WOW Chapter 9: Evaluation Cont.
Based on what we've been learning and discussing thus far, what are the key elements of a successful evaluation argument essay? What is the purpose of this type of essay? What must an evaluation argument contain? What must they do?
Think about the purpose of this kind of essay and about all the parts.
Let's list all the characteristics/conventions of a successful evaluation argument essay.
What elements do we typically find in the introductory material?
What makes up the majority of the body paragraphs?
How are effective evaluation arguments organized?
How do writers appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos in evaluation arguments?
Now that we've reviewed the rhetorical moves and the conventions that writers use to be effective evaluators, let's turn our attention to
Review from Wired
“Fitbit Charge HR: Turn the Beat Around” by Christina Bonnington
Response 2 asked you to "evaluate" the rhetorical strengths of Bonnington's evaluation argument--to assign value to the essay--to present an argument about the quality of Bonnington's argument--to determine how if and to what extent she does all the things that an evaluation argument is supposed to do.
Basic Comprehension:
What is Bonnington's purpose? How is she assigning value to the Fitbit Charge HR? Is this is positive or negative evaluation?
How do we know? Examples in the text that support this?
Now, how did you evaluate Bonnington's article? What criteria did you use?
What value did you assign it? (good or bad)
Did you argue that it is a weak evaluation argument?
or
Did you identify it as a strong, well-developed evaluation argument?
Is there a right answer? Is there a wrong answer?
Is it simply a matter of opinion?
What do you think?
Let's figure it out.
Evaluation Wars: 4 volunteers (2 from each camp) to share their thesis statements and ideas for support.
Will there be a winner?
Triple Evaluation: MIND BLOWING
Now, let's evaluate these thesis statements that evaluate Bonnington's evaluation.
Product Evaluation Sample
A Product Evaluation of MyFitnessPal from PCMag.com
By Jill Duffy
We live in a world of temptation, cheap pleasures, stress, and convenience—all of which can affect our diet and health. Losing weight (or maintaining or even gaining weight) takes constant diligence as well as a bit of counting to know how many calories you ingest and expend. MyFitnessPal (free) is a mobile app and website that gives you a wealth of tools for tracking what and how much you eat, and how many calories you burn through activity. Of all the calorie counters I've used, MyFitnessPal, both the mobile app and its website, is by far the easiest service to manage and comes with the largest database of foods and drinks. This impressive service is made even better by its mobile app, which helps you fastidiously watch what you eat 24/7, no matter where you are.The MyFitnessPal iPhone app is a clear Editors' Choice. The versions for Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry are equally impressive although this review focuses on the iPhone app.
Features and Design
MyFitnessPal is a calorie counter and exercise tracker. It can't replace the medical advice of a doctor and nutritionist, but it can help you become more aware of what you eat and help you estimate how many calories you should consume to reach your goal.
To set up an account, you need to enter the usual statistics: height, weight, age, sex, and activity level, which you select after reading a few descriptions. Based on those data, MyFitnessPal guesses how many calories your body burns on a typical day, with no additional exercise.
You next tell MyFitnessPal whether you're trying to lose, maintain, or gain weight, and the app walks you through a few screens in which you select how aggressively you want to try and change your weigh-in numbers. The app leaves it to you to decide how aggressively you want to pursue your goal. You can choose to gain up to one pound per week, or lose up to two pounds per week, but that's the maximum. It then provides a recommended calorie goal for each day.
What does Duffy accomplish in the introduction?
Evaluate: Which is the better introduction? Duffy's or Bonnington's? Why?
Who is Duffy's target audience? How can you tell this is the audience? What are some other possible audiences and how might this article be different if written for another audience?
Why is Duffy recommending this app?
Evaluation Thesis? What are the criteria for evaluation? (X is good because...) What are the 2 or 3 main evaluative standards here? Simply it: You should use MyFitnessPal because...
Of all the calorie counters I've used, MyFitnessPal, both the mobile app and its website, is by far the easiest service to manage and comes with the largest database of foods and drinks. This impressive service is made even better by its mobile app, which helps you fastidiously watch what you eat 24/7, no matter where you are.
List criteria for evaluation
Features/Examples
Organization of Essay
What criteria is Duffy focusing on here? Is she successful in supporting this criteria? Why or why not?
Where might we put a paragraph like this?
The search functionality is strong in MyFitnessPal. It's fast, and it doesn't matter in what order you type keywords (like "sandwich cheese egg" or "egg and cheese sandwich"). You can optionally log how much water you drink, too. Foods you log often are saved to a list of frequently added items, but you can also select from recently logged items. If you want to customize the caloric value of a recipe you made, there's a recipe builder that can help you with that task.
What creative elements might we incorporate into our presentation on this topic?
Essay II: Product Evaluation: Choosing Topics and Groups
Distribute Product Evaluation Checklist
Be ready to work on Thursday!
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