words. Make sure you know exactly what you need to do for your assignment.

The content words are the "meat" of the question - these are things you can research.

Effective communication is considered a core skill in higher education and is usually conveyed through the medium of academic papers and essays . Discuss the process of writing academic essays and critically examine the importance of structure and content .

You will often be asked to talk about "the role" something plays or "processes", "importance", "methods" or "implementations" - but you can't really research these things just by looking for those words.

You need to find the keywords - the most concrete concepts - and search for those. The information you find about the concrete terms will tell you about the "roles" and "methods", the "process" or the "importance", but they probably won't use those words exactly.

One of the core skills of academic research is learning to extrapolate : to find the connections in the information you can find that will help you answer the questions which don't have clear, cut-and-dry answers in the books and articles.

So, the core keywords/concepts to research are:

"academic writing"
"higher education"
structure and content

Limiting words keep you focused on a particular area, and stop you from trying to research everything in the history of mankind.

They could limit you by:

Time (you may be asked to focus on the last 5 years, or the late 20th Century, for example)
Place (you may be asked to focus on Australia, or Queensland, or South-East Asia)
People groups (such as "women over the age of 50" or "people from low socio-economic backgrounds" or "Australians of Asian descent")
Extent (you are only to look at a particular area, or the details you believe are most relevant or appropriate).

In this example, you have two limits:

"higher education" is the industry focus. This could be expanded to include the tertiary or university sector.
Essays - we are concentrating on essay writing as the aspect of communication. Note that this is also a content word. There can be (and usually is) some crossover.

Sometimes it can help to add your own limits . With health sciences, you almost always limit your research to the last five or six years. Social sciences are not as strict with the date range but it's still a good idea to keep it recent. You could specifically look at the Australian context. You may decide to focus on the private sector within that industry.

With the question above you could limit yourself to only looking at first year university students.

Sometimes an assignment task will give you phrases or sentences that aren't part of the task at all: they exist to give you some context .

These can be ignored when you do your research, but you should read over them occasionally as you are writing your assignment. They help you know what the lecturer was thinking about (and wanted you to think about) when they set that task.

Effective communication is considered a core skill in higher education and is usually conveyed through the medium of academic papers and essays . Discuss the process of writing academic essays and critically examine the importance of structure and content.

You don't have to do anything with the first sentence of this question - but it does get you to think specifically about the "using essays to communicate knoweldge" - something that isn't mentioned in the task itself.

Obviously, whoever wrote the task wants you to think about the assignments as a form of writing and communication.

It is easy to get distracted and go off on tangents when doing your research . Use the context words to help you keep your focus where it should be.

<< Previous: Writing Process
Next: Step 2: Critical note-taking >>
Last Updated: May 13, 2024 5:20 PM
URL: https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/writing

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Essay writing

Understanding essay questions.

The following guide has been created for you by the Student Learning Advisory Service , for more detailed guidance and to speak to one of our advisers, please book an appointment or join one of our online workshops .

Understanding the essay question is the first and most important step you will undertake with any assignment, as without fully understanding the task you cannot respond to it. Consider the key elements in the question e.g. Examine the role of women in Parliament since 1918, with reference to key Equality legislation and ask yourself:

What is the main subject of the question? (e.g. Parliament )
Is there a particular aspect of that subject the question is asking you to consider? (e.g. the role of women in Parliament)
Does the question indicate any limits to your answer? (e.g. the role of women in Parliament since 1918 )
What is the ‘instruction verb’ in the question asking you to do? (e.g. Examine the role of women in Parliament since 1918)
In addition, is the question asking you to demonstrate any specific areas of module knowledge? (e.g. Examine the role of women in Parliament since 1918 , with reference to key Equality legislation )

Identifying and understanding these different elements of your question will allow you to answer it confidently, directly and fully. If a question is long and complicated break it down into its component parts and consider what each is asking you to do.

Above all, do what the instruction verb is telling you to do:

Instruction	What you are asked to do
Account for	Give reasons for; explain (give an account of; describe).
Analyse	Give an organised answer looking at all aspects
Compare	Look for similarities and differences between; perhaps conclude which is preferable
Contrast	Bring out the differences
Criticise	Give your judgement on theories or opinions or facts and back this by discussing evidence or reasoning involved.
Deduce	Conclude; infer.
Define	Give the precise meaning. Examine the different possible or often used definitions
Demonstrate	Show clearly by giving proof or evidence.
Describe	Give a detailed, full account of.
Determine	Find out something; calculate
Discuss	Investigate or examine by argument; debate; give reason for and against; examine the implications of.
Elucidate	Explain and make clear.
Estimate	Calculate; judge; predict.
Evaluate	Appraise the worth of something in the light of its truth or usefulness; assess and explain.
Examine	Look at carefully; consider.
Explain	Make plain and clear; interpret the account for; give reasons for.
Identify	Point out and describe.
Illustrate	Explain, clarify, and make clear by the use of concrete examples.
Infer	Conclude something from facts or reasoning.
Interpret	Expound the meaning; make clear and explicit, giving your own judgement.
Justify	Show adequate grounds for decisions or conclusions and answer main objections likely to be made to them.
Outline	Give a short description of the main points; give the main features or general principles; emphasise the structure, leaving out minor details
Prove	Show that something is true or certain; provide strong evidence (and examples) for.
Review	Make a survey, examining the subject carefully
State	Present in a brief, clear form.
Summarise	Give a concise account of the chief points of a matter, leaving out details/examples
Trace	Follow the development of topic from its origin.

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Understanding instruction words in academic essay titles

Posted in: essay-writing

Instruction or command words indicate what your tutor wants you to do in your written assignment. It's vital that you understand exactly what these instruction words mean so you can answer all parts of the essay question and provide a complete response.

Here's a list of some of the most common instruction/command words you'll see in essay questions (and examination questions as well), together with an explanation of what they mean.

Describe: Give a detailed account of…

Outline: Give the main features/general principles; don't include minor details.

Explain, account for, interpret: Describe the facts but also give causes and reasons for them. Depending on the context, these words may also suggest that you need to make the possible implications clear as well. For example: 'Explain X and its importance for Y'.

Comment on, criticise, evaluate, critically evaluate, assess: Judge the value of something. But first, analyse, describe and explain. Then go through the arguments for and against, laying out the arguments neutrally until the section where you make your judgement clear. Judgements should be backed by reasons and evidence.

Discuss, consider: The least specific of the instruction words. Decide, first of all, what the main issues are. Then follow the same procedures for Comment on, Criticise, Evaluate, Critically Evaluate and Assess.

Analyse: Break down into component parts. Examine critically or closely.

How far, how true, to what extent: These suggest there are various views on and various aspects to the subject. Outline some of them, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, explore alternatives and then give your judgement.

Justify: Explain, with evidence, why something is the case, answering the main objections to your view as you go along.

Refute: Give evidence to prove why something is not the case.

Compare, contrast, distinguish, differentiate, relate: All require that you discuss how things are related to each other. Compare suggests you concentrate on similarities, which may lead to a stated preference, the justification of which should be made clear. These words suggest that two situations or ideas can be compared in a number of different ways, or from a variety of viewpoints. Contrast suggests you concentrate on differences.

Define: Write down the precise meaning of a word or phrase. Sometimes several co-existing definitions may be used and, possibly, evaluated.

Illustrate: Make clear and explicit; usually requires the use of carefully chosen examples.

State: Give a concise, clear explanation or account of…

Summarise: Give a concise, clear explanation or account of… presenting the main factors and excluding minor detail or examples (see also Outline).

Trace: Outline or follow the development of something from its initiation or point of origin.

Devise: Think up, work out a plan, solve a problem etc.

Apply (to): Put something to use, show how something can be used in a particular situation.

Identify: Put a name to, list something.

Indicate: Point out. This does not usually involve giving too much detail.

List: Make a list of a number of things. This usually involves simply remembering or finding out a number of things and putting them down one after the other.

Plan: Think about how something is to be done, made, organised, etc.

Report on: Describe what you have seen or done.

Review: Write a report on something.

Specify: Give the details of something.

Work out: Find a solution to a problem.

Adapted from: Coles, M. (1995), A Student’s Guide to Coursework Writing, University of Stirling, Stirling

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Essay writing: Analysing questions

Introductions
Conclusions
Analysing questions
Planning & drafting
Revising & editing
Proofreading
Essay writing videos

Jump to content on this page:

“It is well worth the time to break down the question into its different elements.” Kathleen McMillan & Jonathan Weyers, How to Write Essays & Assignments

When you get an essay question, how do you make sure you are answering it how your tutor wants? There is a hidden code in most questions that gives you a clue about the approach you should be taking...

Decoding the question

Here is a typical essay question:

Analyse the impact of the employability agenda on the undergraduate student experience.

Let's decode it...

Q=Analyse the economic impacts of a no-deal Brexit for the import industry. Analyse=instruction; the employability agenda=key issue/subject; the undergraduate student experience=focus/constraint

Understanding the instruction words

Did you know that analyse means something different to discuss or evaluate ? In academic writing these have very specific and unique meanings - which you need to make sure you are aware of before you start your essay planning. For example:

Examine critically so as to bring out the essential elements; describe in detail; describe the various parts of something and explain how they work together, or whether they work together.

It is almost impossible to remember the different meanings, so download our Glossary of Instruction Words for Essay Questions to keep your own reminder of the most common ones.

Redundant phrases

Don't get thrown by other regularly used phrases such as "with reference to relevant literature" or "critically evaluate" and "critically analyse" (rather than simply "evaluate" or "analyse"). All your writing should refer to relevant literature and all writing should have an element of criticality at university level. These are just redundant phrases/words and only there as a gentle reminder.

Recognise the subject of the question

Many students think this is the easy bit - but you can easily mistake the focus for the subject and vice versa. The subject is the general topic of the essay and the instruction word is usually referring to something you must do to that topic .

Lecture presenting a lecture on the topic of the essay

Usually, the subject is something you have had a lecture about or there are chapters about in your key texts.

There will be many aspects of the subject/topic that you will not need to include in your essay, which is why it is important to recognise and stick to the focus as shown in the next box.

Identify the focus/constraint

Every essay has and needs a focus . If you were to write everything about a topic, even about a particular aspect of a topic, you could write a book and not an essay! The focus gives you direction about the scope of the essay. It usually does one of two things:

Lecturer showing a slide about the focus of the essay

Gives context (focus on the topic within a particular situation, time frame etc).

This could be something there were a few slides about in your lecture or a subheading in your key text.

I don't have an essay question - what do I do?

I have to make up my own title.

If you have been asked to come up with your own title, write one like the ones described here. Include at least an instruction, a subject and a focus and it will make planning and writing the essay so much easier. The main difference would be that you write it as a description rather than a question i.e.:

An analysis of the impact of the employability agenda on the undergraduate student experience.

I have only been given assignment criteria

If you have been given assignment criteria, the question often still contains the information you need to break it down into the components on this page. For example, look at the criteria below. There are still instruction words, subjects and focus/constraints.

Aims of the assignment (3000 words):

An understanding of learning theories is important to being an effective teacher. In this assignment you will select two learning theories and explain why they would help you in your own teaching context. You will then reflect on an experience from your teaching practice when this was, or could have been, put into practice.

Assignment criteria

Select two learning theories , referring to published literature, explain why they are relevant to your own teaching context.

Reflect on an experience from your teaching practice .

Explain why a knowledge of a learning theory was or would have been useful in the circumstances .

Instructions words = explain (twice); reflect on.
Subjects = two learning theories; an experience from your teaching practice; knowledge of a learning theory.
Focus/constraints = your own teaching context; in the circumstances

Think of each criterion therefore as a mini essay.

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Essay Exams

What this handout is about.

At some time in your undergraduate career, you’re going to have to write an essay exam. This thought can inspire a fair amount of fear: we struggle enough with essays when they aren’t timed events based on unknown questions. The goal of this handout is to give you some easy and effective strategies that will help you take control of the situation and do your best.

Why do instructors give essay exams?

Essay exams are a useful tool for finding out if you can sort through a large body of information, figure out what is important, and explain why it is important. Essay exams challenge you to come up with key course ideas and put them in your own words and to use the interpretive or analytical skills you’ve practiced in the course. Instructors want to see whether:

You understand concepts that provide the basis for the course
You can use those concepts to interpret specific materials
You can make connections, see relationships, draw comparisons and contrasts
You can synthesize diverse information in support of an original assertion
You can justify your own evaluations based on appropriate criteria
You can argue your own opinions with convincing evidence
You can think critically and analytically about a subject

What essay questions require

Exam questions can reach pretty far into the course materials, so you cannot hope to do well on them if you do not keep up with the readings and assignments from the beginning of the course. The most successful essay exam takers are prepared for anything reasonable, and they probably have some intelligent guesses about the content of the exam before they take it. How can you be a prepared exam taker? Try some of the following suggestions during the semester:

Do the reading as the syllabus dictates; keeping up with the reading while the related concepts are being discussed in class saves you double the effort later.
Go to lectures (and put away your phone, the newspaper, and that crossword puzzle!).
Take careful notes that you’ll understand months later. If this is not your strong suit or the conventions for a particular discipline are different from what you are used to, ask your TA or the Learning Center for advice.
Participate in your discussion sections; this will help you absorb the material better so you don’t have to study as hard.
Organize small study groups with classmates to explore and review course materials throughout the semester. Others will catch things you might miss even when paying attention. This is not cheating. As long as what you write on the essay is your own work, formulating ideas and sharing notes is okay. In fact, it is a big part of the learning process.
As an exam approaches, find out what you can about the form it will take. This will help you forecast the questions that will be on the exam, and prepare for them.

These suggestions will save you lots of time and misery later. Remember that you can’t cram weeks of information into a single day or night of study. So why put yourself in that position?

Now let’s focus on studying for the exam. You’ll notice the following suggestions are all based on organizing your study materials into manageable chunks of related material. If you have a plan of attack, you’ll feel more confident and your answers will be more clear. Here are some tips:

Don’t just memorize aimlessly; clarify the important issues of the course and use these issues to focus your understanding of specific facts and particular readings.
Try to organize and prioritize the information into a thematic pattern. Look at what you’ve studied and find a way to put things into related groups. Find the fundamental ideas that have been emphasized throughout the course and organize your notes into broad categories. Think about how different categories relate to each other.
Find out what you don’t know, but need to know, by making up test questions and trying to answer them. Studying in groups helps as well.

Taking the exam

Read the exam carefully.

If you are given the entire exam at once and can determine your approach on your own, read the entire exam before you get started.
Look at how many points each part earns you, and find hints for how long your answers should be.
Figure out how much time you have and how best to use it. Write down the actual clock time that you expect to take in each section, and stick to it. This will help you avoid spending all your time on only one section. One strategy is to divide the available time according to percentage worth of the question. You don’t want to spend half of your time on something that is only worth one tenth of the total points.
As you read, make tentative choices of the questions you will answer (if you have a choice). Don’t just answer the first essay question you encounter. Instead, read through all of the options. Jot down really brief ideas for each question before deciding.
Remember that the easiest-looking question is not always as easy as it looks. Focus your attention on questions for which you can explain your answer most thoroughly, rather than settle on questions where you know the answer but can’t say why.

Analyze the questions

Decide what you are being asked to do. If you skim the question to find the main “topic” and then rush to grasp any related ideas you can recall, you may become flustered, lose concentration, and even go blank. Try looking closely at what the question is directing you to do, and try to understand the sort of writing that will be required.
Focus on what you do know about the question, not on what you don’t.
Look at the active verbs in the assignment—they tell you what you should be doing. We’ve included some of these below, with some suggestions on what they might mean. (For help with this sort of detective work, see the Writing Center handout titled Reading Assignments.)

Information words, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject. Information words may include:

define—give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning.
explain why/how—give reasons why or examples of how something happened.
illustrate—give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject.
summarize—briefly cover the important ideas you learned about the subject.
trace—outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form.
research—gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you’ve found.

Relation words ask you to demonstrate how things are connected. Relation words may include:

compare—show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different).
contrast—show how two or more things are dissimilar.
apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation.
cause—show how one event or series of events made something else happen.
relate—show or describe the connections between things.

Interpretation words ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Don’t see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation. Interpretation words may include:

prove, justify—give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth.
evaluate, respond, assess—state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons (you may want to compare your subject to something else).
support—give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe).
synthesize—put two or more things together that haven’t been put together before; don’t just summarize one and then the other, and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together (as opposed to compare and contrast—see above).
analyze—look closely at the components of something to figure out how it works, what it might mean, or why it is important.
argue—take a side and defend it (with proof) against the other side.

Plan your answers

Think about your time again. How much planning time you should take depends on how much time you have for each question and how many points each question is worth. Here are some general guidelines:

For short-answer definitions and identifications, just take a few seconds. Skip over any you don’t recognize fairly quickly, and come back to them when another question jogs your memory.
For answers that require a paragraph or two, jot down several important ideas or specific examples that help to focus your thoughts.
For longer answers, you will need to develop a much more definite strategy of organization. You only have time for one draft, so allow a reasonable amount of time—as much as a quarter of the time you’ve allotted for the question—for making notes, determining a thesis, and developing an outline.
For questions with several parts (different requests or directions, a sequence of questions), make a list of the parts so that you do not miss or minimize one part. One way to be sure you answer them all is to number them in the question and in your outline.
You may have to try two or three outlines or clusters before you hit on a workable plan. But be realistic—you want a plan you can develop within the limited time allotted for your answer. Your outline will have to be selective—not everything you know, but what you know that you can state clearly and keep to the point in the time available.

Again, focus on what you do know about the question, not on what you don’t.

Writing your answers

As with planning, your strategy for writing depends on the length of your answer:

For short identifications and definitions, it is usually best to start with a general identifying statement and then move on to describe specific applications or explanations. Two sentences will almost always suffice, but make sure they are complete sentences. Find out whether the instructor wants definition alone, or definition and significance. Why is the identification term or object important?
For longer answers, begin by stating your forecasting statement or thesis clearly and explicitly. Strive for focus, simplicity, and clarity. In stating your point and developing your answers, you may want to use important course vocabulary words from the question. For example, if the question is, “How does wisteria function as a representation of memory in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom?” you may want to use the words wisteria, representation, memory, and Faulkner) in your thesis statement and answer. Use these important words or concepts throughout the answer.
If you have devised a promising outline for your answer, then you will be able to forecast your overall plan and its subpoints in your opening sentence. Forecasting impresses readers and has the very practical advantage of making your answer easier to read. Also, if you don’t finish writing, it tells your reader what you would have said if you had finished (and may get you partial points).
You might want to use briefer paragraphs than you ordinarily do and signal clear relations between paragraphs with transition phrases or sentences.
As you move ahead with the writing, you may think of new subpoints or ideas to include in the essay. Stop briefly to make a note of these on your original outline. If they are most appropriately inserted in a section you’ve already written, write them neatly in the margin, at the top of the page, or on the last page, with arrows or marks to alert the reader to where they fit in your answer. Be as neat and clear as possible.
Don’t pad your answer with irrelevancies and repetitions just to fill up space. Within the time available, write a comprehensive, specific answer.
Watch the clock carefully to ensure that you do not spend too much time on one answer. You must be realistic about the time constraints of an essay exam. If you write one dazzling answer on an exam with three equally-weighted required questions, you earn only 33 points—not enough to pass at most colleges. This may seem unfair, but keep in mind that instructors plan exams to be reasonably comprehensive. They want you to write about the course materials in two or three or more ways, not just one way. Hint: if you finish a half-hour essay in 10 minutes, you may need to develop some of your ideas more fully.
If you run out of time when you are writing an answer, jot down the remaining main ideas from your outline, just to show that you know the material and with more time could have continued your exposition.
Double-space to leave room for additions, and strike through errors or changes with one straight line (avoid erasing or scribbling over). Keep things as clean as possible. You never know what will earn you partial credit.
Write legibly and proofread. Remember that your instructor will likely be reading a large pile of exams. The more difficult they are to read, the more exasperated the instructor might become. Your instructor also cannot give you credit for what they cannot understand. A few minutes of careful proofreading can improve your grade.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind in writing essay exams is that you have a limited amount of time and space in which to get across the knowledge you have acquired and your ability to use it. Essay exams are not the place to be subtle or vague. It’s okay to have an obvious structure, even the five-paragraph essay format you may have been taught in high school. Introduce your main idea, have several paragraphs of support—each with a single point defended by specific examples, and conclude with a restatement of your main point and its significance.

Some physiological tips

Just think—we expect athletes to practice constantly and use everything in their abilities and situations in order to achieve success. Yet, somehow many students are convinced that one day’s worth of studying, no sleep, and some well-placed compliments (“Gee, Dr. So-and-so, I really enjoyed your last lecture”) are good preparation for a test. Essay exams are like any other testing situation in life: you’ll do best if you are prepared for what is expected of you, have practiced doing it before, and have arrived in the best shape to do it. You may not want to believe this, but it’s true: a good night’s sleep and a relaxed mind and body can do as much or more for you as any last-minute cram session. Colleges abound with tales of woe about students who slept through exams because they stayed up all night, wrote an essay on the wrong topic, forgot everything they studied, or freaked out in the exam and hyperventilated. If you are rested, breathing normally, and have brought along some healthy, energy-boosting snacks that you can eat or drink quietly, you are in a much better position to do a good job on the test. You aren’t going to write a good essay on something you figured out at 4 a.m. that morning. If you prepare yourself well throughout the semester, you don’t risk your whole grade on an overloaded, undernourished brain.

If for some reason you get yourself into this situation, take a minute every once in a while during the test to breathe deeply, stretch, and clear your brain. You need to be especially aware of the likelihood of errors, so check your essays thoroughly before you hand them in to make sure they answer the right questions and don’t have big oversights or mistakes (like saying “Hitler” when you really mean “Churchill”).

If you tend to go blank during exams, try studying in the same classroom in which the test will be given. Some research suggests that people attach ideas to their surroundings, so it might jog your memory to see the same things you were looking at while you studied.

Try good luck charms. Bring in something you associate with success or the support of your loved ones, and use it as a psychological boost.

Take all of the time you’ve been allotted. Reread, rework, and rethink your answers if you have extra time at the end, rather than giving up and handing the exam in the minute you’ve written your last sentence. Use every advantage you are given.

Remember that instructors do not want to see you trip up—they want to see you do well. With this in mind, try to relax and just do the best you can. The more you panic, the more mistakes you are liable to make. Put the test in perspective: will you die from a poor performance? Will you lose all of your friends? Will your entire future be destroyed? Remember: it’s just a test.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. 2016. The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing , 11th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Fowler, Ramsay H., and Jane E. Aaron. 2016. The Little, Brown Handbook , 13th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Gefvert, Constance J. 1988. The Confident Writer: A Norton Handbook , 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Kirszner, Laurie G. 1988. Writing: A College Rhetoric , 2nd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Woodman, Leonara, and Thomas P. Adler. 1988. The Writer’s Choices , 2nd ed. Northbrook, Illinois: Scott Foresman.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Write a Good Answer to Exam Essay Questions

Last Updated: March 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Tristen Bonacci . Tristen Bonacci is a Licensed English Teacher with more than 20 years of experience. Tristen has taught in both the United States and overseas. She specializes in teaching in a secondary education environment and sharing wisdom with others, no matter the environment. Tristen holds a BA in English Literature from The University of Colorado and an MEd from The University of Phoenix. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 647,893 times.

Answering essay questions on an exam can be difficult and stressful, which can make it hard to provide a good answer. However, you can improve your ability to answer essay questions by learning how to understand the questions, form an answer, and stay focused. Developing your ability to give excellent answers on essay exams will take time and effort, but you can learn some good essay question practices and start improving your answers.

Understanding the Question

Analyze: Explain the what, where, who, when, why, and how. Include pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses, etc.
Compare: Discuss the similarities and differences between two or more things. Don't forget to explain why the comparison is useful.
Contrast: Discuss how two or more things are different or distinguish between them. Don't forget to explain why the contrast is useful.
Define: State what something means, does, achieves, etc.
Describe: List characteristics or traits of something. You may also need to summarize something, such as an essay prompt that asks "Describe the major events that led to the American Revolution."
Discuss: This is more analytical. You usually begin by describing something and then present arguments for or against it. You may need to analyze the advantages or disadvantages of your subject.
Evaluate: Offer the pros and cons, positives and negatives for a subject. You may be asked to evaluate a statement for logical support, or evaluate an argument for weaknesses.
Explain: Explain why or how something happened, or justify your position on something.
Prove: Usually reserved for more scientific or objective essays. You may be asked to include evidence and research to build a case for a specific position or set of hypotheses.
Summarize: Usually, this means to list the major ideas or themes of a subject. It could also ask you to present the main ideas in order to then fully discuss them. Most essay questions will not ask for pure summary without anything else.

Step 3 Ask questions if anything is unclear.

Raise your hand and wait for your teacher to come over to you or approach your teacher’s desk to ask your question. This way you will be less likely to disrupt other test takers.

Forming Your Response

Take a moment to consider your organization before you start writing your answer. What information should come first, second, third, etc.?
In many cases, the traditional 5-paragraph essay structure works well. Start with an introductory paragraph, use 3 paragraphs in the body of the article to explain different points, and finish with a concluding paragraph.
It can also be really helpful to draft a quick outline of your essay before you start writing.

Step 3 Choose relevant facts and figures to include.

You may want to make a list of facts and figures that you want to include in your essay answer. That way you can refer to this list as you write your answer.
It's best to write down all the important key topics or ideas before you get started composing your answer. That way, you can check back to make sure you haven't missed anything.

Step 4 Begin your answer by rephrasing the essay question as a statement.

For example, imagine that your essay question asks: "Should the FIFA World Cup be awarded to countries with human rights violations? Explain and support your answer."
You might restate this as "Countries with human rights violations should not be awarded the FIFA World Cup because this rewards a nation's poor treatment of its citizens." This will be the thesis that you support with examples and explanation.

Step 5 Make sure that your answer has a clear point.

For example, whether you argue that the FIFA World Cup should or should not be awarded to countries with human rights violations, you will want to address the opposing side's argument. However, it needs to be clear where your essay stands about the matter.
Often, essay questions end up saying things along the lines of "There are many similarities and differences between X and Y." This does not offer a clear position and can result in a bad grade.

Step 6 Pay attention to your grammar and punctuation.

If you are required to write your answer by hand, then take care to make your writing legible and neat. Some professors may deduct points if they cannot read what you have written.

Staying Calm and Focused

Step 1 Stop and take a deep breath if you get too anxious.

If you get to a point during the exam where you feel too anxious to focus, put down your pencil (or take your hands off of the keyboard), close your eyes, and take a deep breath. Stretch your arms and imagine that you are somewhere pleasant for a few moments. When you have completed this brief exercise, open up your eyes and resume the exam.

For example, if the exam period is one hour long and you have to answer three questions in that time frame, then you should plan to spend no more than 20 minutes on each question.
Look at the weight of the questions, if applicable. For example, if there are five 10-point short-answers and a 50-point essay, plan to spend more time on the essay because it is worth significantly more. Don't get stuck spending so much time on the short-answers that you don't have time to develop a complex essay.

This strategy is even more important if the exam has multiple essay questions. If you take too much time on the first question, then you may not have enough time to answer the other questions on the exam.

If you feel like you are straying away from the question, reread the question and review any notes that you made to help guide you. After you get refocused, then continue writing your answer.
Try to allow yourself enough time to go back and tighten up connections between your points. A few well-placed transitions can really bump up your grade.

Community Q&A

If you are worried about running out of time, put your watch in front of you where you can see it. Just try not to focus on it too much. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
If you need more practice, make up your own questions or even look at some practice questions online! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

Look up relevant quotes if your exam is open notes. Use references from books or class to back up your answers.
Make sure your sentences flow together and that you don't repeat the same thing twice!

↑ https://www.linnbenton.edu/student-services/library-tutoring-testing/learning-center/academic-coaching/documents/Strategies%20For%20Answering%20Essay%20Questions.pdf
↑ https://www.ius.edu/writing-center/files/answering-essay-questions.pdf
↑ https://success.uark.edu/get-help/student-resources/short-answer-essays.php

About This Article

To write a good answer to an exam essay question, read the question carefully to find what it's asking, and follow the instructions for the essay closely. Begin your essay by rephrasing the question into a statement with your answer in the statement. Include supplemental facts and figures if necessary, or do textual analysis from a provided piece to support your argument. Make sure your writing is clear and to the point, and don't include extra information unless it supports your argument. For tips from our academic reviewer on understanding essay questions and dealing with testing nerves, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Understanding essay questions

When you're given an assignment, it may be tempting to simply Google your essay question and type it into our Library Search but you'll probably get either too many results or none at all.

To find the information you need, you'll need to first understand your essay question and identify which words to use in your online search.

A good way of approaching your essay is to break the question down. Most essay questions will contain two different types of words - keywords and process words.

As an example, we'll use the following essay title:

'Assess what impact the media has on our fear of crime'

Keywords are the words which define the topic. They are the words you'll need to use in your online searches.

In our example above, the keywords are 'media', 'fear' and 'crime'.

Process words

Process words tell you what is required of you when answering the question and how you will be using the information in your essay. They will not be helpful for your online searches.

Find out more about process words .

Planning your search

Before you start searching with your keywords, think about the type of information you are looking for and where you should search.

Books can be provide useful introductions to a subject, but they may not always cover the very latest information. Journals are more specialist, but also more up-to-date. Websites will give you the very latest information.

Before starting your search, ask yourself these questions:

Can you limit your search to a particular geographical area? For example, are you looking for information about the UK, or United States, or China?
Are you considering your topic from all angles or from a particular perspective? For example, could you limit your search to just a social, economic or political point of view?
Are you looking for newer material or older material?
How far back will it be useful to go?
Is there a meaningful start or finish date for your topic, such as an important event, law or technological innovation?
Are you looking for introductory or specialist information? Do you need a general overview or do you need to find the latest research on specific topic?

Finding information

Find out more about how you can use books, journals, websites, newspapers and other resources as part of your work.

Understanding process words

Find explanations of common process words to help you understand what is required of you when answering essay questions.

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19 Evaluation Essays

Evaluative arguments center around the question of quality. Is something good? Bad? Honest? Dishonest? Evaluative judgments are also about values—what the writer thinks is important. Sometimes the writer’s values are not the same as his/her readers’ values, so he/she has to bridge the gap by showing respect for the audience’s opinions and clarifying the points that they do and don’t agree upon.

An important first step in writing an evaluation is to consider the appropriate standards/criteria for evaluating the subject. If a writer is evaluating a car, for example, the writer might consider standard criteria like fuel economy, price, crash ratings. But the writer also might consider style, warranty, color, special options, like sound systems. Even though all people might not base their choice of a car on these secondary criteria, they are still considered acceptable or standard criteria.

To be taken seriously, a writer must have valid reasons for his evaluation. These reasons are based on criteria. Imagine choosing your attire for a job interview at a very prestigious law firm. You look at the jeans and t-shirts in your closet and immediately decide to go shopping. Why? Because the clothes in your closet don’t meet the criteria for the interview.

The Purpose of Evaluative Writing

Writers evaluate arguments in order to present an informed and well-reasoned judgment about a subject. While the evaluation will be based on their opinion, it should not seem opinionated. Instead, it should aim to be reasonable and unbiased. This is achieved through developing a solid judgment, selecting appropriate criteria to evaluate the subject, and providing clear evidence to support the criteria.

Evaluation is a type of writing that has many real-world applications. Anything can be evaluated. For example, evaluations of movies, restaurants, books, and technology ourselves are all real-world evaluations.

Five Characteristics of an Evaluative Essay

by Dr. Karen Palmer

1. Presenting the subject.

Presenting the subject is an often misunderstood aspect of an evaluative essay. Either writers give too little information or too much. Presenting the subject occurs in two different places in the essay.

First, the writer should give a brief introduction of the subject in the introduction of the evaluation. This introduction occurs in the second part of the introduction–the intro to the topic. At this point, the writer should simply name the subject and give a very brief description. For example, a restaurant review should include at a minimum the name and location of the restaurant. An evaluation of a vehicle might include the make, model, and year of the vehicle and any important features.

Second, the writer should give a more detailed description of the subject following the introduction in the background section of the paper. Here the writer could give a more detailed overview of the restaurant (the type of decor, type of food, owners, history), describe the vehicle in detail, etc. Striking a balance between giving the reader the necessary information to understand the evaluation and telling readers everything is important. The amount of detail necessary depends on the topic. If you are reviewing a brand new technology or a machine, specific to your line of work, for example, you will need to give readers more information than if you are simply reviewing a restaurant or a doctor’s office.

The language used in your description can be evaluative. For example, a writer can use descriptive adjectives and adverbs to convey a certain impression of the subject, even before the claim is made.

2. Asserting an overall judgment.

The main point/thesis should be located at the end of the paper’s introduction. It should be definitive—certain, clear, and decisive. Asking a question does not pose a definitive claim. Giving several different perspectives also does not give a definitive claim. It is ok to balance your claim, though, acknowledging weaknesses (or strengths) even as you evaluate a subject positively: “While the Suburban is a gas guzzler, it is the perfect car for a large family….”

Providing a map of your reasons/criteria within the thesis is a great technique for creating organization and focus for your essay. For example, “While the Suburban is a gas guzzler, it is the perfect car for a large family because it can seat up to 9, it has a high safety rating, and it has the best in class towing capacity.” Not only does this example give a clear, balanced claim, but it also lays out the writer’s reasons upfront, creating a map in the reader’s mind that will help him follow the reasoning in the essay.

3. Giving Reasons and Support

After presenting the subject and providing readers with a clear claim, the writer must explain and justify his/her evaluation using reasons that are recognized by readers as appropriate. This occurs in the argument section of the paper and should be the most extensive part of the paper. Reasons should reflect values or standards typical for the subject. If a writer uses criteria that is not typical for the subject, he/she must be prepared to defend that decision in the essay. For example, “Buying local may not always be at the forefront of a buyer’s mind when shopping for eggs, but…” Each reason should be clearly stated as a topic sentence that both states the reason and refers back to the main claim. Going back to the suburban example, a body paragraph/section might begin with the following topic sentence: “One of the obvious reasons a suburban is great for large families is its capacity for holding that large family and all of their necessary traveling items.”

Following the topic sentence, a writer must include relevant examples, quotes, facts, statistics, or personal anecdotes to support the reason. Depending on what the subject is, the support might be different. To support a claim about a book/film, for example, a writer might include a description of a pivotal scene or quotes from the book/film. In contrast, to support a claim about gas mileage, a writer would probably simply give the information from the vehicle specifications. Support can come from a writer’s own knowledge and experience, or from published sources.

4. Counterarguing:

Counterarguing means responding to readers’ objections and questions. In order to effectively counterargue, a writer must have a clear conception of his/her audience. What does the audience already know or believe about the subject? Effective counterarguing builds credibility in the eyes of the audience because it creates a sense that the writer is listening to the reader’s questions and concerns.

Counterarguments can occur at the end of the essay, after the writer has made his/her point, or throughout the essay as the writer anticipates questions or objections. Writers can respond to readers’ objections in two ways. First, a writer can acknowledge an objection and immediately provide a counter-argument, explaining why the objection is not valid. Second, a writer can concede the point, and allow that, the subject does have a flaw. In either case, it is important to be respectful of opposing positions, while still remaining firm to the original claim.

5. Establishing credibility and authority:

A writer’s credibility and authority lead to readers’ confidence in your judgment and their willingness to recognize and acknowledge that credibility and authority. An author can gain credibility by showing that he/she knows a lot about the subject. In addition, the writer shows that his/her judgment is based on valid values and standards.

The writer’s authority is in large part based upon the background of the author—education, etc. Is the author qualified to make a judgment? For some subjects, like a film review, simply watching the film might be enough. In other instances, like evaluating the quality of newly constructed cabinets or the engine of a new car, more experience might be necessary.

The Structure of an Evaluation Essay

Evaluation essays are structured as follows.

First, the essay will present the subject . What is being evaluated? Why? The essay begins with the writer giving any details needed about the subject.

Next, the essay needs to provide a judgment about a subject. This is the thesis of the essay, and it states whether the subject is good or bad based on how it meets the stated criteria.

The body of the essay will contain the criteria used to evaluate the subject. In an evaluation essay, the criteria must be appropriate for evaluating the subject under consideration. Appropriate criteria will help to keep the essay from seeming biased or unreasonable. If authors evaluated the quality of a movie based on the snacks sold at the snack bar, that would make them seem unreasonable, and their evaluation may be disregarded because of it.

The evidence of an evaluation essay consists of the supporting details authors provide based on their judgment of the criteria.

For example, if the subject of an evaluation is a restaurant, a judgment could be “Kay’s Bistro provides an unrivaled experience in fine dining.” Some authors evaluate fine dining restaurants by identifying appropriate criteria in order to rate the establishment’s food quality, service, and atmosphere. The examples are evidence.

Another example of evaluation is literary analysis; judgments may be made about a character in the story based on the character’s actions, characteristics, and past history within the story. The scenes in the story are evidence for why readers have a certain opinion of the character.

Job applications and interviews are more examples of evaluations. Based on certain criteria, management and hiring committees determine which applicants will be considered for an interview and which applicant will be hired.

Example Outline

Thesis: McAdoo’s is a fantastic family restaurant, offering young and old alike a great atmosphere, wonderful customer service, and a fantastic menu.

Introduction
Location–New Braunfels, TX
History–old post office, restored
Type of food
Walking up to the restaurant–cool exterior
Lobby–original post office doors, etc
Tables–great decor–memorabilia from NB history
prompt, courteous service
refills, bread
taking care of complaints–all you can eat lobster out–so price reduced
land lovers
Conclusion…If you’re ever in NB, I highly suggest stopping in at McAdoo’s and absorbing some of the great old world charm with some delicious food.

Possible “Get Started” Idea

Evaluate a restaurant. What do you expect in a good restaurant? What criteria determine whether a restaurant is good?
List three criteria that you will use to evaluate a restaurant. Then dine there. Afterward, explain whether or not the restaurant meets each criterion, and include evidence (qualities from the restaurant) that backs your evaluation.
Give the restaurant a star rating. (5 Stars: Excellent, 4 Stars: Very Good, 3 Stars: Good, 2 Stars: Fair, 1 Star: Poor). Explain why the restaurant earned this star rating.

Time to Write

In this essay, you will evaluate potential obstacles to learning. Think about the health and wellness of a college student during an international pandemic. What do you need to be successful? Do you have access to resources? Are the GCC resources adequate to support the community and its students during the pandemic?

You will evaluate at least three campus resources. Your recommendation should clearly state which of the resources should be maintained, which should be improved, and which might be eliminated, if any.

Purpose: This assignment will demonstrate the understanding of how to do a thorough evaluation of an approved topic. Students will review the complex elements of the topic they have chosen. Evaluative essays call for the writer to assess a subject in light of specific and explicit criteria and to make a judgment based on the assessment.

Task: This assignment evaluates a campus resource.

Write an Evaluation Essay. For this essay, you will choose a clear topic, give a reason for the evaluation, use description and categorization, create evaluation criteria, use concrete evidence and demonstrate the “why” of your position.

Possible Topics

Some topics to consider are listed here:

Center for Learning
Writing Center
Math Solutions
High Tech 1
High Tech 2
GCC Counseling and Career Services
Fitness Center

Key Features of an Evaluation:

Describe the particular phenomenon or work in a way that the rhetorical audience will understand and value.
Present the criteria on which the phenomenon or work is to be evaluated clearly, persuasively, authoritatively, and often in an order indicating importance. Criteria can be categorized into three groups: necessary (crucial but not enough to meet your overall assessment), sufficient (meeting all of your minimum standards, including the necessary ones), and accidental (unnecessary but an added bonus to the necessary and sufficient criteria).
Include concrete evidence and relevant examples from your personal experience and research illustrate the ways (usually in the form of assertions) the phenomenon does or does not meet each evaluative criterion. These fair and balanced assertions support the thesis statement.
At least three (3) sources on the Works Cited; these could be from your personal experience, college web pages, public health information, or sources related to quality college resources.
Articulate a clear argument (usually in the form of a thesis statement) about whether or not the object or phenomenon meets the criteria on which it is being evaluated.
Demonstrate an ethical approach to the process.

Key Grading Considerations

A clear reason for the evaluation
Use of description
Categorizing
Clear evaluation criteria
Concrete evidence & Examples
A clear argument presented (Thesis)
The establishment of ethos (balanced argument)
Secure closure to the argument (conclusion)
Three (3) sources minimum
Key Features are included
One inch margins
Typed and double-spaced
The heading is double-spaced on the left side of the page (includes name, my name, class, date)
Upper right-hand corner has last name and page number (EX: Dewey 1)
The font is Times New Roman, size 12
The title is original and is centered one line under the heading
Works Cited page lists outside sources in MLA format
Descriptive Language
Correct, appropriate, and varied integration of textual examples, including in-text citations
Limited errors in spelling, grammar, word order, word usage, sentence structure, and punctuation
Good use of academic English
Demonstrates cohesion and flow
Works Cited page has hanging indents and is in alphabetical order by author’s last name

Attribution

Content Adapted from “Five Characteristics of an Evaluative Essay” from The Worry-Free Writer by Dr. Karen Palmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Content Adapted from Susan Wood, “Evaluation Essay,” Leeward CC ENG 100 OER, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Original Content contributed by Christine Jones “Time to Write” licensed under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

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Focus and Precision: How to Write Essays that Answer the Question

About the Author Stephanie Allen read Classics and English at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and is currently researching a PhD in Early Modern Academic Drama at the University of Fribourg.

We’ve all been there. You’ve handed in an essay and you think it’s pretty great: it shows off all your best ideas, and contains points you’re sure no one else will have thought of.

You’re not totally convinced that what you’ve written is relevant to the title you were given – but it’s inventive, original and good. In fact, it might be better than anything that would have responded to the question. But your essay isn’t met with the lavish praise you expected. When it’s tossed back onto your desk, there are huge chunks scored through with red pen, crawling with annotations like little red fire ants: ‘IRRELEVANT’; ‘A bit of a tangent!’; ‘???’; and, right next to your best, most impressive killer point: ‘Right… so?’. The grade your teacher has scrawled at the end is nowhere near what your essay deserves. In fact, it’s pretty average. And the comment at the bottom reads something like, ‘Some good ideas, but you didn’t answer the question!’.

If this has ever happened to you (and it has happened to me, a lot), you’ll know how deeply frustrating it is – and how unfair it can seem. This might just be me, but the exhausting process of researching, having ideas, planning, writing and re-reading makes me steadily more attached to the ideas I have, and the things I’ve managed to put on the page. Each time I scroll back through what I’ve written, or planned, so far, I become steadily more convinced of its brilliance. What started off as a scribbled note in the margin, something extra to think about or to pop in if it could be made to fit the argument, sometimes comes to be backbone of a whole essay – so, when a tutor tells me my inspired paragraph about Ted Hughes’s interpretation of mythology isn’t relevant to my essay on Keats, I fail to see why. Or even if I can see why, the thought of taking it out is wrenching. Who cares if it’s a bit off-topic? It should make my essay stand out, if anything! And an examiner would probably be happy not to read yet another answer that makes exactly the same points. If you recognise yourself in the above, there are two crucial things to realise. The first is that something has to change: because doing well in high school exam or coursework essays is almost totally dependent on being able to pin down and organise lots of ideas so that an examiner can see that they convincingly answer a question. And it’s a real shame to work hard on something, have good ideas, and not get the marks you deserve. Writing a top essay is a very particular and actually quite simple challenge. It’s not actually that important how original you are, how compelling your writing is, how many ideas you get down, or how beautifully you can express yourself (though of course, all these things do have their rightful place). What you’re doing, essentially, is using a limited amount of time and knowledge to really answer a question. It sounds obvious, but a good essay should have the title or question as its focus the whole way through . It should answer it ten times over – in every single paragraph, with every fact or figure. Treat your reader (whether it’s your class teacher or an external examiner) like a child who can’t do any interpretive work of their own; imagine yourself leading them through your essay by the hand, pointing out that you’ve answered the question here , and here , and here. Now, this is all very well, I imagine you objecting, and much easier said than done. But never fear! Structuring an essay that knocks a question on the head is something you can learn to do in a couple of easy steps. In the next few hundred words, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned through endless, mindless crossings-out, rewordings, rewritings and rethinkings.

Top tips and golden rules

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been told to ‘write the question at the top of every new page’- but for some reason, that trick simply doesn’t work for me. If it doesn’t work for you either, use this three-part process to allow the question to structure your essay:

1) Work out exactly what you’re being asked

It sounds really obvious, but lots of students have trouble answering questions because they don’t take time to figure out exactly what they’re expected to do – instead, they skim-read and then write the essay they want to write. Sussing out a question is a two-part process, and the first part is easy. It means looking at the directions the question provides as to what sort of essay you’re going to write. I call these ‘command phrases’ and will go into more detail about what they mean below. The second part involves identifying key words and phrases.

2) Be as explicit as possible

Use forceful, persuasive language to show how the points you’ve made do answer the question. My main focus so far has been on tangential or irrelevant material – but many students lose marks even though they make great points, because they don’t quite impress how relevant those points are. Again, I’ll talk about how you can do this below.

3) Be brutally honest with yourself about whether a point is relevant before you write it.

It doesn’t matter how impressive, original or interesting it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re panicking, and you can’t think of any points that do answer the question. If a point isn’t relevant, don’t bother with it. It’s a waste of time, and might actually work against you- if you put tangential material in an essay, your reader will struggle to follow the thread of your argument, and lose focus on your really good points.

Put it into action: Step One

Let’s imagine you’re writing an English essay about the role and importance of the three witches in Macbeth . You’re thinking about the different ways in which Shakespeare imagines and presents the witches, how they influence the action of the tragedy, and perhaps the extent to which we’re supposed to believe in them (stay with me – you don’t have to know a single thing about Shakespeare or Macbeth to understand this bit!). Now, you’ll probably have a few good ideas on this topic – and whatever essay you write, you’ll most likely use much of the same material. However, the detail of the phrasing of the question will significantly affect the way you write your essay. You would draw on similar material to address the following questions: Discuss Shakespeare’s representation of the three witches in Macbeth . How does Shakespeare figure the supernatural in Macbeth ? To what extent are the three witches responsible for Macbeth’s tragic downfall? Evaluate the importance of the three witches in bringing about Macbeth’s ruin. Are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ? “Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, there is profound ambiguity about the actual significance and power of their malevolent intervention” (Stephen Greenblatt). Discuss. I’ve organised the examples into three groups, exemplifying the different types of questions you might have to answer in an exam. The first group are pretty open-ended: ‘discuss’- and ‘how’-questions leave you room to set the scope of the essay. You can decide what the focus should be. Beware, though – this doesn’t mean you don’t need a sturdy structure, or a clear argument, both of which should always be present in an essay. The second group are asking you to evaluate, constructing an argument that decides whether, and how far something is true. Good examples of hypotheses (which your essay would set out to prove) for these questions are:

The witches are the most important cause of tragic action in Macbeth.
The witches are partially, but not entirely responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, alongside Macbeth’s unbridled ambition, and that of his wife.
We are not supposed to believe the witches: they are a product of Macbeth’s psyche, and his downfall is his own doing.
The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is shaky – finally, their ambiguity is part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. (N.B. It’s fine to conclude that a question can’t be answered in black and white, certain terms – as long as you have a firm structure, and keep referring back to it throughout the essay).

The final question asks you to respond to a quotation. Students tend to find these sorts of questions the most difficult to answer, but once you’ve got the hang of them I think the title does most of the work for you – often implicitly providing you with a structure for your essay. The first step is breaking down the quotation into its constituent parts- the different things it says. I use brackets: ( Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, ) ( there is profound ambiguity ) about the ( actual significance ) ( and power ) of ( their malevolent intervention ) Examiners have a nasty habit of picking the most bewildering and terrifying-sounding quotations: but once you break them down, they’re often asking for something very simple. This quotation, for example, is asking exactly the same thing as the other questions. The trick here is making sure you respond to all the different parts. You want to make sure you discuss the following:

Do you agree that the status of the witches’ ‘malevolent intervention’ is ambiguous?
What is its significance?
How powerful is it?

Step Two: Plan

Having worked out exactly what the question is asking, write out a plan (which should be very detailed in a coursework essay, but doesn’t have to be more than a few lines long in an exam context) of the material you’ll use in each paragraph. Make sure your plan contains a sentence at the end of each point about how that point will answer the question. A point from my plan for one of the topics above might look something like this:

To what extent are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ? Hypothesis: The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is uncertain – finally, they’re part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. Para.1: Context At the time Shakespeare wrote Macbeth , there were many examples of people being burned or drowned as witches There were also people who claimed to be able to exorcise evil demons from people who were ‘possessed’. Catholic Christianity leaves much room for the supernatural to exist This suggests that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might, more readily than a modern one, have believed that witches were a real phenomenon and did exist.

My final sentence (highlighted in red) shows how the material discussed in the paragraph answers the question. Writing this out at the planning stage, in addition to clarifying your ideas, is a great test of whether a point is relevant: if you struggle to write the sentence, and make the connection to the question and larger argument, you might have gone off-topic.

Step Three: Paragraph beginnings and endings

The final step to making sure you pick up all the possible marks for ‘answering the question’ in an essay is ensuring that you make it explicit how your material does so. This bit relies upon getting the beginnings and endings of paragraphs just right. To reiterate what I said above, treat your reader like a child: tell them what you’re going to say; tell them how it answers the question; say it, and then tell them how you’ve answered the question. This need not feel clumsy, awkward or repetitive. The first sentence of each new paragraph or point should, without giving too much of your conclusion away, establish what you’re going to discuss, and how it answers the question. The opening sentence from the paragraph I planned above might go something like this:

Early modern political and religious contexts suggest that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might more readily have believed in witches than his modern readers.

The sentence establishes that I’m going to discuss Jacobean religion and witch-burnings, and also what I’m going to use those contexts to show. I’d then slot in all my facts and examples in the middle of the paragraph. The final sentence (or few sentences) should be strong and decisive, making a clear connection to the question you’ve been asked:

Contemporary suspicion that witches did exist, testified to by witch-hunts and exorcisms, is crucial to our understanding of the witches in Macbeth. To the early modern consciousness, witches were a distinctly real and dangerous possibility – and the witches in the play would have seemed all-the-more potent and terrifying as a result.

Step Four: Practice makes perfect

The best way to get really good at making sure you always ‘answer the question’ is to write essay plans rather than whole pieces. Set aside a few hours, choose a couple of essay questions from past papers, and for each:

Write a hypothesis
Write a rough plan of what each paragraph will contain
Write out the first and last sentence of each paragraph

You can get your teacher, or a friend, to look through your plans and give you feedback. If you follow this advice, fingers crossed, next time you hand in an essay, it’ll be free from red-inked comments about irrelevance, and instead showered with praise for the precision with which you handled the topic, and how intently you focused on answering the question. It can seem depressing when your perfect question is just a minor tangent from the question you were actually asked, but trust me – high praise and good marks are all found in answering the question in front of you, not the one you would have liked to see. Teachers do choose the questions they set you with some care, after all; chances are the question you were set is the more illuminating and rewarding one as well.

Image credits: banner ; Keats ; Macbeth ; James I ; witches .

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How to analyse an essay question: How to analyse an essay question

What's in this guide

How to analyse an essay question

Working through an example
Additional resources

At university you will not be asked to write down absolutely everything you know about a topic.

Instead, you are asked to interpret a question about one aspect of that topic.

You must always answer the question as it has been asked, so analysing the question is crucial to getting the essay right. Breaking the question down into several parts can help you know how to approach the question and understand what you are being asked to do.

To do this you need to know:

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Essay question words: “critically evaluate/review”

(Last updated: 13 May 2021)

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What does it mean to critically evaluate something or to provide a critical review? We won’t lie – these terms are complicated. But the following paragraph, and the rest of this blog post below, may help your understanding:

Typically, the word “critical” has a negative connotation. Think of words like “critique” and “criticise” and you see why. However, with essay writing, being asked to write “critically” does not necessarily mean you need to be negative. Instead, you are voicing your opinion in a logical and coherent way that is based upon evidence and evaluation.

When faced with the task to “critically evaluate” or to provide a “critical review”, it is important to remember that there is going to be some element of description. But you need to be able to build on that description to further justify your point. Let’s go through some examples.

Descriptive writing

Descriptive writing really focuses on answering the four ‘w’ questions – what, where, who, when. In descriptive writing you are going to need to focus on the following:

Who	What	Where	When
Who is the author?	What is this about?	Where does this take place?	When does this occur?
Who is affected?	What is the context?
Who is involved?	What is the main point?

As you can see from the table above, all of the ‘w’ questions are really important and are essential components to writing a good essay . The purpose of these components is to let the reader get the essential information they need to understand the main idea. Yet if you stop here, you only end up with a descriptive essay, which does not meet the requirements of criticality that are requested by the professor or TA.

Critical writing

Critical writing gives you the opportunity to go beyond the descriptive, so when you critically evaluate or critically review something, you are moving toward analysis and evaluation. This type of critical writing asks you to assess the how, why, what if, so what and what next questions. As you will begin to notice, these questions require much more explanation that the ‘w’ questions (each of which you could likely answer in 10 words or less). Let’s look at some of these questions below:

How	Why	What if	So what	What next
How does this occur?	Why did this occur?	What if we are wrong?	What does this mean?	Is it transferable?
How does it work?	Why was that done?	What if there was a problem?	Why is this significant?	What can we learn from it?
How do the parts fit into the whole?	Why this argument / solution?	What if a certain factors were changed/ altered/ removed?	Is this convincing? Why? Why not?	What needs doing now?

Managing the descriptive and critical

Anyone who has done a lot of writing or who has seen many students’ writing will tell you that there are plenty of ways to write an essay . Yet while there are many strategies, when writing in English, there are certain expectations that the reader has when working through a paragraph or larger piece of writing. Therefore, in order to satisfy the reader that you have successfully completed a critical review or evaluation, you need to make sure that the reader gets what they are expecting.

The first step is to carefully read the article/piece of work that you are going to be critically assessing. Often, students feel like, just because something has been published in an academic journal, that it is an excellent piece of writing that cannot be questioned. But this isn’t necessarily true. The author of that article made certain decisions during the research and writing processes. It is your job to evaluate and analyse what they have done and whether the author has presented any evidence that you can draw conclusions from or make links between areas of knowledge.

In an academic journal article, there are often two places where you will be able to find the easiest opportunities to critically evaluate the work: the methodology and the discussion. In the methodology, the author has made certain decisions about how they are going to answer the research question presented. They have usually (in empirical research) identified a sample, context, and certain instruments (e.g. questionnaire, interviews, observations, etc.). Perhaps one of the easiest ways you can critically evaluate this information is to determine whether or not the sample size is big enough or whether the context applies globally or only to the region where the research took place. For example, a sample of 250 undergraduate students might seem like a lot, but if they are all from a remote area of Pakistan, their situation may not be applicable to undergraduate students who are studying in the UK. Highlighting this issue is one of the more basic forms of criticality because you are applying your own judgements to a situation.

Another area where you might be able to critically evaluate a paper is in the discussion section. It’s in this section where the author expresses their point of view and how their findings relate to other aspects of research. In some articles, you might find that the author has made claims . So if we consider the same group of 250 undergraduate students in Pakistan, the author might find that of the 250 students 225 felt that learning English was important for job security in the future. Therefore, the author might claim that students should learn English if they want to secure a good job in the future. With this argument you could evaluate whether this statement is actually true. We already know that 250 is not representative globally, but we can also assume that students in a remote area of Pakistan may not have access to the same opportunities as students in Beijing. These students may come to a different conclusion about English (potentially).

The point of a critical evaluation is to demonstrate that you can think beyond what you are being told. By taking steps to question what is being written and presented to you, you may be better able to write a critical review and to reflect on how and why the author took the position they did. No research study is perfect and it is your job to determine what could have been modified or changed to fit a different situation.

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Crafting Insightful Evaluation Essay: Tips and Techniques

Table of contents

1 Defining Evaluation Essays
2 Choose a Subject for Evaluation
3 Develop a Clear Thesis Statement
4 Gather Information and Evidence
5 Establish Evaluation Criteria
6 Organize Your Essay
7 Write the Introduction
8 Write the Body of The Essay
9 Present Evidence and Examples
10 Address Counterarguments
11 Write The Conclusion
12 Revise and Edit
13.1 Easy Evaluation Essay Topics
13.2 Evaluation Essay Topics on History
13.3 Evaluation Essay Topics on Government and Law
13.4 Evaluation Essay Topics on Technology
14 Final Words & Expert Thoughts

Many students are required to write an evaluation essay during their academic career. While this task is challenging, it provides an opportunity for deeper learning. We believe that every student should understand how to write an evaluation essay to succeed with their coursework.

We’ll start by demystifying what an evaluation essay is. We’ll outline its purpose in academic settings, highlighting how it differs from other essay types and why it’s a valuable tool for critical thinking and analysis.
We’ll provide insights on how to choose a subject that is both interesting and suitable for evaluation.
A well-organized essay is the key to success. In our article, we will break down the structure of an evaluation essay.

Examples for Clarity: Finally, we’ll provide examples of successful evaluation essays. These samples will illustrate the principles discussed and offer practical insights into what makes an effective evaluation essay.

Defining Evaluation Essays

Evaluation essays are a type of academic writing that provides value, quality, and effectiveness of a given topic. Every student must follow set criteria and provide evidence supporting their opinion.

Furthermore, an evaluation essay should always present facts and opinions in a clear and formal tone. Of course, any student can buy a custom essay , but every student should know how to plan and write one correctly for success. The first step is to choose a subject.

When it comes to choosing a subject for an evaluation paper, students have many options to choose from.

This includes:

Movies & television shows
Performance of sports teams
Restaurant review
Comparisons

Choose a Subject for Evaluation

If you’re looking for ideas, consider pulling inspiration from your experiences or interests. You can also get ideas from current events and media.

Moreover, once you begin brainstorming ideas, you should narrow your options to choose the best topic. Ideally, you should choose a subject that’s equally interesting and suitable for evaluation. Start by reviewing topic ideas related to your main area of study.

Compare different ideas that interest you. Start asking questions that your target audience would have on your subject. Narrow your choice to what you believe would be the most interesting to study and write about.

In addition, some examples that would make an interesting evaluation subject include:

Learning on campus vs online learning
Your evaluation of the most recent movie or television show you’ve watched
How social media affects modern relationships
Availability of athletic programs in your area
Comparison of restaurants or coffee shops in your area

Develop a Clear Thesis Statement

Every evaluation essay needs a thesis statement. In this statement, the writer will cover evaluation criteria and an overall judgment. It’s essential that the purpose of the evaluation is clearly stated.

First, be specific by keeping the thesis statement short and sweet. It doesn’t need to be a paragraph filled with real-life information. Instead, it should be a concise sentence encouraging the reader to continue reading. Here are some excellent examples of thesis statements:

“This cafe brews coffee beans provided by a local source, and they became popular for having the largest selection of latte flavors in the city.”
“The gore and effects in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie may be outdated, but the tension and horror in the film still hold up for today’s audience.”
“Minecraft continues to be one of the best-selling video games because players enjoy the creative freedom they have in the open world and connecting with other players online.”

Gather Information and Evidence

An important step of evaluation essays is to gather information and evidence. You will want as much information and relevant examples as possible to support your essay.

In any case, experienced writers will provide as many sources as they can find to support their argument. This helps the writer establish credibility and also helps the reader discover where they can find more information on the topic.

So, you might be wondering what type of sources you can use for crafting an evaluation paper. Students may use any of the following sources to provide evidence for their evaluation:

Books: choose books that have been written by experts on the subject that you’re evaluating.
Online resources: students can find credible information online from reputable sources and government websites.
Magazines and newspapers — print media is an excellent source to use for current events and opinions.
Interviews: you can interview an expert in the field your essay is in. This includes in-person, over-the-phone, email, or live chat interviews.
Opinions from credible sources: these opinions can be accessed using any of the sources listed above.

Establish Evaluation Criteria

Every writer must follow set criteria to write an interesting and well-structured essay. As mentioned above, the thesis statement is significant. This is because it’s a clear and descriptive way to present the topic.

Finally, every good evaluation essay must include the following specific criteria:

Assertion of the writer’s overall judgment based on supporting evidence.
Responses to counterarguments that a reader could make on the evaluation. The writer should introduce a balanced argument so their judgment makes sense to readers.

Organize Your Essay

Another crucial aspect of evaluation criteria is to display a well-structured essay. Before writing an evaluation essay, you should always plan the organization.

The entire outline for the essay should remain focused. Once complete, the final evaluation paper should be organized, developed, and maintained a specific style. Every paper should include the following in a detailed evaluation essay outline:

Introduction: introduce your subject with a topic sentence that grabs readers’ attention and inspires them to keep reading.
Body: this will contain all of the key information that supports your evaluative argument and counterarguments.

Conclusion: this is where you can summarize the key points made throughout the evaluation essay and add any other relevant points.

Write the Introduction

The introduction is the first impression of your essay. Every paragraph of the essay should start with a topic sentence that introduces what the essay will be about. Always aim to write a topic sentence that’s engaging so the reader immediately establishes interest.

Basically, every student should aim to craft an attention-grabbing hook that sparks the reader’s interest. Here are a few good evaluation essay introduction example topic sentences for your evaluative essay:

One of the growing concerns of parents in recent years is the effects of social media on their teen’s mental health.
The quality of customer service a patron receives in restaurants and retail establishments is a crucial factor in their experience.
Older films get lost on the younger generation for outdated graphics and dialogue, but many of them address topics that are very relevant to today’s society.

Evidently, we understand that crafting a good introduction can be intimidating. The intro can make or break the reader’s interest. Some ways to make your introduction effective are by stating an exciting or unknown fact, asking a rhetorical question, or mentioning an interesting story about the subject.

Write the Body of The Essay

The body paragraphs of your evaluative essay hold the most weight. After all, this is where you will present your opinions and facts. All the information you provide in this section must be relevant to your topic.

Basically, it must be presented in a structured manner. The main body should always include proper sentence structure, have a readable flow, and include all information and examples necessary to support your final judgment. It’s also important to use language that will convey your point formally and professionally.

Present Evidence and Examples

Anyone can write an evaluated essay. If you want people to take your evaluation essay seriously, you must demonstrate evidence for every point. You can use example quotes from reputable sources or citations to reference where you found the information for your analysis.

Additionally, you must cite sources for evaluation criteria to avoid accusations of plagiarism. An excellent tip for writing essays is to create a body paragraph that’s a block quote.

By directly quoting the author (or source), you avoid any errors that could be mistaken for plagiarism. A direct quote can also give your evaluation more value in the middle of a body paragraph, and also be used to support the writer’s opinion.

Address Counterarguments

An evaluation essay is different from an argumentative essay . When you’re writing an evaluation essay, you will not be required to include counterarguments in the evaluative thesis of the essay. However, it is a good idea for students to acknowledge different perspectives or criticisms of their topic.

In any case, one of the best ways to approach a counterargument is to provide an example of a common critic. Then, explain why that perspective is or isn’t valid to the opinion the student covered in their essay.

Write The Conclusion

The conclusion is the final area of the evaluation essay, where students can summarize their analysis and provide additional facts supporting their judgment.

Every good evaluation argument essay will answer all the reader’s questions on the subject before they reach the final sentence. The best way to do this is to make the conclusion restate the main ideas by presenting the key takeaways and wrapping the concluding paragraph with a secure closure on the research subject.

Revise and Edit

Once you have completed the evaluative writing process, you must revise and edit it before submitting it. This is how you can ensure your paper is of good quality and your opinion is clearly stated and backed up.

But before you review your work, it’s always good to give yourself a break. If you review the paper immediately after writing it, your brain might not pick up on typos and mistakes. By giving yourself a break, you can return and proofread it in a clear frame of mind.

When you proofread the evaluation essay, there are a few aspects that are critical for revision. You should always review the sentence structure, spelling, grammar, and punctuation usage in your essay. You should also check to ensure you used appropriate font, and headers and the essay is double-spaced.

Good Evaluation Essay Topics List

These subjects will encourage college and high school students, as well as professional writers, to critically evaluate present culture. These themes not only teach students important critical thinking skills, but also demonstrate how students influence and contribute to general knowledge.

Race and Ethnicity in the United States
Hitler was influential, determined, and strategic
Importance of Sex Education
Brown v. Board: Lgal Changes in Respect to Segregation
Martin Luther King and the fight against racism in the US
Industrialization and imperialism
Starbucks Found in a Crisis
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The Apparel Industry in the U.S.
France: New Gender Equality Obligations Established

Easy Evaluation Essay Topics

Here is a list of handpicked good literature topics that will ignite your curiosity and engage your critical thinking skills. These easy topics cover a wide range of subjects and are just a few clicks away from inspiring your next masterpiece.

How Do You Define Racism?
Homeschooling vs Public School
The Book is Composed of Two Sections
Edgar Allan Poe in Romantic Literature
Gerard Jones’ Biased Evaluation of Violence in Media
Self Evaluation and Supervision
Marriage in a World
Climate Change Training Course
The Importance of Evaluation in Counseling
Animal Welfare, Chickens: Factory or Field

Evaluation Essay Topics on History

There are several historical evaluation essay ideas to consider. They vary from major events that affected our global culture to examining the historical veracity of “saving private Ryan.” These topics will intrigue you and give plenty of writing possibilities:

John F. Kennedy’s Legacy
Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech
Main Issues Of Border Wall
After Civil Rights: Racial Realism in the New American Workplace
Cold War in China, Cold War in Cuba, and Space Race
Progressing the Civil Rights Movement with Aristotle’s Artistic Appeals
China-Australia Free Trade Agreement
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War Summary
Mark Antony’s Described Julius Caesar

Evaluation Essay Topics on Government and Law

These topics cover the key characteristics of how we interact with society and the law. They also explore government and law by examining political marketing strategies on how some particular laws affect social behavior.

Brown V. Board of Education and Civil Rights
Criminal Profiling
The Significance of the Gettysburg Address
Race Relations have Improved in America
Temporary Labor Migrants
The Electoral College and How Popular Vote Doesn’t Matter
Jeffersonian Democracy
Granada Hills Charter High School
Transgender Individuals in the Military
The Segregation of Schools in the United States

Evaluation Essay Topics on Technology

As we delve into technological evaluation essay topics, you can choose to examine the merits, drawbacks, and overall impact of technological advancements. From artificial intelligence to social media, we have a plethora of ideas to explore.

Social Media Marketing As A Way To Promote Business
Pros And Cons Of Virtual Reality Gaming.
Assessing Online Clothes Shop For Its Contribution To The Fashion Sector
Evaluation of the Process of Creating Computer-Generated Graphics In Contemporary Art.
Technology’s Role In Healthcare.
Cybersecurity Measures’ Effectiveness.
The Culture Wars in the Digital Age: Impact of Technology on Cultural Values.
Ai’s Role In Job Automation.
Impact Of Biometric Technology On Privacy.
How The Internet Changed Communication Patterns In Online Interactions.

Final Words & Expert Thoughts

This covers everything you need to know about writing an evaluation essay. The format we discussed today can help students create a detailed analysis of the subject they’re researching while providing an educated opinion. Following proper instructions for evaluation essay criteria can help you write a detailed paper that will impress your instructor (and yourself).

Additionally, if you’re not 100% sure how to start or finish your paper, look at an evaluation argument essay example online. Don’t copy the examples, but use them for inspiration to get your thoughts flowing.

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Definition and Examples of Evaluation Essays

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

An evaluation essay is a composition that offers value judgments about a particular subject according to a set of criteria. Also called evaluative writing , evaluative essay or report , and critical evaluation essay .

An evaluation essay or report is a type of argument that provides evidence to justify a writer's opinions about a subject.

"Any kind of review is essentially a piece of evaluative writing," says Allen S. Goose. "This type of writing calls for the critical thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation" ( 8 Kinds of Writing , 2001).

Observations

"Without good reasons for liking or disliking certain things, students can never get beyond being passive receivers of marketing, fickle consumers without a basis for their opinions. Writing evaluation papers asks them to question why they feel the way they do." (Allison D. Smith, et al., Teaching in the Pop Culture Zone: Using Popular Culture in the Composition Classroom . Wadsworth, 2009)

How to Evaluate

"If you are evaluating a piece of writing, then you are going to need to thoroughly read the work. While you read the work, keep in mind the criteria you are using to evaluate. The evaluative aspects may be: grammar, sentence structure, spelling, content, usage of sources, style, or many other things. Other things to consider when evaluating a piece of writing is whether the writing appealed to its target audience . Was there an emotional appeal? Did the author engage the audience, or was the piece lacking something? ..."If you are evaluating anything else, use your head. You need to try, use, or test whatever thing you are evaluating. That means you should not evaluate a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette unless you have the $45,000 (or more) to buy one, or the money to rent one. You also need the know-how of driving a car of that power and a base of knowledge of other cars that you have tested to compare it to." (Joe Torres, Rhetoric and Composition Study Guide . Global Media, 2007)

Identifying Criteria for an Evaluation

" Make a list of prominent, widely recognized standards for judging your subject. If you do not know the standards usually used to evaluate your subject, you could do some research . For example, if you are reviewing a film, you could read a few recent film reviews online or in the library, noting the standards that reviewers typically use and the reasons that they assert for liking or disliking a film. If you are evaluating a soccer team or one winning (or losing) game, you could read a book on coaching soccer or talk to an experienced soccer coach to learn about what makes an excellent soccer team or winning game." (Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, Axelrod & Cooper's Concise Guide to Writing , 4th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006)

Ways of Organizing an Evaluation Essay

"One way to organize an evaluation essay is point-by-point: describe one element of the subject and then evaluate it; present the next element and evaluate it; and so on. Comparison/contrast could be an organizing structure as well, in which you evaluate something by comparing (or contrasting) it to a known item. Culinary and music reviews often use this strategy. Chronological organization can be used for evaluating an event (either current or historical). Sequential organization can be used when describing how something works and evaluating the effectiveness of the process, procedure, or mechanism. Spatial organization can be used for evaluating art or architecture in which you describe and evaluate one element of the artifact and then move spatially to the next major element to be described and evaluated." (David S. Hogsette, Writing That Makes Sense: Critical Thinking in College Composition . Wipf and Stock, 2009)
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Secrets of Writing an Excellent Evaluation Essay

05 July, 2020

14 minutes read

Author: Elizabeth Brown

Many people prefer to check reviews on the movie or book before watching or reading it. The summary information and honest point of view on the subject matter are usually included in an evaluation essay. You just need to analyze both sides of the chosen criterion through thorough research, analysis of your thesis, and examination of your own values. To write a good evaluation essay, you should forget about your feelings and create an objective overview of the topic. That way, you will reveal the truth about the real worth of the particular subject matter.

So, what is an evaluation essay? The answer to this question you will find out in this post.

What Is an Evaluation Essay?

An evaluation paper is a kind of essay in which you express your argumentative point of view on various topics. As a form of literary thinking, it is based on much more than just a quick judgment about a person, place, or object. The common standards of evaluation writing, such as clearance, objectivity, and coherence, are to be followed throughout the text. These standards help identify how well a subject meets up or falls short of the ideal. No wonder this kind of essay is widely used for scientific purposes when the comparison of two inventions or technologies is required. In an evaluation essay, all the arguments are delivered objectively, while your personal opinion is stated at the very end as a summary.

On the Internet, you can find lots of reviews with one sentence only: “This essay is fine.” Does it look informative to you? Can you rely on this kind of feedback? Let’s be honest, such a review can hardly provide you with a clear understanding of whether the subject is worth your attention or not. The main feature of an evaluation essay is that it contains details and evidence to support your point of view. Instead of discussing every observation, you just need to underpin your point of view with examples that will make your paper look convincing.

CJE guidelines

How to start an evaluation essay? What needs to be preconsidered? Every evaluation essay consists of three structural elements – criteria, judgement, and evidence. Let’s get deeper into details.

The criteria that you choose should evaluate a person or subject through the prism of their ideal version. What can their best features be? For instance, you would expect an interesting plot and professional acting from a movie. Once you have specific benchmarks in mind, they can be used to evaluate these points.

The judgement aspect is used to estimate whether or not the benchmarks have been met. For instance, you can start a movie evaluation from judging whether it aligns with the specific benchmark. Does it offer the quality acting you expect? Does it have gaps in the plot? These are only some of the possible options to consider.

Remember that you must develop clues to advocate your judgements. For instance, if you make the judgement that the movie quality does not meet your expectations, you should be ready to provide evidence. Without eligible evidence, your evaluation essay won’t look convincing.

When structuring your evaluation essay, it is crucial to address a different criterion in each paragraph. In that paragraph, you should reflect on each criterion, make the relevant judgements and provide supporting proofs.

How to Write an Evaluation Essay?

With this step-by-step guide, you will learn how to write an evaluation essay. Here are the major steps to be taken:

Choose your topic. Whatever kind of essay you are writing, you will have to take this step. Your topic can be offered by your instructor, as the case may be. But if you have to choose it yourself, you should consider a subject that you are familiar with. Thus, it will be easier for you to take an in-depth look at the subject and make a judgement on its value.
Create a thesis statement. This is an important element of your essay as it contains the general purpose of the evaluation. In the thesis, you need to reflect on the criteria being used to judge the subject matter and state its value. Your statement should look apparent and to the point. In the process of writing, you may revise it as your essay gets shaped.
Identify the criteria to be used for accessing the subject matter. Determine the benchmarks in your essay in order to make it interesting and engaging. The criteria you choose will depend on the subject of your evaluation. For instance, a movie will be judged using different points of reference than a book.
Find supporting evidence . Don’t forget that an essay is not just about your opinion. You will need to find some supporting information from trustworthy sources while making each judgement. Don’t think that stating the movie or book title is enough. Use some questions to find out answers that can help you collect more information. How can you evaluate the subject? What kind of readers are you focused on? Will you focus on good or bad sides of the subject?
Write a draft of your essay . All you need to do is to continue writing. As soon as you have something written on paper, you will rewrite or restructure it unless you are totally happy with the result.

Review, revise and rewrite. When a draft is completed, you will read over your work and make some changes if needed. You should be ready to rewrite your paper several times to get it just right.

Evaluation Essay Example

Here, you will find a well-written evaluation essay example that you can use for yourself:

https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/essays/evaluation/standardized-tests.html
https://www.examples.com/education/evaluation-essay-examples.html

Evaluation Essay VS Review

An evaluation essay is widely associated with a review paper. This is a common mistake many students make. Although the two types of paper have some similarities, there are more differences that set them apart. You can take a look at those differences in the table below.


Analysis	The topic is examined thoroughly.	Evaluation of a product or service is provided.
Depth of analysis	You get engaged in in-depth analysis.	You do not need to conduct profound scientific research.
Evidence	Adequate supporting evidence aims to increase the quality of the evaluation essay. You should provide only credible and scholarly evidence.	You don’t need academic evidence throughout the appraisal process.
Opinion	You provide an unbiased view on the subject.	You provide unbiased information by relying on personal consideration that analyzes the subject.
Benchmarks	You use predefined criteria that evaluate the subject matter.	You express opinions that do not follow particular criteria.
Scope	You cover a broader scope by evaluating a particular topic and searching for adequate data that can critique the particular subject.	You cover a narrower scope by providing views focused on the particular subject.
Thesis statement	You provide a central claim as the essay’s thesis .	You do not need a thesis statement.
Structure	You follow the standard essay structure splitting the paper into sections.	You do not have to follow any specific structure in review writing.
References	You include the works cited page.	You do not have to include the works cited page.

Tips on Writing an Evaluation Essay from Our Experts

Following the quick tips below, you will find it easier to write an effective evaluation argument essay:

Provide the right amount of details: Make sure you explain your thoughts clearly and provide sufficient information to convince the reader in the correctness of your judgment.
Thesis sentence should reveal your actual opinion. If you want to build up the basis for your body, you can include the main reasons for your evaluation in the thesis sentence.
Know your target audience. By knowing your reader, you can adjust the plot to their specific needs. Whether you write for college students or professors, you will have to apply a bit different approach in the language choice.
Make some notes. By using a three-column note-taking method, you can organize your thoughts. The columns of criteria, evidence, and judgment will contain the relevant information which will not let you forget or mix facts.
Be opinionated . By sounding passionate in your evaluation essay, you will increase your chances of catching readers’ attention. The use of vivid nouns and engaging verbs will strengthen the effect produced by your paper. You should have a strong judgment of how the particular subject is either better or worse than other subjects of the same type.
Back up every judgement you make. Every time you make a judgment, you should be ready to use specific, interesting, and convincing reasons to make it up. For evidence, you can describe the subject, use funny stories, or compare and contrast some notions with a similar subject.
Provide counter-arguments. When you disagree with what most people think about the particular subject, it makes sense to provide some counter-arguments. This will make the narration more engaging for readers.

List of 50 Evaluation Topics

Since there are many people and objects you are able to assess, an evaluation essay can be written on a wide range of topics. To evaluate something, you will need to compare it with an example within a subject you have chosen. Some possible evaluation essay topics can be found below:

Analyze the dissimilarity between seeing a sporting event live and watching it on ITV.
Create a comparative assessment of watching a sporting event in a cafe and watching it without leaving the comfort of your home.
Evaluate the experience of watching a sporting event on your own and with other people.
Evaluate how a recent drama movie portrays the tragedies of real life.
Evaluate a classic criminal movie and what it states about the real crime rates in the modern society.
Evaluate your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Compare two popular Chinese restaurants in your city.
Appraise football or basketball from the perspective of a contestant or that of a watcher.
Analyze the way in which football or basketball has advanced over the last decade.
Discuss the influence of ESPN on sporting events.
Evaluate the coverage of the latest Eurovision Song Contest.
Evaluate a fancy restaurant for how it makes the customer feel after having the meal
Analyze the way in which a popular horror movie depicts people’s fears.
Assess a classic action movie and talk about its ideas regarding the functions of men and women.
Explore the change that occurred in recent war movies if compared to classic war movies.
How do drama books affect readers?
Evaluate a book about war and analyze whether it addresses current concerns associated with war and peace.
Evaluate the effects of online educational programs on students’ performance.
Do historical movies encourage history learning?
Evaluate an Italian cafe located in your city. What is the difference between the Italian and local food?
What makes a traditional Italian meal great?
Can hamburgers be healthy? Mention some details and provide relevant arguments.
How mental health issues affect students’ academic performance?
Analyze teachers’ responsibilities in terms of elementary students’ needs.
Evaluate the power of verbal encouragement as a motivational factor in the educational process.
Critically reflect on education services provided to children experiencing difficulties in learning.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of German secondary education.
Evaluate teaching methods used at the American universities.
Ways in which online libraries affect the students’ academic performance.
How well the film “BraveHeart” portrays historical events?
Analyze a movie produced in a foreign country and discuss how it reveals its national characteristics.
Assess Kate Winslet’s play in “Titanic” and discuss which means this actor applies to adapt to this role.
Make a comparison between modern and classic drama movies.
Assess the distinct approaches used to transfer data from a smartphone to a PC.
Make comparisons between various phone plans and determine which provider has the best deals for travelers.
Assess current information security methods. Which one is the most efficient?
Assess the key characteristics of WhatsApp.
Compare the use of several cloud systems that can be implemented by the movie hub website.
Estimate the chances of Facebook as a marketing resource.
Evaluate the effectiveness of online advertising.
Assess the existing approaches to using the Internet in colleges.
Analyze the consequences of cultural shock.
Assess the negative sides of overwhelming cultural diversity in the United States.
Discuss the development path of rap and hip-hop music.
What is the impact of Buddhism on Indian culture?
Compare two popular social media platforms in terms of their users, features, and benefits.
Evaluate the latest version of your favorite smartphone and estimate the positive or negative changes that will affect the industry.
Compare an educational approach in the military, Christian, or classical school.
Evaluate the SAT versus the ACT tests.
Compare the foreign policies established by a few states in the US.

Note that our company provides academic writing help. You can buy an essay written from scratch by our essay writer .

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The ultimate guide to writing an evaluation essay, carla johnson.

June 14, 2023
How to Guides

Evaluation essays are a common type of writing assignment in school. They ask students to evaluate and analyze the quality or value of something like a book, movie, product, or service. In this article, we’ll give you the most complete guide to writing an evaluation essay. We’ll talk about everything from an evaluation essay’s purpose and importance to the steps you need to take to write a good one.

An evaluation essay is a type of writing that tries to give an unbiased opinion about a topic based on a set of criteria. It’s not just a summary of the topic; it’s a critical analysis of what’s good and bad about it . The writer should give a fair assessment of the topic by pointing out both its strengths and weaknesses.

The point of an evaluation essay is to give a critical analysis of a topic so that the reader can form a well-informed opinion about it. For this kind of essay , the writer needs to know a lot about the subject, including its background, history, and effects. It is a good activity for students to do because it helps them learn how to think critically , do research, and write well.

Evaluation essays are also important in academic writing because they help students show that they can think critically and explain their ideas clearly. Because of this, evaluation essays are often given in many different classes, such as literature, film studies, business, and marketing. By learning how to write an evaluation essay, students can do better in school and improve their chances of getting jobs in their chosen fields.

An evaluation essay is a type of academic writing that asks students to give a critical analysis of a certain topic based on a set of criteria. The point of writing an evaluation essay is to give the reader an unbiased look at the topic so that they can form an opinion about it.

Lastly, evaluation essays are an important part of academic writing because they help students improve their critical thinking, research, and writing skills, all of which are important for academic success and moving up in a career. In the sections that follow, we’ll talk more about the steps you need to take to write a good evaluation essay.

What You'll Learn

Choosing a Topic for an Evaluation Essay

Choosing the right topic is crucial when it comes to writing an effective evaluation essay. A well-chosen topic will not only make the writing process easier but will also ensure that the essay is engaging and relevant to the reader. Here are some tips for selecting an evaluation essay topic:

– Choose a topic that you are interested in: It is essential to choose a topic that you are passionate about and have some knowledge of. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and will also result in a more engaging and informative essay .

– Select a topic that is relevant: Choose a subject that is current and relevant to the reader. This will ensure that your essay is informative and interesting to read.

– Narrow down your topic: It is important to select a topic that is specific and narrow. This will enable you to focus on a particular aspect of the subject and provide a more detailed evaluation.

– Consider both sides of the argument: Choose a topic that allows you to evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of the subject. This will ensure that your essay is balanced and provides a fair evaluation .

– Use credible sources: Ensure that your topic is backed by credible sources, such as academic journals, books, and reputable websites.

Here is a list of 50 evaluation essay topics:

1. The impact of social media on modern relationships

2. The effectiveness of online learning compared to traditional classroom learning

3. The portrayal of mental health in popular media4. The impact of technology on our daily lives

5. The effectiveness of government policies on climate change

6. The quality of customer service in the hospitality industry

7. The effectiveness of performance-enhancing drugs in sports

8. The portrayal of women in the media

9. The impact of smartphones on communication skills

10. The effectiveness of gun control laws in reducing gun violence

11. The quality of healthcare services in rural areas

12. The impact of video games on children’s behavior

13. The effectiveness of alternative medicine in treating chronic illnesses

14. The portrayal of minorities in the media

15. The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem

16. The effectiveness of online dating in finding a partner

17. The quality of fast food restaurants

18. The impact of globalization on cultural diversity

19. The effectiveness of police body cameras in reducing police brutality

20. The portrayal of mental illness in popular media

21. The impact of artificial intelligence on job opportunities

22. The effectiveness of vaccination programs in preventing diseases

23. The quality of public transportation in urban areas

24. The impact of social media on political campaigns

25. The effectiveness of rehabilitation programs for prisoners

26. The portrayal of LGBTQ+ individuals in the media

27. The impact of technology on education

28. The effectiveness of animal testing in developing new drugs

29. The quality of public schools in low-income areas

30. The impact of social media onteenagers’ mental health

31. The effectiveness of renewable energy sources in reducing carbon emissions

32. The portrayal of disability in the media

33. The impact of celebrity culture on society

34. The effectiveness of anti-bullying programs in schools

35. The quality of public parks and recreation areas

36. The impact of social media on political polarization

37. The effectiveness of online therapy in treating mental illness

38. The portrayal of aging in the media

39. The impact of automation on job security

40. The effectiveness of recycling programs in reducing waste

41. The quality of public libraries

42. The impact of social media on privacy

43. The effectiveness of parenting classes in improving child behavior

44. The portrayal of mental health in the workplace

45. The impact of technology on the music industry

46. The effectiveness of drug rehabilitation programs

47. The quality of public restrooms

48. The impact of social media on activism

49. The effectiveness of sex education programs in schools

50. The portrayal of race in the media.

Understanding the Structure of an Evaluation Essay

A basic structure for an evaluation essay is an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The purpose of the introduction is to give background information about the subject and explain how it will be judged. Based on the criteria set out in the introduction, the body paragraphs should give a detailed analysis of the topic. In the end, the conclusion should summarize the main points of the essay and give a final opinion on the subject.

Here is a breakdown of each section of an evaluation essay:

1. Introduction: The introduction should begin with an attention-grabbing hook that draws the reader in and provides some background information on the subject. This should be followed by a clear thesis statement that outlines the criteria that will be used to evaluate the subject.

2. Body Paragraphs: Each of the body paragraphs should look at a different part of the topic and judge it based on the criteria set out in the introduction. Every paragraph should start with a topic sentence that makes it clear what is being evaluated and how. The evaluation should then be backed up with evidence , such as examples, statistics, and quotes from reliable sources.

3. Conclusion: The conclusion should provide a summary of the main points made in the essay and restate the thesis statement . The writer should then provide a final evaluation of the subject based on the evidence presented in the body paragraphs. This evaluation should be balanced and fair, taking into account both the strengths and weaknesses of the subject.

An evaluation essay outline can be helpful in organizing and structuring the essay. Here is an example of an evaluation essay outline:

I. Introduction

– Hook

– Background information

– Thesis statement

II. Body Paragraphs

– Aspect 1

– Criteria

– Evidence

– Aspect 2

– Aspect 3

-Criteria

III. Conclusion

– Summary of main points

– Restate thesis statement

– Final evaluation

Understanding the structure of an evaluation essay and choosing the right topic are both critical to writing an effective evaluation essay. By following the tips provided for selecting a topic and using an evaluation essay outline, you can create a well-organized and engaging essay that provides a fair assessment of the subject.

Writing an Effective Evaluation Essay

Writing an effective evaluation essay requires careful planning and execution. Here are some tips to help you write a powerful evaluation essay:

1. Developing a thesis statement for an evaluation essay: A strong thesis statement should clearly state the criteria that will be used to evaluate the subject. It should also provide a clear indication of the writer’s stance on the subject, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral.

2. Tips for writing a powerful evaluation essay:

– Use specific criteria: Provide clear and specific criteria for evaluating the subject, and use evidence to support your evaluation.

– Use credible sources: Use credible sources to support your evaluation, such as academic journals, books, and reputable websites.

– Be objective: Provide a balanced evaluation of the subject, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses.

– Use clear and concise language: Use clear and concise language to make your evaluation easy to understand and engaging to read.

– Use transitions: Use transitions to connect your ideas and ensure that the essay flows smoothly.

3. Common mistakes to avoid when writing an evaluation essay:

– Being too subjective: Avoid being too subjective and provide a balanced evaluation of the subject.

– Failing to provide evidence: Use evidence to support your evaluation, and avoid making unsupported claims.

– Focusing too much on summary: Avoid simply summarizing the subject and focus on providing a critical analysis of its merits and demerits.

– Failing to use credible sources: Use credible sources to support your evaluation andavoid relying solely on personal opinions or unsupported claims.

Examples of Evaluation Essays

To help you get a better understanding of how to write an effective evaluation essay, here are 10 inspiring evaluation essay examples from different fields:

1. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy in the United States

2. Evaluation of the impact of the #MeToo movement on workplace culture

3. Evaluation of the nutritional value of plant-based diets compared to meat-based diets

4. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Paris Climate Agreement in reducing global carbon emissions

5. Evaluation of the impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior

6. Evaluation of the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in reducing stress and anxiety

7. Evaluation of the quality of customer service provided by leading airlines

8. Evaluation of the portrayal of mental illness in popular TV shows

9. Evaluation of the effectiveness of online therapy in treating depression and anxiety

10. Evaluation of the impact of video games on children’s cognitive development

Writing an effective evaluation essay involves selecting the right topic, understanding the structure of the essay, and following the tips provided to develop a powerful evaluation essay. By avoiding common mistakes and using credible sources, you can create an engaging and informative evaluation essay that provides a balanced assessment of the subject. The examples provided can also serve as a guide to help you craft a compelling evaluation essay in any field.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what is an evaluation essay.

An evaluation essay is a type of academic writing that asks students to evaluate and analyze the quality or value of something like a book, movie, product, or service. The writer should give a fair assessment of the topic by pointing out both its strengths and weaknesses.

2. What are the elements of an evaluation essay?

An evaluation essay has three parts: an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the introduction, you should give some background information about the topic and explain how it will be judged. Based on the criteria set out in the introduction, the body paragraphs should give a detailed analysis of the topic. In the end, the conclusion should summarize the main points of the essay and give a final opinion on the topic .

3. How do I choose a topic for an evaluation essay?

To pick a topic for an evaluation essay, think about something you are interested in and know a little bit about. It’s also important to choose a topic that is relevant and specific. Think about both sides of the argument and back up your opinion with information from reliable sources.

4. What is the difference between an evaluation essay and a review?

The main difference between an evaluation essay and a review is that an evaluation essay has a different focus and goal. An evaluation essay tries to give a critical analysis of the subject based on a set of criteria, while a review gives a summary of the subject and often includes personal opinions.

In conclusion, writing an effective evaluation essay is an essential skill for students to master, as it helps to develop critical thinking , research, and writing abilities. To write an effective evaluation essay, it is important to choose the right topic, understand the structure of the essay, and follow the tips provided in this guide. It is also important to avoid common mistakes and use credible sources to support your evaluation.

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A comprehensive guide to writing an evaluation essay – tips, examples, and techniques.

Welcome to the ultimate guide on writing an evaluation essay! Evaluating a subject, be it a book, movie, restaurant, or a piece of art, requires critical thinking and analysis. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn valuable tips and examples to help you master the art of evaluation essays. Whether you are a student working on an assignment or a writer looking to sharpen your skills, this guide will provide you with the tools you need to craft insightful and compelling evaluations.

Writing an evaluation essay involves assessing the quality, value, or significance of a particular subject based on specific criteria. It requires careful evaluation, evidence-based analysis, and a clear presentation of your findings. In this guide, we will walk you through the essential steps of writing an effective evaluation essay, from choosing a topic and developing a thesis to organizing your arguments and refining your writing. By following our tips and studying the examples provided, you will be well-equipped to write a standout evaluation essay that engages and persuades your readers.

The Art of Writing an Evaluation Essay

Writing an evaluation essay requires a careful analysis and critique of a subject or a topic. To master this art, you need to develop a critical mindset and attention to detail. Here are some key steps to help you craft a compelling evaluation essay:

	Select a subject that you are passionate about or one that you have knowledge of. This will make the evaluation process more engaging and easier for you.
	Conduct thorough research on your chosen topic to gather relevant information and supporting evidence. This will strengthen your evaluation.
	Create a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines your evaluation and the criteria you will use to assess the subject.
	Organize your essay with an introduction, body paragraphs that present your evaluation, and a conclusion that summarizes your findings.
	Support your evaluation with concrete examples and evidence from your research. This will make your argument more convincing.
	Avoid bias and present a balanced evaluation by considering different perspectives and viewpoints on the subject.
	Review your essay for clarity, coherence, and grammar errors. Make sure your evaluation is well-supported and effectively communicates your analysis.

By following these steps and honing your critical thinking skills, you can master the art of writing an evaluation essay and create a compelling and insightful piece of writing.

Understanding the Evaluation Essay

An evaluation essay is a type of writing that assesses and critiques a particular subject, such as a movie, book, restaurant, or product. It requires the writer to analyze the subject and provide a judgment based on defined criteria. The purpose of an evaluation essay is to evaluate the subject’s quality and effectiveness, and to present a clear and coherent argument for the writer’s assessment.

When writing an evaluation essay, it is important to have a clear understanding of the subject being evaluated and to establish specific criteria for evaluation. These criteria can vary depending on the subject and the writer’s perspective, but they should be logical, relevant, and objective. The evaluation essay should also include evidence and examples to support the writer’s judgment and provide a well-rounded assessment of the subject.

Overall, the evaluation essay requires critical thinking, analysis, and effective communication skills. It is an opportunity for the writer to express their opinion and evaluation of a subject in a structured and persuasive manner.

Choosing a Topic for Evaluation Essay

When selecting a topic for your evaluation essay, it’s important to choose something that you have a genuine interest in and can thoroughly analyze. Here are some tips to help you pick the perfect topic:

Choose a subject that you are knowledgeable about or have personal experience with.
Select a topic that is relevant and timely to your audience.
Pick a topic that can be evaluated objectively based on criteria.
Consider choosing a controversial topic to spark debate and discussion.
Ensure that there is enough information available for research and analysis.

By following these guidelines, you can find a topic that will allow you to write a compelling and insightful evaluation essay.

Structuring Your Evaluation Essay

When writing an evaluation essay, it is important to follow a clear structure to effectively communicate your assessment of the subject matter. Here are the key components of structuring your evaluation essay:

Introduction: Start your essay with an engaging introduction that provides context for the topic and clearly states your evaluation criteria.
Thesis Statement: Develop a strong thesis statement that presents your overall evaluation and main points.
Criteria: Identify the specific criteria you will use to evaluate the subject. These criteria should be relevant to the topic and provide a framework for your assessment.
Evidence: Support your evaluation with concrete examples, evidence, or data. Use specific details to illustrate your points and clarify your assessment.
Analysis: Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the subject based on your criteria. Provide a balanced assessment that considers both positive and negative aspects.
Conclusion: Summarize your evaluation and reiterate your main points. Offer a final evaluation that reflects your overall assessment of the subject.

By structuring your evaluation essay in a clear and logical manner, you can effectively convey your assessment to your audience and support your evaluation with strong evidence and analysis.

Tips for Writing a Successful Evaluation Essay

1. Choose a topic that you are familiar with and passionate about. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and engaging for you.

2. Clearly define the criteria that you will use to evaluate the subject. Make sure your criteria are specific, measurable, and relevant to the topic.

3. Provide evidence and examples to support your evaluation. Use facts, data, and examples to back up your claims and make your argument more convincing.

4. Use a clear and logical structure for your essay. Start with an introduction that provides context and introduces the topic. Then, develop your evaluation in the body paragraphs, and conclude with a summary of your main points.

5. Be objective in your evaluation. While it’s important to express your opinion, make sure to support it with evidence and consider different perspectives.

6. Edit and revise your essay carefully. Check for spelling and grammar errors, ensure that your arguments are well-supported, and make sure your writing is clear and concise.

Examples of Evaluation Essay

1. Movie Evaluation: “The Shawshank Redemption” is a classic film that touches on themes of hope, redemption, and friendship. The storyline, acting, and cinematography all contribute to the emotional impact of the movie. However, some critics argue that the pacing of the film is slow in certain parts, affecting the overall viewing experience.

2. Restaurant Evaluation: XYZ Restaurant offers a diverse menu, with options ranging from traditional dishes to modern fusion cuisine. The ambiance is cozy and inviting, creating a pleasant dining experience. However, some customers have complained about the slow service and inconsistent quality of food.

3. Book Evaluation: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is a timeless classic that explores themes of racism, justice, and morality. The author’s evocative writing style and vivid characterizations make the book a compelling read. However, some critics argue that the novel oversimplifies complex issues and lacks nuance in its portrayal of race relations.

Revision and Proofreading

Once you have completed your evaluation essay, it is crucial to revise and proofread it thoroughly to ensure that it is polished and error-free. Follow these steps to refine your essay:

Check for coherence and structure: Make sure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Check for transitions between paragraphs and ensure that your arguments are presented in a clear and organized manner.
Verify the accuracy of your evidence: Double-check all the facts, statistics, and examples you have used in your essay to ensure their accuracy. Make sure that your evidence supports your evaluation effectively.
Evaluate the clarity of your thesis statement: Your thesis statement should clearly state your evaluation and the criteria you are using. Make sure it is concise and specific.
Scan for grammar and spelling errors: Proofread your essay carefully to catch any grammar or spelling mistakes. Use a grammar checker or have someone else read your essay to identify any errors you may have missed.
Check the formatting and citation style: Ensure that your essay follows the required formatting guidelines and that your citations are properly formatted according to the citation style specified in the assignment instructions.
Seek feedback: Ask a friend, family member, or teacher to read your essay and provide feedback. Consider their suggestions and make revisions accordingly.

By revising and proofreading your evaluation essay, you can ensure that it is well-written, coherent, and error-free, enhancing its overall quality and effectiveness.

Final Thoughts on Evaluation Essays

Writing an evaluation essay can be a challenging but rewarding endeavor. It allows you to critically assess a topic or subject and provide your own unique perspective on it. Remember to choose a topic that you are passionate about or have expertise in, as this will make the writing process more enjoyable and insightful.

When crafting your evaluation essay, be sure to provide a clear evaluation criteria and support your claims with evidence and examples. Use a balanced approach, acknowledging both the strengths and weaknesses of the subject you are evaluating. Additionally, make sure to structure your essay in a logical and organized manner, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

Overall, evaluation essays offer a valuable opportunity to develop your critical thinking and analytical skills. By following the tips and examples outlined in this guide, you can create a compelling and thought-provoking evaluation essay that engages readers and sparks meaningful discussions.

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Evaluation Essay

Evaluation Essay - Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips

13 min read

What is an Evaluation Essay?

Let’s first understand the evaluation essay meaning, here is the standard definition:

An evaluation essay offers a value judgment or an opinion of something. It presents an overall view of a particular subject’s quality. Moreover, it provides a critical analysis and a complete evaluation of something.

What is the Purpose of an Evaluation Essay?

The main purpose of an evaluation essay is to present an opinion and evaluate a topic critically. This type of writing determines the condition, worth, or significance by careful appraisal and study.

This essay features the writer’s opinion, but when done correctly, it does not sound opinionated. Instead, it provides the facts and evidence to justify the opinions about the essay’s subject.

To write a good evaluation essay, you need to master critical evaluation and present the evaluation in an unbiased manner. You may also discuss both the pros and cons of the subject.

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Evaluation Essay Structure

The four different ways to format and organize the evaluation essay are as follows.

1. Chronological Structure

It is a sequential organization that could be used for evaluating historical or current events. It tells how something works and assesses the effectiveness of a mechanism, procedure, or process.

2. Spatial Structure

The spatial organization structure is used for evaluating or describing art or architecture. Here, you will define one element of the artifact and spatially move to the next.

3. Compare and Contrast Structure

The compare and contrast structure is used to evaluate or review the culinary or music genre. Here the writer evaluates a subject by comprising and contrasting it with the known subject.

4. Point-by-Point Structure

The point-by-point structure is also used for culinary and music reviews. But, in this structure, you describe one element and then evaluate it, describe the second element and evaluate it, and so on.

After setting the criteria and collecting evidence for strengthening your judgment, you’ll start your evaluation essay. Let’s see what are the steps involved in starting an evaluation essay.

How to Start an Evaluation Essay?

When you start writing an evaluation essay, grabbing the reader’s attention is essential. For this, hook the reader from the beginning until the end to ensure that your essay’s opening follows an engaging tone.

Step 1. Choose an Interesting Topic

Deciding the topic and evaluation essay criteria is important. Make sure it's not just compelling and interesting, but also informative so that you can find enough material for a detailed evaluation.

Step 2. Set the Evaluation Essay Criteria

For an evaluation essay, you have to set the criteria for evaluation first. Criteria are the standards or measures by which someone assesses the quality or value of the subject.

Some key points to establish the criteria are:

Identifying relevant aspects that relate to the subject
Defining the criteria clearly so that it is specific and understandable for readers
Your criteria should be directly relevant to the nature of the subject
Always consider the audience’s expectations and standards while setting the criteria
Your thesis statement should always align with your evaluation criteria

Step 3. Collect Evidence for Your Judgment

The author’s judgment of the subject states whether the subject is good or bad. It is an overall assessment or the opinion supported by the evidence. The judgment corresponds to the benchmarks set by the author in the essay criteria.

The evidence is a combination of supporting data and facts. Using the evidence, the author demonstrates how well the subject meets the judgment. The evidence serves as the foundation of your evaluation.

Without providing strong and accurate evidence, you will not be able to convince the readers of your judgment.

Step 4. Decide the Essay Structure

After that, decide on the structure that you want to follow. It can be a chronological or point-by-point structure

Step 5. Craft the Essay Outline

When you create an essay outline , evaluate what should be added and removed. If you skip this step before writing, you may lose track of what to include in your essay while you write.

So, writing an outline for your evaluation essay is a critical step that eases your writing journey.

Here is a sample evaluation essay outline:

Step 6. Declare Your Thesis Statement

For an evaluation essay that keeps the reader hooked from the start, opt for a catchy thesis statement . The thesis should state the main point of the evaluation.

In the thesis statement, you should always express your stance on the subject clearly. In doing so, the readers will have a clear idea about the purpose and direction of your essay.

Now, understand how to write an evaluation essay by following the detailed procedure mentioned below.

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How to Write an Evaluation Essay?

Here is a step-by-step guide for you to write an evaluation essay.

Step 1. Write the Introduction

The introduction is the first impression your readers will have of you, so it's crucial to make a good one. It should capture attention and excite readers, drawing them into what you have to say about this topic.

The following are the elements that you should consider while writing the introduction:

Start with an interesting hook statement so that you can get the reader’s attention.
Provide background information about the topic for the reader to understand the subject
Establish the evaluation essay thesis statement. It sets out the overall purpose of the evaluation, so make sure it is apparent and to the point

Read this evaluation essay introduction example, and you’ll understand exactly what to pen down in yours:

Step 2. Draft the Body Section

The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs. Each paragraph holds different ideas related to one another and flows smoothly from start to finish, just like how a good story should be told.

Here are the important points that must be included in the body paragraphs.

Start with the topic sentence that presents your judgment about the topic
Present the supporting evidence to back up the topic sentence and your viewpoint.
Present a balanced evaluative argument to show impartiality
Compare and contrast the subject to another subject to show the strengths and weaknesses
Present the evaluation from multiple perspectives, while being both positive and critical
Always use transition words between your paragraphs to ensure a smooth and coherent flow for the reader.

Step 3. Write the Conclusion

It is the final chance to convince your reader to agree with your point of view. You’re supposed to summarize and conclude the essay. In the conclusion , you present your final evaluation of the essay.

Keep in mind the following aspects while writing a closing paragraph of an evaluation essay.

Summarize the points and evaluative arguments that you made in the body section.
Justify your thesis statement.
Provide a concrete and secure conclusion to your argument by ultimately leaving the reader convinced by your evaluation.

Step 4. Proofread, Revise, and Edit

The final step is proofreading and editing. Always spend enough time reading your essay carefully. It will help you catch the unintentional mistakes you have made and recover them. If needed, you can also revise your essay 2–3 times.

How to Format Your Evaluation Essay?

For formatting your evaluation essay, follow the standard academic writing guidelines. You can opt for different formatting styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago.

In general, you should stick to the below formatting guidelines:

Font and Size:

Use a legible font such as Times New Roman or Arial.
Choose a standard font size, often 12-point.
Set one-inch margins on all sides of the paper.
Double-space the entire essay, including the title, headings, and body paragraphs.
Create a title for your essay that reflects the subject and purpose of the evaluation.
Center the title on the page.
Use title case (capitalize the first letter of each major word).
Include a header with your last name and page number in the top right corner.
Follow the format “Last Name Page Number” (e.g., “Smith 1”).

Citations (if applicable):

Include citations for any sources used in your evaluation.
Follow the citation style specified by your instructor or the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago).

Counterargument (if included):

Clearly label and present any counterargument.
Provide a well-reasoned response to the counterargument.

References or Works Cited Page (if applicable):

Include a separate page for references or a works cited page if your essay includes citations.
List all sources in the appropriate citation style.

Well, the time has come to look at some great evaluation essay examples. Getting help from sample essays is always a great way to perfect your evaluation papers.

Evaluation Essay Examples

Evaluation can be written on any topic, i.e., book, movie, music, etc. Below, we have given some evaluation essay examples for students:

Evaluation Essay Sample PDF

Movie Evaluation Essay Example

Critical evaluation Essay Example PDF

Product Evaluation Essay PDF

Source Evaluation Essay Example PDF

Employee Self-Evaluation Essay Example

How to Start A Self-Evaluation Essay Example PDF

Evaluation Essay Topics For College Students

For writing an amazing evaluation essay, the first thing that you require is an essay topic. Here are some incredible topic ideas for college students. You can use or mold them according to your preference.

Artificial intelligence's impact on society: A double-edged sword?
Evaluate the online teaching and on-campus teaching styles
Analyze and evaluate the Real Madrid football team and their performance
Is media a threat to cultural cohesion or a source of enrichment?
Compare and evaluate recorded music and live performance
Evaluate how a university's football team impacts students' personalities
Critically evaluate a remake of an original movie you have watched recently
Analyze how the roles of females and males changed in recent romantic movies
Evaluate your favorite restaurant, its food, aroma, and everything
Critically evaluate gender disparities in college majors and career choices.

Evaluation Essay vs. Review

At first glance, an evaluation essay might look like a review. But, there are some notable differences between them. See this table to see how both pieces of writing differ from each other.


	Assess and judge based on criteria.	Inform and express personal opinions.
	Analysis, assessment, and judgment.	Personal opinions and subjective responses.
	Formal and objective.	Informal and subjective.
	Specific criteria for assessment.	May include personal preferences.
	Concrete evidence and examples.	Personal anecdotes and impressions.
	Structured with clear organization.	Can be more flexible.
	Persuade based on objective analysis.	Persuade through personal opinions.
	Summarize key points and overall judgment.	Summarize opinions and recommendations.
	May include academic sources.	Primarily reflects personal experiences.
	Varies based on subject complexity.	Varies, from short to longer, based on the platform.

To conclude,

After reading the step-by-step guide and examples, you must have learned the art of writing a good evaluation essay. We’re confident that you’re now able to provide a balanced and effective evaluation of the topics you choose for your essay.

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MyPerfectWords.com is a writing service that offers help for all academic writing assignments. We have a team of professional writers who are experts in writing all types of essays and evaluation papers.

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